THREE brothers have spoken out about the trials and tribulations of starting a business during lockdown and how the challenges have brought them closer together.

Ishtyaq Hussain, 40 , Altaf Hussain, 53, and Mushtag Hussain, 39, have been successfully running their own chicken restaurant, Billz Grillz, in Wyld’s Lane since they opened in April.

They say business is booming, but it has been a steep learning curve.

Ishtyaq Hussain said: “When I was furloughed we got together and decided to start a business together. It is what our late father always wanted.

“He passed in 2016 and although he never got to see all of his sons working together, I know he would be proud of us.

“He owned a restaurant and a shop here in Worcester for many, many years, we have grown up in the industry, but, I have been office based for all of my adult life and so it has been very challenging to get up and running.

“It is a steep learning curve for all of us, especially starting out in the middle of a pandemic. Getting up and running was only meant to take three weeks, but coronavirus delayed us by about three months.

“It was hard to get suppliers and tradesmen. There were a lot of hiccups along the way. It definitely wasn’t easy. We had to do a lot of the work ourselves. It has brought us closer together, it has been very hands on.

“We are a family business, myself and my brothers work here full time and my other three brothers help out when they can. We are learning as we go. It has been brilliant. We are really happy.

“When we first opened we were thrown in the deep end as the Eat Out to Help Out scheme was being used and lots of local people came to take advantage of the lower prices.

“But, it was great for us, it gave us a chance to showcase our food and meet with our customers.”

Altaf Hussain added: “We are all local lads and we grew up here. We feel part of the community and the community is part of us as well. It’s been absolutely fantastic.”