A REDDITCH man who decided he wanted to branch out and start his own business has seen his dream come true.

Roy Brooks now has his own reproduction furniture business thanks to a £10,000 grant from The Prince's Trust and the county council.

Mr Brooks had previously been employed in various companies but once his wife became pregnant, he decided he had to try to put his business into action.

Because of his lack of collateral he was turned down for bank loans and it looked like his dreams of owning his own business would never be realised.

But he then contacted Business Link, which put him in touch with the trust.

He found a place on a business start-up course and on completion had to put his case to a panel from The Prince's Trust.

He was then astounded to hear he had been awarded a grant to start Kensington Reproduction Furniture, the business he had always dreamt of owning.

Mr Brooks said: "I was totally thrilled. The maximum you can get from The Prince's Trust is £5,000 but they told me this would not be enough to do what I wanted.

"So the trust gave me the maximum grant and the county council gave me the rest.

"There's a real gap in the market at the moment for oak reproduction furniture and I already have one large contract.

"As things progress I'm going to look to supplying abroad as English furniture is becoming increasingly popular.

"This is really a dream come true thanks to the support of the trust and the council."

Kensington Reproduction Furniture is based at Unit 3A, Windsor Road, Enfield.

For more details, call Mr Brooks on 0794 9103316 or 404028.