Redundancy opens door on bright future

Nov 17 2009 by Iain Laing, The Journal

A SUNDERLAND man has unlocked a long cherished ambition of working for himself, after voluntary redundancy from his job at Nissan opened a new future for him.

Kevin Cooke, from Houghton, has set up Ground Lock Property Maintenance and Locksmith Services after undertaking a business start-up assistance package from the North East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC).

Mr Cooke said: “I’ve had an interest in locksmithing since I was a child, and during my career at Nissan I began to combine this with property development. It became something I began to think I could turn into a business, but as I was working full-time, this was little more than a dream, until I was offered voluntary redundancy.”

At Nissan Mr Cooke achieved many industry awards via the company. When the car giant was hit by the global recession in 2008 and forced to cut 1,200 jobs at the Wearside plant, he seized the opportunity to pursue his business ambition and took a voluntary redundancy package.

Kevin said: “I began my career as an apprentice at Nissan when I was 17, learning new skills and techniques of production, until I took redundancy.

“I always had the ambition to start my own business, but I think Nissan brought about the experience and confidence needed to be ‘pro-active’ in a working environment. Combining this with the business skills gained from the advisers at the BIC has helped me to get off to a flying start.”

Russell Forster, senior supervisor from Nissan said: “Very often in the workplace we can become complacent about the training and the skill sets that we acquire going about our daily work, we become accustomed to continuous improvement in a workplace.

“Kevin has shown that good training and skills coupled with a willingness to embrace flexibility can be transferable to other areas.

“It is heartening to see what we do at Nissan can have a positive effect on people.”

Kevin is now looking to build the business and his client base, which includes letting agents, insurance companies and residential customers.

Chris Craig, business adviser at the North East BIC, said: “Kevin’s story is inspiring as it proves that sometimes redundancy can lead to new horizons. His determination and varied skill set are testament to Nissan as I have little doubt his time there has played a major part in their development.”