When Darren French was made redundant after 35 years in the moving industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he began to wonder if he would ever go back to work again.

After being furloughed for 22 weeks it came as no surprise that his role as an in-house surveyor for one of the UK’s leading moving companies was no longer sustainable and the future looked bleak; but Darren was not about to throw in the towel.

“My 35 years in this ever-changing industry has taught me lots of valuable lessons with one in particular - ‘Never Give Up’ - being the most important,” said Darren.

With so many others looking for work, Darren decided to take the plunge and set up on his own, doing what he does best, talking to customers and conducting surveys.

Realising that traditional face-to-face surveys were no longer what people wanted Darren began contacting removals companies to offer his services as an online surveyor.

“I started to put the feelers out across my UK and overseas contacts to get their reaction and the results were so positive that in the end it was an easy decision to make and my new company, Elite Relocation, was born,” said Darren. 

“Am I nervous? Yes. Am I a little scared? Yes. Am I excited? Yes ... very!” said Darren.

Click here to e-mail Darren.