Sunday October 6 2024
Swindon & Wiltshire News
The new Manor House Enterprise Centre in Royal Wootton Bassett has welcomed its first business tenants: Huntmill Transport Training, owned by husband and wife team John and Lynn Kelly.
Ex-regular soldier John, a transport expert and combat medic in transport regiments, and Lynn, a physiotherapist and logistics officer with a particular insight into the healthcare issues faced by drivers, launched their business on the back of a lifetime’s experience gained through their careers.
Now they are offering their support to professional lorry, bus and coach drivers looking for essential qualifications as well as expert advice about avoiding work-related healthcare issues, such as repetitive strain, poor manual handling and accidents.
John and Lynn are both Army Reservists in their spare time, and moved to Royal Wootton Bassett from Surrey a year ago with their two daughters. They initially set up their new business from home, and were looking for training rooms to rent.
“We offer a wide range of training for professional drivers, including the Driver CPC certificate which anyone wanting to drive a lorry or bus must now have, and the ADR certificate to cover driving dangerous goods such as petrol, explosives and gases,” said John.
“This was proving so popular, we extended our training to include First Aid and Manual Handling qualifications; but we needed training space.
“We looked at the training rooms at the new Manor House Enterprise Centre in the High Street and then discovered the fantastic offices at the Centre for just £50 a week, per desk. So we decided to rent an office because, as tenants, we get excellent deals on the training and meeting rooms, perfect for different sized groups.
“We liked the fact that there are three other Enterprise Centres across Wiltshire where we can use training rooms as well. But the biggest plus about having your own office is that it helps separate home and work life and that is so important.
“The Manor House Enterprise Centre is a real asset for Royal Wootton Bassett and local businesses.”
Manor House Enterprise Network is part of The Enterprise Network (TEN), a Wiltshire Council-led initiative using EU and Government money to support start-up and growing businesses in Swindon and Wiltshire.
The Enterprise Network has opened four Enterprise Centres across Wiltshire – in Trowbridge, Ludgershall and Salisbury as well as the most recent one in Royal Wootton Bassett – offering local start-up and growing micro businesses affordable offices, meeting rooms and hot desks and virtual office facilities.
TEN also offers free, independent and impartial business support through Wiltshire Business Support Services and business networking opportunities for all local businesses.
