WHERE IT BEGAN
Off the beaten path
There's nowhere better than the Ulster coast for taking a Land Rover off road. Sand dunes. Rivers. Big empty spaces. I'm based in Jordanstown, just outside Belfast in Northern Ireland. But my wife, kids and I spend weekends in Donegal. For as long as I can remember, one of my favourite ways to unwind is tinkering with engines, modding trucks, going for adventures off road.
GETTING STARTED
Leap of faith
I wrote about countless rebuild projects for Land Rover Monthly. I founded a digital forum called LandRoverAddict.com. My friends at Richard's Chassis were constantly nudging me to become their re-chassis agent for Ireland. It was only after the 2008 financial crash (when I lost my regional manager's job in manufacturing) that I finally found my courage and took the the leap.
I turned my vocation into a business for the first time in 2013.
RUNNING A BUSINESS
Living the dream
It was a great decision. I love what I do. My workshop's right next to my house. So I get more time with family. No more business suits. I spend my days in comfortable clothes, covered in old chassis dust, giving advice to fellow Land Rover enthusiasts about how we can make their vehicle more awesome. I post some of the more interesting projects here or on Facebook. It's heavy labour sometimes, but there's nothing else I'd rather do.
7 YEARS ON
Feeling good
There's a lot of satisfaction in my work. Sometimes a truck comes in that's practically scrap. Could be dismantled for parts. I give it a new lease of life. The old chassis gets recycled. When the new re-chassis job drives out of my workshop a couple weeks later, I know it's gonna last a long, long time.
That's a good feeling.