AN ENTREPRENEUR who grew his business from a single stall to three shops has said he owes a debt of thanks to the shopping centre which gave him his start.
Joe Chandler, now 24, started the Chickidee home and giftware shop at Redhill's Belfry Shopping Centre in 2008. The teenager decided to start his company after being overlooked for a promotion to assistant manager at Pets At Home.
With £500 in his pocket and an idea for the store, he approached the Belfry about taking up a small space where he could sell his gifts from a cart.
The company – which now employs seven staff and has a turnover of £500,000 – has shops in Crawley and Woking, and has recently opened a store at the Belfry.
"I started it out of blind arrogance," Mr Chandler said. "I thought I wouldn't have to work for anyone and then I learnt it was much more difficult than that.
"When I started out it was seen as a bad time to start a business because of the economic climate.
"After two years I got to the stage when I could employ someone to work on the stall while I went out to look for new opportunities. It was a real challenge."
Mr Nash said he was happy to see Mr Chandler's business doing well.
"It's a nice success story and he's worked really hard," he said. "It's the entrepreneurs who are keeping the town moving and we'll support them here as much as we can."
