NEWS
Supporter – Neil Trewick ’ s brand name is displayed at Boro ’ s Riverside Stadium .
WORDS : DAVE ROBSON PICTURES : TOM BANKS
TREW GRIT
How building surveyor Neil ’ s life was transformed in a few hectic weeks
In little over a month , Neil Trewick ’ s life changed forever . Having been made redundant in March this year , Neil was faced with a difficult dilemma – find a job or start his own business . He chose the latter and incredibly , seven days later , Trew Surveying was open for business !
All this just one month before his wedding to Lucy on April 17 .
Seven months on from those whirlwind first weeks , he ’ s a contented man indeed . For not only is he happily living in Ingleby Barwick with Lucy and their pet dog Olive , the business has also taken off – remarkable for someone whose house surveying career seemed on rocky ground with that redundancy bombshell .
Neil , 37 , recalled : “ I ’ d finished my Monday jobs for the firm I worked for and in the afternoon , we all learned via a Zoom call that the company had gone into liquidation and we didn ’ t have jobs anymore .
“ I was shocked – and not even the craziest person would set up his own business a month before his wedding , but it was what I needed to do .
“ Due to the leads I was generating , I was
116 | Tees Business
Proud Teessider – Neil ’ s branded car at the Transporter Bridge . quietly confident I could at least make a living . As it happens , it ’ s completely taken off – but I ’ m not complaining !”
But how has he made such progress in such a short time ? “ Because I had to ,” he smiles . “ When I got made redundant , I had 11 clients who had all paid for their surveys to the tune of £ 5,000 . Their money had been taken but their surveys weren ’ t going to get done .
“ This didn ’ t sit well with me , so I thought if I could get a shell of a company up , I could at least carry out their surveys for them , free of charge – it ’ s good karma isn ’ t it ?
“ I spent the first week doing those surveys at my own cost , to the delight of my clients and there were a few 4am finishes in the early days ! I then started receiving glowing reviews on my website and referrals to friends , so it all started snowballing from there .”
Armed with four degrees , Neil has worked as a maths teacher , and in recruitment . But he admits : “ I ’ d always had an eye on surveying . My first house needed everything doing to it and I did a lot of it myself with help from a family builder , so that whetted my appetite .”
Determined to smash the stereotype of unapproachable surveyors , Neil prides himself on approachability and communicating with clients every step of the way .
“ People pay a lot of money for surveys so that ’ s the least they deserve ,” he says . “ I explain the process and keep communicating , building a relationship . It ’ s about giving people understandable advice on their future house purchase which , for most of us , is the biggest of our lives .”
The “ Trew Surveying ” brand is already getting known through sponsorships with
Motoring - Trew Surveying ’ s branded car at the Riverside Stadium .
Teesside Golf Club and Middlesbrough FC , whose fortunes Neil has followed for 30 years , including trips across Europe .
With Trew Surveying ’ s growth and more than 400 surveys booked in so far , he ’ s already looking at how to expand .
He said : “ I ’ m currently carrying three people ’ s workload and probably need an admin / accounts assistant and , in peak months , a second surveyor .
“ That ’ s not something I anticipated thinking about in year one , but it shows how quickly things have taken off .
“ My initial target was £ 50,000 this year , but I ’ ve tripled that now , so the next target is to get to £ 200,000 , which I ‘ m confident of achieving in year one .
“ Next year , the target will be to create at least one job for a Teessider , which is something I ’ m passionate about .”
Trew Surveying ’ s rise hasn ’ t gone unnoticed within the business community and Neil is proud to be shortlisted for two awards at this year ’ s Best New Tees Business Awards – and won the award for Best New Sole Trader !
And the target for his beloved Boro ? He laughed : “ Just play good football and get a decent striker !”
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