In this video, Leighton explains what's happened since the major fire at his original workshop back in August 2023. Leighton is at a new location now - Unit 1, Bridge Way, St Leonards. The original story after the fire can be read here: https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/people/hastings-major-fire-man-whose-business-was-destroyed-vows-he-will-rise-from-the-ashes-4254663
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00:00 Can you just say what's happened since the fire?
00:02 - Well, since the fire, I have been absolutely flat out busy,
00:07 just sure drive to get where I've got to.
00:12 I've just, yeah, been driven to get back on my feet.
00:15 Obviously, it's that saying,
00:18 every cloud has a silver lining, and this is the proof.
00:22 I think what it is, it's my pure passion for what I do.
00:27 It's just given me that extra push.
00:30 I was always determined to get back on my feet,
00:33 and I thought, if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it better.
00:35 And yeah, from what I've got, I'm really happy.
00:39 - How did you find the place?
00:41 - So, through a friend, put me on to the owner.
00:46 Yeah, it's just that word of mouth.
00:50 It's the old saying.
00:54 - And how much work did you have to do when you?
00:56 - Yeah, this was quite, this was a mess.
00:58 Didn't look like this.
00:59 So yeah, I did a lot of clearing.
01:01 So yeah, I had to empty my actual initial workshop,
01:06 which was a complete mess.
01:07 Go through everything, move all that,
01:10 and then all the wood at the side,
01:12 and then obviously then come here,
01:13 and then spend weeks sorting this place out
01:16 to even to get to the stage of being able
01:19 to even put any paint on the walls, paint the floor,
01:22 got the electrics all done,
01:23 the three phase on the lighting done,
01:26 cleaned it up, cleaned the yard up,
01:27 moved stuff in, set it up,
01:29 and it's just been, I've just been just constantly
01:33 just chipping away at it.
01:35 And yeah, got that list down.
01:38 - And what are your plans, future plans here?
01:40 - I just want to just grow now as a business.
01:44 You know, this is, for me,
01:48 this is just an amazing workshop.
01:50 So yeah, I'd just like to get bigger,
01:53 and you know, just be able to, yeah, just keep going.
01:58 Just see what the future holds.
02:00 - Yeah, and after the fire, obviously,
02:02 that must have been, you must have felt pretty down
02:05 after that. - Yeah.
02:06 - How did you motivate yourself?
02:07 - I don't know, really.
02:08 I've been through stuff in my past,
02:12 so I just kept positive, and I just kept thinking.
02:16 I knew what I wanted, and I just don't know.
02:20 It just all slotted into place.
02:22 It was just good timing with this place,
02:24 and everything, it was just kind of like,
02:26 I needed that break, and then this come along,
02:29 and everything, it's like a jigsaw,
02:30 just all slotted together.
02:32 Just, yeah.
02:34 - And you're saying, I mean, you had a GoFundMe page.
02:36 - Yeah, and then, obviously,
02:38 so they set the GoFundMe page up,
02:40 which was, that actually, that's what helped,
02:44 because I had that money to do it.
02:46 So I had to look around and get what I could for the money.
02:52 So I looked around, bought machinery,
02:54 and tried to stretch those funds,
02:57 and yeah, there's people that helped me.
03:01 Like I was saying to yourself,
03:02 there's people that anonymously donated,
03:06 which I've got to thank, and I can't thank enough,
03:09 and all the people that did donate, all the customers.
03:12 Yeah, and I'd like to say,
03:15 this is to show what I've done with the money.
03:18 So yeah, now, I've got a few things to do in here now.
03:21 Obviously, I need to get the heating sorted
03:25 and the extraction finished, but I'm getting there.
03:28 The list is coming down.
03:49 One minute, I'm sending some boards,
03:54 a favour, somebody,
03:55 and next minute, the smell of some smoke,
04:00 rushing, look, thinking, you know,
04:06 trying to see where it's come from,
04:07 and then I see the extractor smoke, flames coming outside.
04:10 I'm lucky to be here because I was able to open the doors
04:14 to the extraction unit,
04:16 and it just went up so quick,
04:18 and the smoke was so overwhelming.
04:22 And the next moment,
04:22 if I'd have opened those extraction doors,
04:24 obviously, I wouldn't be here,
04:26 I'd be dead, I'd be in hospital,
04:27 just burnt so badly.
04:30 I just can't believe how quick it went.
04:33 Just don't have time to think.
04:35 So I run out, I tried to get my phone,
04:38 'cause it was on the other side,
04:39 and I run back in, got my phone,
04:41 I thought I'd get my key,
04:43 and I dropped my phone,
04:45 so I run back in, and then I just,
04:47 I was on the floor, caught,
04:49 I missed it, and it burnt the top of my head,
04:51 and that's it, and that is just happened
04:55 in the matter of a minute,
04:57 three minutes, just instant.
04:59 No time at all, but the fire,
05:05 it threw it, and the fire, they were cold,
05:07 but the time they even got here,
05:08 it was just flames everywhere.
05:11 One minute you're here, and the minute it's gone,
05:13 and it goes for anything.
05:15 But at home, you hear these stories
05:17 about different batteries going up,
05:18 phone chargers, you just don't think it can happen.
05:22 One minute everything's all rosy,
05:23 and then the next minute, it's gone.
05:26 So, yeah, it's made me think,
05:28 and I assume a lot of people are gonna
05:31 put things into perspective now,
05:32 and look how their lives,
05:36 just can't be able to support a load of people.
05:39 I'm more determined, I'm so positive,
05:42 I'm even more determined.
05:44 This is kind of like, just made me more determined.
05:48 I love it, I'm so proud of this business,
05:52 so proud of what I achieved here,
05:54 that for it to be gone,
05:56 I just feel like I've had the runt pulled out,
05:58 but it's happened, and I am literally gonna rebuild.
06:03 I don't know how, I'm gonna do it.
06:06 I'm gonna come back, I'm gonna,
06:07 I think the saying is, I'm gonna rise from the ashes.
06:11 (silence)
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06:16 (silence)
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