Fledgling businesses ploughing on

Louise Hubball South West personal finance correspondent

Mark Pulman says the downturn helped him get the restaurant lease

Three new businesses have been set up in Devon and Cornwall during what has been described as "a financial nightmare."

With the UK officially now in recession, BBC South West will visit the restaurant, bed and breakfast and building conversion company each month to see how they are faring.

January is traditionally a slow month with people feeling the pinch after Christmas.

But over at the Green Door restaurant in Woodbury near Exeter, Devon, they are fully booked.

Owner Mark Pulman, 32, believes it is down to offering a weekly theme night with a fixed priced menu.

It's my dad's pension I'm sort of gambling with here Mark Pulman, Green Door Restaurant

The feedback from his customers on curry night is that they are looking for good quality food and good value for money.

And it seems not everyone is short of cash at the moment - last week, he says, the restaurant completely sold out of �17 steaks.

Mr Pulman was made redundant from his previous job as a chef and opened the restaurant in October.

Without the economic downturn he believes he would never have been able to afford the lease.

Revamping the B&B has cost the Braithwaites more than �15,000

His family also helped him out with a �35,000 loan and he hopes to pay them back within three years.

"If it was a bank loan and everything went pear-shaped I could just walk away and declare myself bankrupt," he told BBC News.

"But seeing as it's family I need to repay that money.

"It's my dad's pension I'm sort of gambling with here."

Tourism hope

Meanwhile in Cornwall, Derek Braithwaite recently opened the Anchor Lights bed and breakfast with his wife in the picturesque seaside town of Looe.

The work they have done to revamp the Edwardian villa has led to huge unforseen costs.

"We've had to spend about �15,000 to �17,000 more than we expected," he said.

"That has involved ripping out all of the plumbing which has been a big setback.

"I think what we're faced with now is the idea we've got to re-coup that money somehow."

Robert Wood's firm converts garages into offices, bedrooms or playrooms

The Braithwaites say they are banking on a resurgence of tourism in Cornwall because some people can no longer afford to travel abroad.

Back across the River Tamar in Devon, Robert Wood from Yealmpton, near Plymouth, took redundancy from building firm Rok two years ago.

He now runs Creative Garages, a company which converts domestic garages into extra bedrooms, offices or playrooms.

At a time when more people are trying to make the most of their homes, rather than move somewhere bigger, for him business has been good.

"I think everybody realises already that we're in a recession - they don't need some official announcement," he said.

"Unless people unfortunately find themselves unemployed, I don't think the majority of people will be adversely affected over the coming year or two."

We must wait to see whether starting new ventures in the run-up to a recession was a wise move for these three South West businesses.

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