A free workplace won in a competition has been the perfect tonic to help get a Royston businessman’s ideas off the ground.

Chris Lee set up the The Repair Shed – an enterprise bringing older men together through making, mending and learning – in 2013.

The 59-year-old was just seven months into his start-up journey when he won a competition run by enterprise agency Wenta for a year at their My Incubator facility in Stevenage.

The competition involved entrants tweeting in their business ideas, and Chris believes the win 11 months ago came at ‘just the right time’.

“As many can confirm, the life of an entrepreneur – even one of the social variety – can be a lonely one at the start-up stage,” he said.

“We have a group of six founding members of The Repair Shed and this includes two women, soon to be joined by a third.

“For many older women, their husbands did all the home maintenance and DIY. Some want to learn new skills, stay independent, and save money – I love their thirst for learning!”