A LANDSCAPING company is celebrating 30 years in business having been set up straight after the great storm of 1987.

While many were clearing up, gardener Darrin Hammond spotted an opportunity and set up Witham business DRH Landscapes.

The 50-year-old said: “I started work at Braxted Park as an assistant gardener on leaving school.

“Then, aged 17 in 1983, I had an opportunity to go to the south of France to a large mansion as a gardener.

“It was owned by the actor Joan Collins, which was exciting.

“I came home in the late September of 1987.

“I got a full time job in Brentwood as a landscaper for Green Leaf Planters, then the storm hit.

“Our neighbours had their trees down, we couldn’t get out of our lane and it was madness.

“There was so much mayhem it was unreal.

“And then I started helping people to landscape and repair things in the aftermath of the storm.

“There was work everywhere, seven days a week.

“I helped my Dad with roofing work during the week and I was busy clearing up wind blown trees at the weekend.

“People were really impressed with the work I was doing and I decided to start my own business.

”Now he manages ten people and has five trading vans which specialise in gardening, landscaping and building.

He said: “I’ve done some wonderful jobs.

“This type of work takes you everywhere, to meet all types of people, and it really is a satisfying job when you know you’ve done a great job, and the customer is really impressed.

“That’s why we operate at the end of the day."

Tina Townsend, chairman of the Witham Chamber of Commerce, praised him for all his business has done for the area.

She said: “He is now celebrating 30 years of helping residents with their landscaping needs.

"It is a major achievement and we wish to congratulate him on this.”