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Timing is critical to planting vegetables, according to Bob Paton. But when it comes to uprooting yourself from corporate life and starting your own business, you can’t always choose the moment.

To be a gardener was his goal in life. That only happened after he retired from a decade-long career in IT management 11 days before his 60th birthday.

Still, he took his opportunity. “Gray hair and no hair is the future,” he says.

Running Hexhamshire Organics with his wife Ann, growing and selling the fruits, vegetables, eggs and pork produced on six acres in Northumberland is physically demanding. It generates a fraction of what Paton’s previous income was, but he loves it with passion: “We’re so happy to have the life we ​​have.”

As the Covid pandemic sparks restructuring and layoffs, those over 50 must reassess their job prospects.

Gardener Bob Paton with his wife Ann

Analysis of the official numbers from Rest Less, a jobs and communities website for the over-50s, shows that the number of people over 50 in the UK applying for a universal credit advantage will have increased 93 percent in six months by mid-2020 has risen to almost 600,000 people. Rest Less’s analysis also shows that layoffs among those over 60 will increase sharply in 2020.

Self-employment looks attractive to many older workers, many of whom have difficulty finding re-employment. Of 4.97 million self-employed people in the UK in 2019, nearly a third – 1.58 million – were 55 years or older, according to the Office for National Statistics. About 45 percent of the total is 50 plus.

However, self-employment covers a wide spectrum. Some new entrepreneurs are professionals moving from employment to part-time counseling and joining the work from home trend.

For others, like Kath Wynn, 56, of Wallsend, Tyneside, personal circumstances are the trigger. As a former caregiver, she must be at home because of a family member’s mental health issue. She starts a craft shop, Summerhouse Gifts, hoping to make £ 5,000-10,000 a year: “That would be great.”

Then there are those like the 64-year-old gardener Paton, who sees self-employment as a full-fledged second career. “You really have to be committed to it,” he says. “We are driven by the desire to make it a success.”

Old age brings great benefits, he believes, including more money to invest in starting your own business. Additionally; “As you get older, you have more business acumen. The people have a lot of knowledge and experience. “

Stuart Lewis, founder of Rest Less, agrees. Life experience, he says, can develop skills such as patience, resilience and empathy, as well as business know-how. “Thinking outside the box, combined with logical thinking and sophisticated skills, can really set an older entrepreneur apart,” he says.

Paton admits that he doesn’t have the same physical strength as he was in his 40s. “Ann says I need to exercise a little better,” he admits. The advantage, however, is his expertise in business planning: “Plan tomorrow today, next month this month; next year this year. “

A miner’s son from Ashington, Northumberland, he dropped out of school at age 15 with no qualifications, except for one geographic O level. The only school essay he can remember was growing vegetables. Determined that young Bobby would not go down the pit, his father entered the civil service, switched to computer programming, graduated with a degree in computer science, and eventually became general manager of Accenture, a technology consultant in north east England that runs its delivery center extended to 650 people and awarded a CBE.

Fitness and attitude are critical to professional life, he believes. He “without a doubt” intends to continue Hexhamshire Organics into his 70s and, he hopes, beyond.

The roots of the business lie in his lifelong gardening hobby and meeting Ann in her forties. But house hunting a decade ago made it a reality. The country house the couple had found consisted of six acres of land. They bought it, planted an orchard, and got organic status through the Soil Association. His wife sold her Newcastle deli and the business opened a year before Paton retired from Accenture in July 2016.

Now they have 10 commercial polytunnels, two propagation greenhouses, Tamworth breeding pigs, chickens and ducks. They deliver vegetable and fruit boxes to regular customers in Northumberland and Tyneside, where demand doubled during the lockdown. When the lockdown wears off, they will also resume their deliveries to two restaurants and their regular street market.

However, horticulture is serious hard work. With their two part-time employees, they will sow around 50,000 seeds this year and then transplant the seedlings. Eggplant, beetroot, cabbage, peppers, celery, lettuce, red onions, parsley, lettuce and spinach are just some of the recent crops. The time and amount are precise; They are currently sowing 1,920 celeriac.

Revenue in April 2021/2 is expected to be £ 150,000 with gross profit of £ 50,000. This is a third of Paton’s previous salary, but he doesn’t mind. “The pleasure and satisfaction are off the scales.”

Compared to her previous business, Ann says this is “more of an adventure. That makes us very proud. “Like her husband, she expects many years of independence. “As long as we can, we will.”