A woman who was suddenly made redundant because of the coronavirus crisis has taken the bold step of creating her own dream job.
Amy Bithell had worked in marketing ever since leaving university but when the pandemic began to bite it caused serious financial problems for the agency she was employed with and forced the firm to close down.
Rather than searching for another job in the same field, the 28-year-old decided to do something a bit different.
She has turned her favourite green-fingered hobby into a full-time role and is starting her own company selling house plants.
"As soon as I left university I went straight into a job so this has come as a big shock to me," she told The Manchester Evening News.
"I was working for an agency but because of Covid-19 they had to close down.
"I have always wanted to try and start something myself and I've always toyed around with different ideas. I liked to help my friends with their businesses as well."
Amy is now set to launch Little Pot Houseplants, a business that she will run from her own home.
She currently lives in Atherton with her partner, who works for the fire service, and says friends and family regularly comment that their home "is like a jungle" because of all the plants she takes care of.
"I love plants, my friends and family joke that our house is like a jungle," she explained.
"But there aren't that many places that are not big chains where you can buy house plants.
"I just thought this is my chance to do something I love, to do something I actually want to do.
"We're going to be doing deliveries and you'll get a little care card to tell you how to look after the plant. I think it's convenient for people to have things delivered and I think people really want to support local businesses."
Since deciding to launch Little Pot Houseplants just a few weeks ago, Amy says she has already been inundated with interested from people living in Wigan and Bolton.
She added: "I'm really surprised by how many people are interested, we've already got 800 likes from just on post on Facebook.
"I've had loads of people texting me and messaging saying good luck.
"It's all happened really quickly, we're building the website at the moment and we're planning to launch it next week.
"We will go from there and see what happens."
To sign up and hear from Little Pot Housplants when the firm launches next week, visit: www.littlepotplants.com.
