Tim Nelmes, Director of Buyer's Mate in the Holiday Inn kitchen area which his company fitted out. PHOTO: ANTONY KELLY

A go-between furnishing and fitting company run from a Norwich back garden has bucked the global downturn to thrive in the hospitality sector.

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Buyers Mate was set up by Timothy Nelmes eight years ago as a one-man operation offering pubs, hotels and community buildings bits and pieces for the right price.

“It started out as going door to door to places like pubs, getting an ashtray or things like that for a bit of a profit,” he said.

“Then word spread and people started to ask for more and more and they would tell others because of the service they had received.”

But with a long list of suppliers and Holiday Inn now among its hundreds of clients, the company has grown from a £40,000 turnover in the early years into a national business turning over £750,000 in 2010.

Buyers Mate is run from a 
office space in Mr Nelmes’s garden in Sprowston and now has four 
websites covering its main services – catering equipment, hotel 
supplies, kitchen supplies and furniture.

Ordering products from big-name suppliers including Rational and catering specialist Lincat, it will oversee everything from the custom requirements of clients to their delivery and installation.

A former baker who went into sales, Mr Nelmes is now part of a team of four.

He said: “We’re successful as we can offer anything a hotel, for example, might want except for the food and drink.

“People in the industry are very busy and want a service in which they can say they need something by tonight and know I will run around everywhere trying to find it for them.”

The company has overseen a £70,000 kitchen refurbishment at the Norwich Airport Holiday Inn, and is currently involved with jobs at Norwich City College and The Red Lion Pub in Duxford.

Further afield, Buyers’ Mate have helped with hotels in Brighton, Manchester and London.

However, Mr Nelmes emphasised that they still did most of their work within Norfolk, whether big installations or napkins for cafés, and was keen to keep the focus on growing at a steady rate.

He said that even though the hospitality industry was going through a difficult time at the moment, there was still a demand for replacements and refurbishment.

“It’s about keeping this going in the same way and looking after the customer.

“We could turn over £2m but that would be no good if we weren’t giving our clients peace of mind.”

john.owens@archant.co.uk