Gary Howell (pictured right) is now 34 but was still at school in Lancashire when he started learning how to lay dry stone walls. Four years ago and by now a bricklayer he set up his own dry stone walling business. But it was only part time. His biggest obstacle was not having the all terrain vehicle that would enable him to access more rural areas in order to carry out heritage and environmental work. Now he has, thanks to funding from Constructing the Future. And with it he has been able to go full time dry stone walling in the Pennines, where the walls are generally made of the local gritstone that the farmers who built the original dry stone walls as field boundaries found in and around the fields.

Constructing the Future is part of a government scheme called No Limits that has made £30million available to help business start-ups across Pennine Lancashire. No Limits has helped 500 new businesses since the programme began less than two years ago.

Gary, of Briercliffe in Burnley, has a small customer base that includes farmers, landowners and private homeowners. He provides a comprehensive dry stone walling service (using locally sourced stone) including retainer walls, boundary walls, and new builds, repairs, gap walling, stock proofing, and restoration.

If you would like some help in setting up a business in Pennine Lancashire, call the No Limits hotline: 0800 612 2029.