Life has turned into a bed of roses for a Lochaber man who has started up his own green fingered business with an innovative approach to a government programme aimed at encouraging people back into work.

Kevin Balfour is the first new business start to germinate in the Highlands and Islands through the locally delivered Training for Work (TfW) programme at Lochaber College, which is funded by Lochaber Enterprise.

The programme helps people acquire new skills in order to stand a better chance of gaining employment. A recent enhancement to the programme has provided participants with help towards starting their own business.

Kevin Balfour seized this opportunity by starting his own enterprise called The Good Life, which provides a landscape and gardening service with a bit of a difference. As well as providing all the usual services associated with gardening and landscaping, Kevin also hopes to work in partnership with local householders to grow produce for sale locally and through farmers markets.

Kevin said: "The Training for Work programme taught me a range of essential business and computer skills, but it also allowed me to put together a business plan for the gardening idea.

"Staff at Lochaber College were very supportive and they even travelled to Fife to see how the self employment TfW option worked for people there."

Traditionally, Training for Work has helped prepare people for work with an employer, however after the fact finding trip to Fife, it was decided to introduce the self employment option in Lochaber

Damian Forster from Lochaber College who delivers the TfW programme said: "Our philosophy is to encourage people on the programme to focus on what they really want to do. We help them achieve this as much as possible and the self employed route under TfW is a good example of how this 'can-do' attitude is achieving great results for both the TfW programme and local people.

"Kevin has applied the skills which TfW has provided him with and together with his own enthusiasm and understanding of the landscape gardening sector, this will hopefully provide a unique and valuable service to the area, as well as a fulfilling job for himself."

Choosing to become self-employed is one of a number of options under the TfW programme, which is run throughout the Highlands and Islands.

Tina Davenport, skills development manager at Lochaber Enterprise, said: "The Highlands and Islands has had a very healthy business start up record in recent years with the rate of business starts and survival rates often out-stripping those for the rest of Scotland.

"Innovative new ways of helping people into business like this will help even more people start their own business in the future which in turn will have a positive impact on the Lochaber economy."

To find out more about the Training for Work programme contact Lochaber College on 01397 874000 or your local Jobcentre.