Everyone is finding it tough at the moment and wants life to get back to normal.

We will be profiling local independent businesses regularly over the coming weeks in a feature called UP CLOSE IN MALDON DISTRICT to help showcase our town centre and village traders. By spending locally, you help support local jobs - and so build our communities back stronger.

This week we talk to Ian Liston - owner of Borough Flooring & Home in Maldon High Street.

Thinking 'outside the box' is a skill Maldon businessman Ian Liston is glad he has – and never has this proved more so than during the Covid-19 pandemic when he suddenly found making the best use of that ability could make a huge difference to the future of the family business he had built up in the town.

As a result, Borough Flooring & Home not only survived the crisis in incredibly good shape but grew and moved into its new showroom home in Maldon's High Street.

Speaking to Ian, the very first thing that comes across is his energy, sense of humour, enthusiasm and passion for the town he has come to call home.

Ian, previously from the West London area, moved his family-run flooring company - which sells all kinds of flooring including carpets, wood, vinyl, laminate, LVT ( luxury vinyl tiles) and homeware furnishings to the town five years ago.

He explains: "I started working as an apprentice from the age of 13 and I am now 38.

"But I made the big jump to Essex and had to start fresh with the business in Maldon in 2016 as we had no ties to the area. It was very hard and difficult for me and my wife Julie, but well worth it in the end.

"We have always loved Maldon and we fell in love with the community and the way people treat each other.

"Being a young couple, we wanted to start our lives somewhere we could bring up children to have an amazing life and Maldon felt the place for us – and this has proved to be right.

"We have made amazing friends and all of this through work."

But of course, that work has required incredibly long hours, patience, dedication – and that handy skill of ingenuity, too.

Ian says: "Like all in the pandemic we really worried how to stay afloat and help our staff.

"So thinking out of the box is something I am very good at. We built a mobile showroom and stuck to government guidelines. This kept everyone in work throughout the whole thing - well, we managed to make enough money to pay people who were at home - with the quick idea of going around in my van with samples.

"I grew the idea from this to building a fully fitted shop on wheels in a small bus, which has been an amazing experience. This has also put the company on the map.

"We then expanded into the larger shop in lockdown. It needed a lot of work but was twice the size and cheaper than our first shop. I did have to spend four months of working every night to 12pm and starting again at 7am. Of course, it was worth it.

"This has helped the company become even more efficient and successful. We now have amazing teams of fitters and shop staff."

So how many people has this expansion of a successful local business provided work for?

The answer is 23 – and growing.

Ian says: "Who would have thought this would happen when just over four years ago my wife sat in a shop selling flooring while I was out fitting it. Shows what hard work and love for our company does!"

As for hopes for the future, Ian gives the very sage advice of taking each week as it comes, but adds: "We would love to be that family local flooring shop in 30 years that has served generations of families in our town. Family always comes first and we make sure everyone in Borough is part of our family.

"We are planning on giving bigger and better deals where we can and we will also be expanding into more home furnishings."

And in a message for Borough Flooring & Home customers old and new following the strangest of times, Ian sums up how much it means to support your local independent traders.

He says: "We would love to thank all our customers for their support to our shop and the local High Street.

"Without you we would never be where we are today. With you shopping smart and shopping local you are helping us survive and grow - and in return we can give back the best deals and services to you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts."

You can find Borough Flooring & Home's website using the link here.

Borough Flooring is also on social media as follows:

• Instagram: Borough_flooring_home
• Facebook: Borough flooring & home

You can also call the High Street shop on 01621 927110.

The Keep it Local campaign is being launched through Maldon District Council's Sense of Place initiative, with funding from the Magnox Decommissioning Fund.