A man who saved up thousands to start his own business last year has been left devastated after thieves stole his van with £15,000 of equipment inside. Scott Wright set up ‘Wright Cleaning’, a mobile carpet cleaning business, just a few months ago and already the business has been going from strength to strength.
But all that came to an end on Monday night, when his distinctive van, with all the equipment installed inside, was taken from outside his home in Hotwells, Bristol.
Now, with insurance not covering the costs of replacing it all to start again, his family have set up a fundraising page and friends and supporters have already donated thousands to his cause in just a couple of days.
Scott went to UWE to train as a primary school teacher and paid his way through uni by working part time as a car cleaner and kitchen porter at a local restaurant. He saved up to start his own carpet cleaning business, which only began four months ago.
“I am absolutely gutted, I worked extremely hard to save the money to buy my van and the specialist equipment needed to set up my own carpet and upholstery cleaning business,” said Scott. “I have lost everything.”
“Teaching is a very challenging career to get into at the moment and with increasing rents and inflation, I thought that building my own business, providing a service and contributing to the economy as a young person was the best thing to do,” he added.
He suspects the thieves were watching his van over a period of time, because he had noticed problems with the side and rear locks. They struck in a window of just half an hour on Monday evening, after a neighbour returned from a late evening dog walk. The van was parked on Dowry Square in Hotwells and was taken at some point between 10.55pm and 11.30pm, and the thieves even reversed off the historic Georgian square to avoid triggering cameras.
The distinctive van is a Ford Transit with the registration plate BG66 EPV. It has Prochem performer 405 truck-mounted machine, hoses, a Pro35 agitator and other equipment stolen with it inside.
“I have always known that vans and tools are targeted by thieves and was working hard to save up for immobilizers and other safety features. I just can’t believe this happened before I could afford to do anything,” said Scott. “Tradies shouldn’t have to live in fear of robberies. It’s hard for it not to make you lose faith in society,” he added.
The police were notified of the theft on the morning of Tuesday 4th February, but there have been no updates as yet. Due to the nature of the cleaning business, Scott said the stolen van could pose a serious bio-hazard risk with cleaning chemicals inside and a petrol powered machine mounted to the vehicle.
Scott is offering a £1,000 reward for information leading to the van’s return, and meanwhile, his sister Natasha has started a fundraising page on the GoFundMe website, which has already seen more than £2,000 donated.
“This is Scott’s entire livelihood and he has worked incredibly hard to save enough money to start his own business,” said Natasha. “Years of work and savings have been put into getting ‘Wright Cleaning’ going, which has been lost in just one night after thieves stole the entire cleaning set up.
“Scott launched ‘Wright Cleaning’ in Bristol last year and it had been going from strength to strength in the recent months, so he is understandably devastated that this has all been taken from him. Anyone that knows Scott will tell you that this couldn’t have happened to a less-deserving person,” she added.
“I don’t expect that we will make the full amount back, but we would be grateful for every single donation to begin building this business again. From conversations with the insurance companies, it sounds as though there are loopholes that will prevent Scott from recovering anywhere near enough funds to start over,” she added.