Award for Rugby woman who took leap of faith after losing half her business when covid hit

Clare Randall and her husband Martin built up their security business – Stonewall Security Group – over a number of years.

But when the coronavirus hit, they had to fight to survive.

Clare said: “It taught me to never rely on a handful of customers.“We had some large contracts that just stopped at a snap of the government’s fingers when they enforced the first lockdowns. And for a traditional security business that involves guards onsite, with a lockdown in place this created an enormous gap.”

On the flip side, it presented an opportunity to diversify. And in a moment where many others may have sunk, Stonewall Vaults was born in a bid to safeguard the business and enable it to swim on through the murky waters.

Following great personal sacrifice, Clare decided to sell her house and invested heavily into building her very own state-of-the-art safety deposit box facility.

The gamble paid off.

Now Clare is the proud winner of a Woman Who Achieves Award.

The judges commended her win, declaring: “When COVID hit and business disappeared overnight, many would have perhaps have taken the easy option to close up shop."But Clare developed a new revenue stream with the launch of safety deposit boxes as well as redeveloping their existing security business to differentiate from the competition and create new opportunities. All this resulted in a strong bounce back and a business that continues to grow.”

To support local Rugby and Midlands based businesses, Clare dedicated some of her free time delivering first aid training to help up skill and share vital safety knowledge.

The only caveat is that businesses make a donation to her chosen charity in exchange for the training, which is valued at £100 per person.

Clare has taken on the challenge of raising £10,000 for The Myton Hospices this year.

To make it all worth the donation, she’s set herself four gruelling challenges which have already seen Clare come face to face with some of her biggest fears including a triathlon, parachute jump, a walk from John O’Groats to Lands End and a 5K Santa dash at the end of the year.

Visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/clare-garrod-1702294216469