Kenilworth couple aim to bounce back from redundancy due to coronavirus by starting support service for small businesses in and around town

Leon Hidderley and Priya Pandit were 'hit hard' by the pandemic so they decided to set up LoudLocal to help small businesses with their digital marketing
Priya Pandit of LoudLocal with the goodie bags which she handed out to small businesses in Kenilworth and Leamington as part of the company's launch.Priya Pandit of LoudLocal with the goodie bags which she handed out to small businesses in Kenilworth and Leamington as part of the company's launch.
Priya Pandit of LoudLocal with the goodie bags which she handed out to small businesses in Kenilworth and Leamington as part of the company's launch.

A Kenilworth couple who both lost their 'high flying' jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic have decided to put their expertise to good use by setting up their own company called LoudLocal to help small businesses in and around the town.

Priya Pandit was a project manager for Vodaphone and her partner Leon Hidderley was head of marketing for Wilmington PLC before they were made redundant due to staff cutbacks caused by the effect the pandemic has had on both companies.

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With bills to pay and a family to support, Priya and Leon took action and went into business of their own.

Priya Pandit of LoudLocal hands out a goodie bag at Every Occasion in Kenilworth.Priya Pandit of LoudLocal hands out a goodie bag at Every Occasion in Kenilworth.
Priya Pandit of LoudLocal hands out a goodie bag at Every Occasion in Kenilworth.

Leon said: "We went from both having high flying jobs to nothing in just a couple of weeks.

"It looked like our future was set, our long term plan was to save up and finally get our own house as we currently rent.

"So to say the pandemic hit us quite hard is a bit of an understatement.

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"Instead of moping around and cursing our luck, we decided to put our joint experience to the test, and start a new support service helping small businesses with their digital marketing.

Priya Pandit of LoudLocal hands out one of the company's goodie bags to staff at Coffee on the Corner in Kenilworth.Priya Pandit of LoudLocal hands out one of the company's goodie bags to staff at Coffee on the Corner in Kenilworth.
Priya Pandit of LoudLocal hands out one of the company's goodie bags to staff at Coffee on the Corner in Kenilworth.

"With a minuscule budget, and a teenager,toddler and chocolate Labrador in tow we got to work.

"We finally launched last week and are just starting to spread the word."

To launch LoudLocal, Priya and Leon took 'goodie bags' out to the small businesses in both Kenilworth and Leamington town centres last week.

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Leon said: "I was a fun day in all and it was great to get out to speak to the local businesses.

"Some businesses were quite optimistic about the future, with many reporting an uplift since their doors swung back open.

"However we did speak with a few that were finding opening back up really difficult, so will be in touch to see if we can help them in any way."

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