We may have endured the coldest winter for 15 years. but Simon Attfield is not complaining. Having just opened his new business, Iron and Wood, in January, he has been busy selling wood-burning stoves, putting a warm glow into homes across Oxfordshire.

Mr Attfield, 42, who spent several years in the building trade, took the plunge after being made redundant from his job as a buyer of building materials for a large company.

He has spent about £30,000 setting up the business, including building a showroom at his premises in Beaumont Road, Banbury, where there are 11 stoves from Shropshire manufacturer Clearview on display. Three are operational to allow customers to see and feel what they are buying.

He said: “As a buyer, I already knew a lot about similar things such as chimney linings, so starting this business seemed a natural progression,” explained Mr Attfield.

“A lot of people are trying to reduce their heating bills with gas and electricity prices going up so fast, and using wood-burning stoves is one way of doing it.”

Stoves are also five times more efficient than an open fire, meaning they can heat a whole room, often without another heat source being required and, of course, there are environmental benefits.

Trees absorb carbon dioxide as they grow and it is estimated they release 20 times as much oxygen into the atmosphere than is required for combustion.

Burning wood also releases no more carbon dioxide than would be produced if it were to decay naturally, so the result is a carbon positive fuel that naturally regenerates.

The business has got off to a positive start with Mr Attfield able to cover his costs.

He recognises that a potentially quieter period is looming as warmer weather approaches, so he also offers timber flooring and doors as secondary lines.

Mr Attfield admits starting the business has been a “huge challenge” but he was able to enlist the help of Business Link, although he admits there is still a lot he does not know, especially when it comes to having to juggle areas such as sales and marketing with paying the bills.

But helped by wife Julie and friend Steve Lee, who fits the stoves, he is overcoming the obstacles and installations are taking place in a range of homes, from terraced properties to farmhouses.

Mr Attfield added: “I am very pleased to have started my own business— it is something I have always wanted to.”

And if we have a typically cold, wet summer, then this is one man who will not mind in the slightest.

o Contact: Iron and Wood, 01295 253936.

Web: www.ironandwood.co.uk