Nuova Home Improvements

From Part-Time Work to Business Owner in One Month: How Angelo Patrizi Started Nuova Home Improvements with Launch Reading

In 2013, Angelo Patrizi left Rome and moved to the UK with his partner, ready to build a new life in a new country - with a new language to learn and no established network to fall back on.

Back home, he had trained as a chemical and biological technician before joining the family construction business, learning his trade alongside his father and developing the kind of traditional Italian craftsmanship that takes years to acquire. He was skilled, determined, and willing to work hard. What he didn't yet have was a plan.

Knowing Your Trade Is One Thing, Building a Business Is Another

The initial challenge for Angelo was finding a steady stream of customers. Having moved from Italy, he didn’t have any long-standing network of connections, friends and family here to help get the word out. “When you decide to work for yourself,” said Angelo, “the first thing you realise is it's not enough to have the knowledge to do a good job, you need to be known on the market. It was very difficult to fill the calendar. It was like having a part-time job.”

Angelo further realised there is a big difference between knowing your job and knowing how to run a business. It’s about more than registering the name, a company needs a structure and a plan to operate it.

Angelo was already a skilled worker – he was going to need to know a lot more if he was to run a successful business.

Ten Monday Evenings That Changed Everything

A friend in Reading pointed him in the right direction. He had taken a course from Launch Reading - a free training programme developed by the Rotary Club of Reading Abbey to help people from underrepresented communities start their own business - and recommended it to

Angelo. Impressed that such comprehensive training was available for free, Angelo signed up on their website.

The programme is built around an intensive 10-week course, delivered in person in a three-hour session on a Monday evening, with each week focused on a different aspect of starting and building a business. In his initial telephone interview, Angelo learned that one of the core objectives was to develop a full business plan, an idea that was new to him, but one he immediately recognised as exactly what he needed. He joined the cohort starting in October 2023.

The marketing strategy module answered the question that had been troubling him most - how do I find clients? - but it was the financial planning section that proved the most valuable, if also the most demanding.

“When you run a business, it’s mainly about expenses and numbers. Everything needs to make sense at the end of the month. Having a plan for that helps to see a direction for your business over 3 years.”

The course also opened Angelo's eyes to the practical tools available to him. “I had a rough idea, but I didn't know about tools like Squarespace, or Xero, or all the other tools out there for accounting, invoicing, drawing, marketing, or for publishing on social media.”

The collaborative aspect of learning in a class of 16 fellow participants was also one of the best parts of the experience. The sharing of ideas and points of view added so much to the course content itself. “We are still in touch in a WhatsApp group now, where people regularly message, and if someone has a problem, there will always be an answer.”

At the end of the course, participants get to pitch a presentation of their business plan to an independent panel. If successful, they may be awarded a startup grant provided by Reading’s Economy and Destination Agency (REDA) out of the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Angelo found that the preparation of this pitch helped him to see how his idea had evolved and to position it in the market differently.

A £1,400 Grant, an NVQ, and Some Delighted Customers

One month after completing the course, Angelo launched Nuova Home Improvements Ltd.

Nuova is Italian for new, and it captures exactly the approach Angelo brings to his work. "It's the new renovation that the client is looking for, but also what I offer and how I work. We specialise in high-quality home renovation, kitchens, bathrooms, extensions. I want to set new standards; we don't compromise on the work or the materials. We don't cut corners."

The launch was made possible in part by a £1,400 startup grant, awarded following his successful pitch presentation to the independent panel. Angelo put it to immediate practical use - gaining his NVQ Level 2 qualification, an important credential for the type of work he wants to attract, and paying for the company website’s domain, hosting and email. "I was able to develop a website all by myself, following what I learned on the course." The remaining funds went on marketing materials: flyers, business cards, and signage.

Building on his business plan and pitch presentation, Angelo has positioned Nuova as a complete home renovation service provider from start to finish, with himself as the single point of contact managing any subcontractors - giving clients the peace of mind of dealing with someone they can trust throughout the project.

For Angelo, growth is not simply a matter of numbers. His ambition is to build slowly and deliberately - establishing a reputation for quality, assembling a small team of skilled tradesmen, and becoming a name that clients in Reading can trust to deliver exactly what they want.

That trust, it seems, is already being earned. "I'm very focused on quality and feedback from the client," he says. "I had a couple of clients that actually hugged me at the end of the project! That’s the biggest thing about Launch Reading - it gives you the structure, the mindset, to be in that position "

Find out more about Nuova Home Improvements Ltd. here.

Find out more about Launch Reading's business training programme here.