"It’s the new cool," says self-proclaimed ‘allotment junkie’ Paul King. When he took on a south Manchester allotment around 10 years ago, the dad-of-two was at the helm of a successful creative agency in Manchester.
But, as creative director, Paul would often work 15 hour days - fuelled mainly by coffee and adrenaline - to meet tight deadlines. "They were really exciting times,” says Paul. "We moved into larger offices in West Didsbury, winning new clients, increased turnover and I became a father at the same time. "All the years of hard work and seven years creative education was starting to pay off.
Life was good." Then the 2008 recession hit the UK. The creative industry took a major downtown with many companies going into administration