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The boss of a new gardening business has promised to ensure a quarter of the work it does is provided by people with learning difficulties or disabilities.

Oliver Lockwood, who decided to launch Stonebridge Garden Services after being furloughed, said he also wants to include more women and people from different ethnicities and backgrounds in the business.

Mr Lockwood turned his back on a job in corporate marketing at brick maker Ibstock PLC to start offering lawn care and garden maintenance to homeowners in Leicestershire.

He has ADHD and said he is wants to bring out people’s strengths within the business rather than focus on labels – and ensure social responsibility plays a big part in the services he offers.

He said: “When you find people and you can give them a safe space to work, they feel both respected and appreciated.

“If they do specific tasks very well it allows them to grow with those tasks. If they love certain jobs why would I get someone else to do them?

“This not only opens up opportunities for them but us too as we optimise our workforce and add specialisms where appropriate.

“We need to stop using words like disabilities because when we hire people, they might not be able to do everything, but if they can do the things we want them to do well, where’s the disability?”