EIGHT o’clock starts have brought new meaning and peace to the life of pastel artist and former Honda associate Nathan Pegler, who waved goodbye to the factory grind in May.

Nathan, 41, of Marlborough Road, Royal Wootton Bassett, rises in time for the 8am news and feeds his cat and dog before heading to his own personal studio, where he now draws for a living.

Less than six months ago, and for the 19 years before that, it was a different story, as Nathan dragged himself out for the daily commute to Honda of the UK Manufacturing’s (HUM) Highworth Road base.

Years of hard, physical work, as Nathan describes it, had slowly worn him down until the latest wave of redundancies this year, which gave him his chance to cash in and start afresh, becoming his own boss running his pastel art business.

“I had been working in the sub-assembly wing, but it’s dropped off for the last five years,” he said.

“The four-month shutdown (February 2009) was the start of the troubles with the industry.

“I was always itching to do something else, but you get stuck in a rut.

“We had had a few waves of voluntary redundancy, but they weren’t offering as much as I needed to think about leaving.

“What pushed me in the end was down to personal circumstances. I had separated from my wife, met somebody else and then the announcement was made. It all happened very quickly.”

On March 25, HUM announced it would axe 500 jobs from its workforce, which set the wheels in motion for Nathan to begin make his dream a reality.

He was one of the first in line to submit his request for voluntary redundancy and once it was accepted he looked into the support offered by the task force put together for those losing their jobs.

With help from Ready for Business, a start-up support firm, and its mentors, Nathan put together his business plan for NJP Pastel Art.

Using £3,500 of his redundancy payout to set the firm up, Nathan will offer various pastel prints for customers, either as cards, canvases and bespoke commissions, all in various sizes.

His passion had always been for art and drawing, ever since his A-level studies at The Ridgeway School in Wroughton. After 15 years of drawing for friends and family, he’s ready to make money from it.

“If you get the confidence to take that big step, it’s very rewarding. You are not going to be on that grind, on that early shift, on that late shift,” said Nathan, who has a 13-year-old daughter.

“Your finances will be stretched, but if you can get over that, then life is much more relaxed. If you can get inspired doing something for yourself, if you have got an idea, go and see somebody about it.”

Nathan’s business is due to go live before November 1, and his work will be available at www.njp-pastel-art.uk.