‘I filed for bankruptcy, but I’ve recovered’

Karen Green, 54, a mum of two from Nottingham, says, “Having always worked in the food industry, in 2006 I fancied a change and bought a gym, paid for with a bank loan and zero per cent interest credit cards. It didn’t make money, but all the repayments were being made, and I did a food-consultancy role alongside the gym to tide me over. But as the 2008 recession struck, banks put up the interest rates on my repayments to over 25 per cent and I lost the consultancy role. A third of my gym customers cancelled memberships, so with banks constantly chasing payments, I filed for bankruptcy.

I had no equity in my house and I was a single parent to an 11- and a 13-yearold, so I could stay in my home if I kept up the payments. I signed up for Job Seeker’s Allowance and the other benefits I was entitled to, and my mum gave me some money to tide me over.

“Rebuilding my life was tough but manageable. My credit score took a hit, but I took out a new credit score-rebuilding credit card to help my financial status in the future [this helps for future loans and mortgages] and went through my direct debits – where I found I was still paying car insurance on a car I no longer had!

“I started cooking double and freezing a portion, stopped buying convenience meals, instead making meals from scratch and using frozen fruit instead of fresh. I wasted nothing – if all else failed, I made soup.

“After five months, thanks to some contacts in the food industry, I got a job working as an account manager selling ready meals to Tesco. After a few years, I wrote a book, called Recipe For Success, and I became a consultant in the food industry. Now I have my own business advising food and drink companies.”