'I had friends who were DJs, doormen and drug dealers... things escalated very quickly'

A bag of heroin and 15 pints of lager. This is what a typical day looked like for Steve Wyatt at the height of his alcohol and drug addiction.

It was a nightmare he endured for 22 gruelling years until he finally found hope through an unlikely source – the art of restoring furniture.

A stint at a farm retreat gave the 47-year-old the inspiration he needed to turn his life around for good. He now runs his very own vintage furniture restoration store.

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But Steve will never forget his spiral into despair. He was just a child when he first started hanging out with the wrong crowd, paving the way for the struggles he would face in the future.

Experimenting with drugs and alcohol from a very young age, Steve can recall getting drunk at the age of 12 and regularly sniffing glue and smoking cannabis.

Having left school with no qualifications, Steve enrolled at a food college with aspirations to become a chef.

But his life began to unravel when he was introduced to Birmingham’s rave scene – a thriving subculture that dominated the 90s.

“It was massive and drug-fuelled,” he told the Manchester Evening News. “I had friends who were DJs, doormen and drug dealers.

“It escalated from there very quickly. By the time I was 16 or 17, I had a criminal record for burglary. I was stealing from my parents and others to fund the lifestyle. For eight or nine years, it was mainly drinking, ecstasy and smoking weed.”

Despite his party lifestyle, Steve found work as a chef and eventually relocated to Glasgow at the age of 23.

But everything took a tragic turn when he was introduced to heroin shortly after arriving in the city.

“After two weeks, I was taking it every day just to function and go to work,” he said. “My alcohol use was so bad that I was waking up shaking and sick, drinking eight to 15 pints of lager a day.

“When I started using heroin, I'd wake up with a hangover, smoke a bag of heroin and it would lift the hangover. I found a way to get through the day, but it all unravelled quickly.”

Steve can recall running out of heroin while visiting his family for a holiday – going on to experience the gruelling effects of withdrawal for the first time.

“I couldn’t move off the sofa for two days,” he said. “I took myself to A&E and told my family I was using heroin.”

Steve checked himself into rehab for the first time and left after six months – only to relapse and use heroin the day he was released.

It was a vicious cycle Steve, originally from Poole, Dorset, found himself in over the following 10 years.

“I spent three years in prison, three years on the streets and four years total in rehab,” he told the MEN.

“I lived on the streets in Bristol for three years in a hostel and sold the Big Issue. People were dying every day and I probably know three or four who were murdered. I had a knife pulled on me and was spat at.”

Sadly, despite being supported by his loving family, Steve tried to get clean through rehab 20 times still couldn’t break free from his addiction.

But a seed of hope was planted when Steve stayed on a farm owned by a Christian community in a bid to get clean – an experience that would later help him turn his life around.

“Part of the programme was restoring furniture,” he added. “I worked in a spray shop and did deliveries. It ingrained discipline in me and sowed a seed for change.”

Taking crack cocaine and returning to the streets of Bristol shortly after leaving the retreat, it would take Steve another 10 years to finally overcome his addiction.

As his life continued to spiral out of control, Steve was also charged with possession of Class A drugs and counterfeit money and threatened with jail time.

But he was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence with the condition he continued with his rehabilitation treatment.

“I started injecting crack and heroin again and ended up on the streets of Bristol,” he added. “Every time I used, it got worse and the consequences grew. It left me with two choices – live or die.”

In March 2014, Steve was introduced to a 12-step rehab programme in Birmingham and learnt the tools to continue on a positive path to recovery.

After moving to Dorset, he started restoring mid-century furniture from his back garden, working four jobs tirelessly to keep himself focussed and clean.

Steve now says learning how to restore antique furniture is the passion that saved his life. “Furniture restoration gave me purpose and direction,” he added.

“After coming out of addiction for 22 years, I was left with a big void. Before, I was raising money for drugs, buying drugs, using drugs but I later applied that theory to furniture.

“Restoring the furniture and then selling the furniture. I took that negative behaviour and turned it into something positive.”

Steve later moved to Poole, and in 2020, was presented with a life-changing opportunity to open his own shop with Legal & General’s KINGLAND scheme.

The first project of its kind in the country saw Legal & General help revitalise the high street with support from partners like Nest Pensions.

Ten new entrepreneurs, including Steve, were given fully equipped units to start their businesses with no rent or business rates for two years.

Nest pensions helped to fund the regeneration project and its contribution to KINGLAND means that its 13.3 million members have helped to support Steve and other small businesses to thrive.

Steve eventually opened his own store – Restored Retro – describing it as a turning point in his journey.

The pandemic and cost of living crisis were tough challenges, but nearly four years later, Steve says his business is thriving.

With more clients and a larger stock of restored furniture, he was even able to expand into the unit next door in 2023 – doubling the size of his store.

Steve has so far restored and sold over 1,700 items of furniture and recently secured a coveted partnership with premium British furniture brand, G Plan.

“I'm really proud of myself,” he said, “I've worked extremely hard. There are times that I've wanted to give up, but I've kept going. It’s the shop that has really kept me going, even on the days that I've not been able to see the success myself.”

Steve now speaks at local prisons – he plans to visit facilities across Greater Manchester in the future – and continues to help other addicts and their families with their recovery.

“The ripple effect when it comes to addiction is huge,” he added. “It’s an incredibly hurtful illness that impacts almost everyone in an addict’s life. But that also means that positivity and hope spreads like wildfire among those affected.

“That’s what is so amazing about the story with my shop. Hundreds of people whether they work for Legal & General, have a pension with Nest, or were employed to renovate the street where my shop is, have all contributed in a small way to helping me change my life. Nest members should be so proud of what they’ve allowed me to achieve.

“My next ambition is to create a sustainable business model where I employ ex-prisoners to help them integrate safely back into society.

“This has only been imaginable due to partners such as Legal & General and having investments from Nest pensions. I battled for twenty-two years and didn’t give up. Every time you fail, you get back up and keep fighting. I will do all in my power to share my skills and things I have learned along the way to show that life is worth living.

“Addiction is not a pretty place to be in, and through my recovery I have put into practice three key principles: being open minded, honest, and to show willingness. I apply these daily in my business.”