Doing some odd jobs around London to earn some extra cash turned into a booming business for Aussie Brian Burgess.

He arrived in the UK in 2000 with just £300 in his pocket, but three years later the Sydneysider now owns a removals business, Aussie Man With A Van. It all started when a friend asked him to help move a large cupboard across London. Burgess hired a van, shifted the cupboard and was paid £50 for his efforts.

Seeing a gap in the market for a low-cost removals business in London, Burgess bought a cheap second-hand van with some savings and advertised in the local paper an “Aussie man and a van — available for hire”.

Burgess received an immediate response to his advert and found he was so busy that within just a few weeks he needed to hire someone to help him out.

“Everyone knows Aussies are some of the fittest and friendliest guys out there, and you’ll never catch them shying away from a hard day’s graft,” he says.

“Aussie Man And A Van was built on the Australian principle of good, honest hard work, and it’s helped us go from strength to strength since we started in 2003.”

Burgess doesn’t do any of the moving himself any more but is kept busy as the chairman of the company, which now has a fleet of over 25 vans and more than 40 staff.

Burgess plans on expanding his business nationwide, with hopes of becoming the UK’s number one removals company.