A massage therapist who won an Argus award said he defied all odds during the Covid pandemic and has plans to expand his business even further.

Harminder Singh Swaley, who owns Infinity Massage Therapy in Queen's Road, Brighton, was delighted to collect his award for readers' favourite health and beauty salon.

Harminder has been massaging people since the age of five and decided to take his passion full time in Argust 2020.

The Argus: Harminder adjusting someone's backHarminder adjusting someone's back (Image: Supplied)

He said: "We can't believe that we won this competition. I am so happy and proud that our clients voted for us as it means a great deal to me and the team as the years of hard work and sacrifice have been acknowledged."

On his three-year anniversary of opening Infinity Massage Therapy, Harminder said: "I worked in sales from the age of 25 to 38, working from business to business. However this was never my calling and as they years went on I did not have the passion for my career.

"I was very unhappy until one I day I decided I needed to make a change and take control of my life.

"Friends and family had always said in the past that my massages were great despite not having any formal training. I put it down to the fact that I used to massage my dad regularly as this is common practice in Indian culture.

"I eventually decided I wanted to open a massage business to engange well with those from all walks of life."

The Argus: He was delighted to have won the awardHe was delighted to have won the award (Image: Supplied)

He took a part-time massage course and launched Infinity Massage in autumn 2019 part time.

As the pandemic brought the world to a halt, Harminder's plans stopped too. He was placed on furlough from his sales job before being made redundant but he had a plan.

He said: "I had been updating the Infinity Massage website and optimising it to have an online presence.

"So when the time came, I decided to take a very risky move and make my massage business full time. Which in reflection was crazy.

"People were afraid to have contact with each other and there were multiple lockdowns, however, I did not want to work for someone else or go back to sales so I just went for it. To be honest it was a challenging year."

The Argus: Harmander's award shelfHarmander's award shelf (Image: Supplied)

His business savings were being used for his personal bills and as lockdown after lockdown was enforced he was struggling to stay afloat.

He considered going back to employment but in April 2021 as the lockdowns eased, his business took off once again.

He has since hired two members of staff and has hopes to open new locations in Eastbourne and Hove.

Harminder said: "It is never too late to change your life for the better, don’t overthink it.

"Just have an idea and take the first step of inspired action and be prepared to work to make your dream into reality."