Enterprising Colleen Bean has vowed to soldier on with her new business BeanZ Cafe after leaving her former employment with HWP Group because she felt she was to be fired for starting her business while on an official leave of absence.

Touching support received from others in the community, including deliveries of free bread and local fish to bolster her stock, has convinced the single mum that her future is to pursue her own independent business.

She is determined to push ahead with her cafe next door to Hamilton Parish Workmen's Club, at the top of The Crawl.

Whether or not HWP intended to end her employment as a cashier, something she has done for more than five years, is unclear. However Ms Bean said the calls she took from colleagues after her new cafe was featured in the Royal Gazette in July convinced her that it did.

Because she had never been fired before, Ms Bean decided to hand in her resignation when she returned to work rather than wait.

She discovered her final pay cheque and a form for changing her pension arrangements had already been prepared.

For confidentiality reasons New Ventures Holdings, the parent company of HWP, cannot disclose specific employee details although it has provided this newspaper with a list of reasons why employees are allowed absence of leave - the list does not include starting up a business.

The company would not say whether it had any intention to end Ms Bean's employment.

Ms Bean said she fulfilled her official reason for taking an absence of leave and, as there was nothing in the contract that suggested starting a side-business was disallowed, went ahead with the opportunity to open the cafe serving simple, traditional Bermudian favourites such as bacon and cheese burgers, macaroni and cheese, peas 'n' rice and fish sandwiches.

In the original newspaper article a reference - in the past tense - to her being a cashier before opening the cafe, she feels, may have upset her employers.

"The company feels that I breached my contract for leave of absence, but there is nothing in it which says I cannot start a business," she said.

"Many people in the company have second jobs."

Ms Bean is now concentrating on her new business and has been touched by the kindness of strangers who have donated bread and Bermuda fish for her to cook and serve customers.

The newspaper exposure has helped spread the word about her cafe and friends of her late mother Joan Bean, who was a short-order cook at the US Southside base, have also been in touch offering encouragement.

Ms Bean is also seeking holiday and overtime pay from HWP that she says she has earned.