A millionaire business owner has shown that money does not always buy happiness after taking part in a house swap experiment with a struggling family.

Steve Haslam, owner of 12 restaurants and pubs in Essex including Grand Central in Miles Gray Road, Basildon, appeared in the Channel 5 programme, Rich House Poor House.

Through the show, Steve, his wife, Jo and two children, Holly, 16, and Oliver, 13, saw life from a different perspective as they left behind their home in Essex to spend a week at a three bedroom council house in Watford. Steve, a self-made entrepreneur, started his career cleaning toilets, became a millionaire before 23.

Speaking on the programme, Steve said: “We had to remember that my youngest children are 13 and 16 so they do not know any different to the life we have. That is not to be held against them though, I only started to become comfortable in this part of my life.”

The Haslams spent the week living the lives of Neil and Louise Brimicombe, who lived on a budget so tight that before the programme, they had just 18p in their bank account.

They moved into Steve’s £1million home in Chelmsford where they enjoyed a lavish lifestyle on a budget of £3,000 a week which amounted to what the Haslams could spend a week. Steve, Jo and his children were given only £140 to live in the family of six’ council house.

“There are six people in that family and there was only the four of us living in their home so spatially it was not bad. But those six people are sharing one bathroom and that is not something our children were used to.”

The experience more than anything else allowed Steve to spend more quality time with his children. He said: “There are times with the restaurants that Jo and I are working upwards of 90 hours a week so the week meant we could do some normal things with the children we do not have time to do. We went and played mini golf in Brentwood, we would just go out and knock a ball around. The experience meant we could spend quality time Holly and Oliver.”

He and Jo left the Brimicombes some money to help the family over the next few months, however, the couple decided that the hand over should not be done on camera.

He said: “We left them some money to help them through their return to the house because they have not got a lot in the bank so we left them something help.

“There were a couple reasons we went on the show. People say that wealthy families get handed money to them, but everything we have done is through hard work. People also say that less fortunate people are lazy and that they don’t work hard, and that is certainly not the case. A lot of less fortunate families also do have to work very hard, Neil works 50 hours a week, every week. I hope the show proved that we are just a normal hard working family and not everyone is born into wealth. It has been a really good thing for us.”

Steve hopes that his family’s appearance will show that money cannot always buy the memories that you share with family. The Haslams are still in touch with the Brimicombes despite never meeting in person.

Steve hopes that the families can get together very soon.