Christine Shields of Simply Scrumptious.
Some of County Durham’s best new business talent has been showcased to celebrate local success and inspire others.
The event was staged by Be Enterprising, County Durham’s Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI), is one of the country’s most innovative business support providers and was created to change lives and transform places in County Durham.
Beamish Coutry House Hotel provided a stunning shop window for some of the best small business ideas to recieve help from Be Enterprising. Among them were chocolate fountain supplier Simply Scrumptious run by Christine Shields and Andy Nelson who launched Go Kart Party after being made redundant. His business run’s a franchise that provides go karting tracks and karts for birthdays and special events.
Elliott Patterson, the Be Enterprising programme manager said: “The social and economic future of County Durham needs to be built upon the foundation of including people in economic opportunity. Enterprise is a great way for people to take control of their own destiny, through starting businesses that can make money from elsewhere and bring it back into their communities. There is still a huge range of entrepreneurial and business talent lying untapped within County Durham and it is the aim of the Be Enterprising programme, together with our partners, to bring the level of business start ups in the County to above the national average.
“It will stimulate interest in enterprise, enhance the confidence of those not sure about where to go or what Be Enterprising is about and more importantly create a network of businesspeople and entrepreneurs.
Be Enterprising was created to inspire enterprise and bring about positive and measurable changes in the employment hotspots of County Durham’s former districts of Derwentside, Easington, Sedgefield and Wear Valley.
The vision of the Be Enterprising Programme is that by 2016, communities in County Durham will be the most enterprising in the North East and the fastest improving areas for enterprise and productivity in England.
Anyone living in these areas who would like to make their business idea a reality may be eligible for support from Be Enterprising. For more information, call 0800 030 4134 or visit www.be-enterprising.biz.
