An invitation has gone out to the region’s bon vivants from a new business venture intent on becoming the height of good taste.

She has been joined by her partner Stuart  and daughter Helen to set up Opus which is planning its inaugral event at the Blacksmith’s Table restaurant in Washington later this month.

Lesley, of Gainford, Chester-le-Street, said: “I was on a dating site and looking for a better social life when the idea took shape. I really enjoy good food and eating at good restaurants and two themes came together as the Opus Dining Club.

“We wanted something that was highly original and unique to the region. Since then we have talked to selected restaurants from Alnwick to Yarm and have now launched a membership campaign and a website.

“As the club moves forward we will be responding to what the membership and developing dinner evenings, summer balls and themed events such as race days and cultural outings. We hope Opus will become a natural point for people who want to socialise in style.

“There are endless opportunities to expand the Opus portfolio in the future, but for now we will be concentrating on organising dinner events,” said Lesley (above right) with the OPus team and owner of Le Raaj restaurant, Chester-le-Street, Sofed Miah (second right).

Interested? More information is available at the Opus Dining Club at www.opusdiningclub.co.uk

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.

DURHAM BUSINESS CLUB

The Chester-le-Street based Club joins a select group of organisations that have shown commitment to high quality service provision and who are working towards continuously improving their services. Matrix assessors remarked that the Club is “a highly respected, well organised and high performing organisation.”

Matrix is a national accreditation covering a framework for the effective delivery of information, advice and guidance on learning and work. The Club’s Work Based Learning Director Susan Matthews commented: “We are delighted to be awarded the Matrix accreditation. It means we are at the very top end of providing information, advice and guidance to clients and staff.”

Durham Business Club achieved the accreditation after excelling in most areas of the assessment. Key strengths identified included: Commitment to learners and customers, excellent staff development, inspirational board involvement and a strong commitment to equality and diversity.

With continual self assessment and evaluations, Durham Business Club has positioned itself at the forefront of apprenticeship training in the region. It has Investor in People status, and was awarded Grade 2 by Ofsted inspectors in February 2008.

More information about the courses on offer and the application process can be found at Durham Business Club on 0191 388 4488 or at www.durhambusinessclub.co.uk

Medical Services (NE) – Wayne Hall

MORE businesses across County Durham are being given the chance to access support from a programme that is already taking more than 60 companies on a fast track to growth.

Fastest 50 is an innovative business development programme put together by the county’s five enterprise agencies – Chester-le-Street & City of Durham Enterprise Agency, Derwentside Enterprise, East Durham Business Service, SASDA (covering Sedgefield Borough) and The Enterprise Agency (Wear Valley & Teesdale).

Since the programme began in 2007, it has proved so successful that it has now been extended for a further year. Business owners and managers are given a unique opportunity to benefit from a combination of workshop sessions and around 36 hours of one-to-one support from a senior business mentor with a track record of success.

Companies are advised and supported on everything from finance, marketing, funding, managing people and business development to systems, training, IT, product development and operations. Businesses already on Fastest 50 range from one-man bands to those with around 10 employees and sectors include software, glass manufacture, design, castings, food, retail, music, finance and market gardening.

Bishop Auckland-based Medical Services (North East) Ltd operates a private ambulance service as well as delivering all types of first aid training.

“Fastest 50 has completely turned our business around,” said Wayne Hall, who is now looking to expand and increase the workforce. “Within a few months our sales were up 56% on the previous year and this is all down to the programme.”

Praising the company’s commitment, his mentor Paul Storey, Managing Director of MRB Schumag said; “I have found the whole experience very rewarding and am happy to have played a small part in something so successful.”

“Fastest 50 is about inspiring people, raising aspirations, innovation and improving business skills,” said Shaun Stuart, Chief Executive of The Enterprise Agency, who manages the programme on behalf of the five agencies. “The five agencies have decades of experience in supporting start-up and growing businesses and pooling our expertise, local knowledge and contacts to work together on projects such as Fastest 50 is really paying dividends.

“Support is particularly important during difficult times like these when businesses are competing in such challenging markets so we are giving more businesses the opportunity to benefit. Companies are helped to maximise their potential, remain competitive and grow their market share, putting them in a far stronger position to cope with an economic downturn.

“More than 90 people have attended workshops, the contribution made by the mentors has been invaluable and participants have been really enthusiastic about the results,” he added.

Anyone interested in Fastest 50 should contact the agency for their area – Chester-le-Street & City of Durham (0191 3845407 or www.cdcbp.org.uk ) ; Derwentside Enterprise Agency (01207 580011); East Durham Business Service (0191 5863366 or www.edbs.co.uk); SASDA (01325 310730 or www.sasda.info) or The Enterprise Agency (01833 696600 or www.theenterpriseagency.co.uk)