Partner Article

Want to Impress shakes it up

Sitting on a beach in Fiji while discussing Tom Cruise’s Cocktail-inspired chat up techniques with a fellow traveller, John Collingwood hit on a new business idea with a twist.

Having been made redundant from Bacardi where he worked for over six years and trained more than 10,000 bartenders, John returned from his travels and decided to use his expertise to set up his own enterprise.

Want To Impress is a cocktail training and events company, which teaches people how to make famous drinks in their own homes.

The business also provides skills training to professional bartenders and delivers mobile cocktail services for events and private parties.

John Collingwood said: “Redundancy can be a traumatic experience that undermines peoples’ confidence and ability to get back into work- let alone start their own business. Despite the initial shock, being made redundant was actually one of the best things that ever happened to me and it has allowed me to start my dream business and really take control of my life.

“Getting help and support was crucial in turning my idea into a fully formed business plan and Business Link was integral to this. It is crucial in these difficult economic times that people realise free advice and guidance is available to them- without having access to the free guidance of Business Link’s advisers and events it would have been much harder for me to get Want To Impress off the ground.”

Since starting his company John has been lending a hand those who also want to run their own enterprise, telling his story to visitors at Business Link events.

John continued: “When I was setting up the company I received a huge amount of encouragement from other people in business and I realised what a huge difference it makes to know that you’re not alone and that there’s an answer to every question if you make the most of the support available.”

For more information about Want to Impress, go to www.wanttoimpress.com. For more on Business Link, go to www.businesslink.gov.uk/northeast.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .