Partner Article

Entrepreneur keeps friends and family in mind

A man who was made redundant did not forget his former colleagues and his family when he set up his own business.

James O’Neill took on two staff who had also lost their jobs and his uncle who had been made redundant as well.

Having trained as an engineer and enjoying a successful career at an electro-plating factory, James always had the ambition to set up on his own.

Redundancy gave James the push he needed to take the first steps in setting up on his own two feet.

He said: “The factory I worked at was part of a bigger group – unfortunately, we were hit harder than the rest when the recession took hold. Electro-plating is a fairly specialist field and there are not a huge number of jobs out there. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and start a business.”

The Enterprise Agency, NBSL, recommended James contact Go Wansbeck, which is supported by Northumberland County Council, to get help in planning his business.

Dave Gibbon, business coach at Go Wansbeck, was the first to help James with his plan.

He said: “As with many people who approach us, James had a great idea but needed a bit of support in fine-tuning his business plan. He was also pleasantly surprised when we also offered to help with grant applications.”

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