Sunderland entrepreneur takes skills to Italy on EU exchange programme

An entrepreneur from Houghton-le-Spring is travelling to Italy to learn new skills from an established business.

Charlotte Angus will spend two months in Naples as part of the EU’s ‘Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs’ exchange programme - designed to get experienced business mentoring aspiring businesses.

The North East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC) is a UK contact point for the scheme and Charlotte discovered the opportunity through the Centre.

She said: “After taking voluntary redundancy I came to the BIC in May and by August I had started my own business, Mulberry Dragonfly, which offers bespoke solutions to organisations to engage their teams and unlock performance potential to implement small and large business change.

“It has always been an aspiration of mine to work aboard because I love to travel and learn about other cultures and it was whilst receiving the help at the BIC that I found out about the Erasmus programme and this seems like a really good opportunity to not only share expertise with the company but also gain knowledge to benefit my business.

“The BIC have been so helpful right from the start and I am looking forward to the experience.”

Louise Hardy, business mentor at the BIC, added: “The Erasmus programme truly is a win win collaboration, the host company benefits from fresh ideas from a motivated individual and the entrepreneur may have specialised skills or knowledge in an area to compliment the business. As well as acquiring knowledge about foreign markets there is potential to expand business and network within another country.

“Don’t let the title put you off Young Entrepreneur simply means any business less than three years old therefore I would urge anyone interested in learning more to please get in touch.”

To find out more about the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs contact Louise Hardy on 0191 516 6170, louise.hardy@ne-bic.co.uk