Alison Harnett is a 41 year old married mother of 3 living in Fishburn who until she was made redundant in 2011, worked as a Speech Therapist for Durham County Council.
Partial to a good brew and a skilled cake maker, Alison’s secret ambition was to open a speciality tea shop, something that being a working mum made impossible. When Alison was made redundant she decided it was “now or never” and decided to go for it. Alison approached Business Link who signposted her to Five Lamps Enterprise Team for advice on starting her business.
When a business needs premises, start-up costs will be high and from the outset it was clear that Alison’s main barrier was the amount of financial risk involved. With no access to grant funding Alison knew that her family’s financial security would be at risk if the business failed.
With such high stakes Alison knew her business planning and market research must be meticulous to prove her idea was viable and sustainable. Alison volunteered in local cafes, baked cakes for various charities and spent many long hours drinking tea and eating cakes while observing her competition! All of Alison’s research indicated that for her business to succeed, she must base herself in central Durham to take advantage of the tourist trade – more expense – making Alison’s decision even harder.
After much deliberation Alison, with the support of family, friends, Five Lamps Enterprise Team and many more, eventually found the perfect premises, took the plunge and opened Tealicious Tearoom at 88 Elvet Bridge, Durham on 30 August 2012.
Chris Butler Five Lamps Senior Business Development Officer called in recently to find Alison baking away and ready to open for another very busy day. When he asked how business was going Alison told him
“You know that projection we put in the cash flow of number of customers per day? – well we’re getting that an hour!! “
The business is a great success and you can follow Alison progress on facebook and Trip Advisor, by visiting the website www.tealicioustearoom.co.uk better still call in and say hello.
The Business Support in the North East project is being part financed by the European Regional Development Fund Programme 2007-13. The Department for Communities and Local Government is the managing authority for the European Regional Development Fund Programme, which is one of the funds established by the European Commission to help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support local businesses and create jobs. For more information click here Working in a consortium led by North East Enterprise Agencies Ltd (NEEAL) local Enterprise and Development Agencies in the North East have matched this ERDF investment with £1.07m of their own funds.