Lorraine Illingworth from Stockton first came to Five Lamps in July 2013 looking for guidance, support and advice in setting up a Domestic Energy Assessment Business which she has called EPC’S North East
Lorraine was experienced in this field but found herself temporarily unemployed and had never been self-employed.
She attended one to one meetings with Ian Garforth, Enterprise Coach at Five Lamps, where she was given advice and guidance on all aspects of running a business from market research and operational prep work to funding and business planning. This helped her to gain the confidence and knowledge she needed to run her own Business.
Having carried out thorough market research and with her qualifications and experience in this field over the last year, she now felt confident that there was a strong demand for her service, and that she was creating a sustainable business. She was placed on the New Enterprise Allowance programme which gave her some financial help post start up and she started trading January 2014.
Lorraine said
“The thought of going self-employed was very daunting as I didn’t know what to do, but after my first interview with Ian I felt more confident and I was shown how to do my accounts. I have been trading for 6 months now and the business is picking up, from internet appointments to word of mouth from previous customers. Thank you Five Lamps’’
The NEA contract is delivered by Five Lamps and is part funded by the European Union, ERDF fund.