Three members of the same family in Bedlington have recently started working for themselves – in three totally different areas of business!  It has been a unique situation for their Business Adviser Alan Grieves, who works with NBSL’s Enterprise Bridge Programme in Northumberland, as he has experienced working with friends and partners who want to go into business together, but has never assisted three family members simultaneously trying to create three separate businesses.

Steven Houlsby, his sister Lydia and their brother in law, John-Paul McTeer, all knew they wanted to use their skills to become self-employed and because their ideas were all different, they knew they would benefit from supporting each other on their path to self-employment. 

After having a family and wanting to provide better for them, Steven decided to utilise his existing skills and experience gained from his Degree in Popular and Contemporary Music and HND in Music and Video at university to start his own company.  With NBSL’s help, Steven was successful in his application for funding from the Arts Council and Go Wansbeck’s Flexible Fund, which allowed him to buy the necessary production equipment to launch Resonance-Audio Visual Production.

Steven said “Alan at NBSL helped me to realise the full potential of my business idea by guiding me through the whole business planning process. He showed me how to identify and target markets appropriate to me so that I didn’t waste time and money.  Alan also helped me access funding from various sources to enable me to buy the expensive equipment I needed. The service NBSL provided to me was excellent.”  Resonance Audio Visual Production can be contacted at 01670 530598, mobile 07817 400967, through This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   and via www.resonanceavp.co.uk.

Lydia Houlsby, Steven’s sister, had worked in a hairdressing salon in Bedlington before being made redundant.  She knew the idea of becoming a mobile hairdresser was a good one and contacted NBSL for help to explore the possibility further.  Lydia said “I’m grateful for the advice and support I received, it gave me that extra little bit of confidence I needed to really go for it.  Alan helped me every step of the way in starting my own business.”  Having received assistance to develop her business plan and given practical guidance to source and apply for funding to help start-up, Glow is now up and running, and has a Glow-ing future!

John-Paul McTeer, Lydia’s and Steven’s brother in law, had eight year’s experience in the design and advertising industry, creating superb work for prestigious brands such as Arriva, BMW and Mini.  Having spent 6 years working with the same design agency, the talented graphic designer decided the time was right to use his industry experience to start up on his own.  John-Paul was confident in his technical abilities, but sought practical help from NBSL to conduct market research, develop cash-flow forecasts, create a sound business plan and obtain funding from the Go Wansbeck Flexible Fund.

John-Paul’s business, Now Known (at www.nowknown.co.uk), offers a fantastic range of design services to businesses within the local area.  He said “I believe the advice and support I received from NBSL to be paramount in my business getting off to the best start.  The help I received from the NBSL team was fantastic, giving me great confidence for the challenges that come with running your own business.”