Meet the DABS team

Jenny Halford

Jenny is Enterprise Development Manager for Business Durham. Having set up and applied for funding for the DABS programme, she is excited to widen Business Durham’s support to pre-start and new businesses. Jenny particularly enjoys helping enthusiastic new entrepreneurs to achieve their dreams and turn their ideas into viable and exciting businesses.

Outside of work, Jenny has two young children and a husband who all keep her on her toes. She loves cooking and crafting. Although her children are incredibly picky eaters, her husband is a very willing victim to all culinary creations (mostly).

Jenny also enjoys travelling, and her best holiday (pre-children) was a two-week trip around Peru. Staying in the Amazonian rainforest, meeting the residents on the floating islands of Lake Titicaca, climbing Machu Picchu – all unforgettable. She just has to wait another 15 years when the children are old enough to adventure with her!

Eve Wilkinson

Eve has recently started at Business Durham as the Finance & Monitoring Officer for the DABS project.

Eve has recently graduated from Leeds Beckett University with a Business Studies Hons degree and is looking forward to kick-starting her career within this role.

In her spare time Eve loves catching up with her friends often enjoying live events & music festivals with them. Eve also enjoys spending her time off traveling to sunny California to visit close family and enjoys exploring various cities & cuisines whilst there.

Eve is eager to challenge herself within this post and is excited to work with a great team, ambitious entrepreneurs and businesses within County Durham.

Carole White

As Chief Executive of TEDCO Business Support, Carole’s role is to ensure an effective delivery of the DABS programme.

Carole loves developing creative business support programmes and is proud of how hard the TEDCO team work to help new businesses to start and grow.

Carole is a mum to two amazing children who are both forging their dream careers and are an inspiration to Carole and her husband. Carole enjoys travelling and, of all the places she has visited, Rome is her favourite because of the culture, the food and the vino!

James Craft

James is the Enterprise & Development Manager for TEDCO Business Support and is the TEDCO Business Lead on the DABS programme. His day-to-day role is to manage projects across the North East of England and to ensure clients are receiving the best possible business advice and support.

James is excited to be involved in DABS, delivering exceptional support to new and early stage businesses in innovative ways to help more people to launch fantastic businesses.

When James is not providing business support, you can find him playing football or running – although most weekends are spent entertaining his two young children!

Amanda Armstrong

Amanda is a highly experienced and qualified events and marketing professional with over 18 years in the marketing events industry. Her role is to execute events for UMi clients, including conferences, exhibitions, corporate dinners, and award ceremonies.

Amanda thrives on organising events and keeping her clients happy. She loves the satisfaction of everything coming together on event day and seeing people enjoy the event.

One of her biggest personal achievements was travelling round the world for six months, going from one country to the next (without taking her hair straighteners)! Amanda went to Asia, Australia and Fiji and did a tandem skydive in New Zealand.

Paul Clark

Paul leads UMi’s events and campaigns team in developing and delivering world-class events and workshops for UMi partners.

His experience in leading trade delegates all over the globe and running large festivals means he is perfectly placed to turn a simple concept into a dynamic and crowd-drawing live experience.

Paul is passionate about devising quality networking and learning events where businesses leave with pioneering ideas, sales leads, inspiration and advice. Alongside Amanda, Paul will lead on the delivery of DABS events and marketing activity, making sure we bring you the best networking events, conferences and inspirational content to help you on your business journey.

Paul has dined at the House of Lords, completed a 20km Tough Mudder course and spent over 3 weeks driving around the West Coast of the USA … but if he is totally honest, most of the time he prefers sitting on the sofa eating comfort food and watching an addictive box set.

Andy Jack

Andy has been crafting online and blended learning products for over a decade. Andy is really looking forward to seeing businesses in County Durham flourish through the DABS programme. As a young business who benefited from expertise and guidance, they understand how vital help at an early stage is!

Andy is certified in New Product Development by the PDMA, has a degree in Economics, various project management qualifications and a Postgraduate Certificate in Digital Education from the University of Edinburgh.

When he’s not climbing a mountain, you can find him hiding from his three kids!

Mark Langdale

Mark has more than a decade’s experience of devising and delivering innovative online learning solutions for businesses, schools and charities. He excels in combining platforms to create tailored solutions, without all the complexities.

Mark loves a challenge, whether it is completing another Tough Mudder or building his own furniture from reclaimed wood!