Stories

How support and expert guidance is helping businesses in County Durham to flourish.

Mental health training zooms out of starting blocks with DABS support

Fulfilling your dream of being your own boss and running your own show can be incredibly exciting. But if you’re a one-person business like Durham’s Zero78Training, it can also be exhausting, as you try to do everything yourself; and isolating, particularly when you’re trying to get the business off the ground during a pandemic. That’s where DABS – Durham Ambitious Start Ups – can offer training, finance and access to a community of like-minded people for support and ideas.

Read Zero78Training's story

Mission completely possible for brewer with DABS business support

Many have tried – and failed – to create the magical alchemy of a tasty beer that delivers a buzz, yet is completely alcohol-free. However, one Durham company is changing all that with its first release of lagers that have virtually no alcohol in them at all.

Read Impossibrew's story

DABS helps Durham entrepreneurs launch vegan food sourcing app

Some things make for a perfect pairing. Tea and toast. Batman and Robin. Kirk and Spock. And now Mizi and McQueen.

Meet Ibrahim Mizi and Reuben McQueen, co-founders of Bionix Technologies and partners in an innovative vegan venture, FoodForage, and another local startup to benefit from advice and support by the Durham Ambitious Business Start-Ups group (DABS).

Read Bionix Technologies' story

DABS helps Clare write her own story

Durham based start-up Aniseed Creative is off to a great start, finding new clients and a supportive network through the Durham Ambitious Business Start-ups (DABS) programme.

With 25 years’ experience in graphic design and branding, Clare Lavelle took the leap into self-employment in July 2020 after working with TEDCO, which runs the DABS programme, to give her the solid foundations her business needs.

Read Clare's story

Planning for business success

Independent financial advice duo, Tristan Burd and Rachel Denham, are off to a flying start with their business Sandringham Financial Partners Darlington, thanks to support from the Durham Ambitious Business Start-ups (DABS) programme.

Operating as part of a network of financial planning professionals, Tristan and Rachel took the leap into self-employment in June and have since been busy planning and growing their new business.

Berry Education goes digital to offer more support services for Academy Trusts

Berry Education is an education support service specialising in business functions and governance development for academy trusts. Director Claire Mitchell opened the doors in September 2020 after seeing a gap in the education support market.