Angela puts art and soul into new business

When Angela Wakefield graduated with a degree in Fine Art in 2003, she knew that she had the makings of a business. Trouble was, she wasn't sure where to start.

Angela produces stunning contemporary originals and brings her alternative style to a wide range of special commissions. But her artistic talents don't end there. She turns her hand to intricate craftwork such as beaded jewellery and handmade cards; she designs and knits scarves; she uses new technology to restore old photographs, and she can design a website or two as well! But how was she to bring all those skills together in a marketable form?

Luckily, Angela found out about a course run by Hyndburn Enterprise Trust in conjunction with the University of Central Lancashire. Called the New Entrepreneur Scholar, NES for short, it proved to be exactly the inspiration and the business grounding that Angela was looking for.

"It seemed as though the course had been designed especially for me," she says. "It starts by helping you to focus on a small and relatively vague business idea, then gradually helps you to bring out more and more information and keep refining your ideas until what you have is a properly structured business plan. During the course, you also get specialist tuition in all the basic business skills, finance, marketing and so on."

Now Angela (26) has launched her company, Ascot Studios, and is working from home in Ascot Way, Accrington until she finds premises. She's using her website (www.ascotstudios.com) and general word of mouth until her marketing efforts start to bring in results. And she's keeping her options open with all her skills on offer. "In terms of products and services, I want to be able to work across all the different media. Also, my partner is a musician and hopes to join the company in its second year so Ascot Studios will be a true multimedia production company."

So would Angela recommend NES? "Absolutely. It's a fantastic course and you learn a huge amount, things I would never have known about otherwise. It runs for six months and although you only attend for one day a week, there's plenty of extra work to do! I had to do a presentation to the board which was a bit nerve wracking, but it was definitely worth it because I was awarded a grant, which is a massive step up when you're just starting out."

You can find out more about Angela's work at www.ascotstudios.com. For more info about becoming a New Entrepreneur Scholar, contact Jo Evans at Hyndburn Enterprise Trust on 01254 600625.