A YOUNG entrepreneur is aiming to bring some light and cheer to Christmas markets around the region with his own brand of scented candles.
Dean Francis started the Scented Jam Jar Company from his flat in Fenham in Newcastle, and is now selling at markets in Alnwick, Morpeth and Newcastle Quayside. He is also in talks with high street retailers, including Fenwick.
Dean, who is studying a foundation degree in business management at Newcastle College, makes the scented candles from natural soya wax, set in hexagonal glass jars.
He has a special festive range including mulled wine, ground cinnamon, and spiced apple and winterberry in addition to his year-round varieties.
Dean said: “The candles are proving really popular with the public, who have responded to the fact that they are environmentally friendly as well as being really attractive to look at.”
He is now planning to move his enterprise into its own business unit next year and take on his first members of staff. And, in the longer term, he has ambitions to start a number of other businesses, including a window blind company.
Amy Brown, head of Newcastle Sixth Form College’s business department where Dean also studied, said: “Dean is a fine example of a student that is eager to put what he has learned in the classroom into practice.
“I’m sure he will go on to even better things now that he is studying for a foundation degree in business management at Newcastle College. I have no doubt that he will achieve his business ambitions and wish him every success.”
