Friends and neighbours
TEESSIDE’S creative and retail sector is being bolstered by Eaglescliffe’s magnificent seven.
Seven professionals living and working within three streets of each other are using their entrepreneurial skills to run their own ventures.
The imaginative minds include a freelance copywriter, the owner of an eco-friendly home accessories business, a photographer, a restaurateur, an award-winning playwright and two friends who run an outside catering company.
Emma Finn - who launched Finn Copywriting in 2006 after taking voluntary redundancy from her previous job - said recession-hit firms could source vital trade by operating as part of a cluster. She has increased annual revenues to £35,000 after providing copywriting and PR services for former policewoman Kerrie Murray, another member of the Eaglescliffe seven who launched home accessories business Pins and Ribbons three years ago.
A third member, Sarah Hutchcraft, launched catering firm Alberts in 2006 with her friend and neighbour Deborah Batley. She said it was “a complete coincidence” that so many people had started a business in her area.
Other members of the Eaglescliffe seven are freelance photographer John Boddy, playwright Gordon Steel; and Luke Harding, owner of vegetarian restaurant Waiting Room.
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