Returning decorator gets back to business

Oct 6 2009 by Karen Dent, The Journal

A PAINTER who once decorated the home of Jimi Hendrix's drummer has set up his own business after returning to his native North East.

Craig Douglas, who is originally from County Durham, moved home to Crook after a relationship break-up in Devon, where he had been living and running a successful business.

He also worked in Australia, Belgium and France, where he decorated the home of the late Mitch Mitchell, drummer with the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

But after a year of not working following his return to the region, Mr Douglas was struggling to find the confidence to set up a business, despite the success he had achieved in the past.

He said: “After running a successful business for more than 20 years it was difficult starting from scratch again, when I’d once had dozens of employees. It can sometimes be quite daunting starting a business from scratch, even if you’ve done it before.”

Mr Douglas, who is now targeting commercial and domestic customers with his firm Decorating Solutions, was able to source grants to pay for his basic start-up equipment, stock and business insurances from Be Enterprising, County Durham’s Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI).

It also provided him with business coaching and mentoring to help him return to an enterprising mindset before going it alone again.

Michael Smith, Mr Douglas’s Be Enterprising business coach, said: “Craig had the experience and business know-how, he just needed some support to get things started up again.

“I’m in no doubt that he will make a huge success of the business.”

Be Enterprising is partly funded by the EU’s European Regional Development Fund Competitiveness Programme 2007-13, which is ploughing more than £250m into the North East to back innovation, enterprise and business support.

The County Durham initiative concentrates on using enterprise as a means to make changes in unemployment hotspots in the former districts of Derwentside, Easington, Sedgefield and Wear Valley. It wants to hear from people there who have business ideas that may be eligible for support.