Anthony tunes in to enterprise

Jan 19 2010 by Karen Dent, The Journal

A SHOP manager has combined his love of music with his business brain to turn his hobby into money-spinning enterprise.

Anthony Fairley has managed his father’s convenience store in Sunderland for more than a decade but had always enjoyed providing the music for parties and events.

The father-of-four said: “I started DJ-ing a few years ago for friends’ parties and people started saying how good I was at it and that I should set up in business.

“I’ve already got bookings coming in and a lot of word-of-mouth recommendations which is great.”

He saved up to buy the DJ equipment he needed and received business advice from Social Enterprise Sunderland (SES), which receives funds from the European Union to back business start-ups. SES helped Mr Fairley to launch AF Entertainment and provided advice on putting a basic accountancy system in place.

Michelle Brunton, SES business councillor, said: “Turning a hobby into a business is a great way to be enterprising, combining work with something you already have a passion for.”