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New store for Durham e-trader

A Durham entrepreneur branched out to open her first ‘bricks and mortar’ store last week - just months after she was named as a finalist in an online trading competition. Kate Dawson from Dipton was one of 10 entrepreneurs from across the region who each won £2,000 to start their own business via eBay, in a challenge run by regional development agency One NorthEast and the North East Regional Portal.

The idea of the ‘YouTrade’ competition was to encourage online entrepreneurship across the North East. Six months after launching her business Spirit Unique, selling jewellery and accessories, Kate has diversified into other products and opened The Spirit Gallery and Giftshop in Eshottheugh on Saturday.

Kate said: “I’ve attended a number of events and fairs promoting the business and am now supplying a hotel with jewellery for their staff. “I’ve found eBay to be a very competitive market place for jewellery so I’ve diversified into other products such as watches and home accessories, which are proving to be popular sellers.”

YouTrade was launched last November. Among the other successful pitches to the ‘Dragon’s Den’ style panel were business plans for jewellery and accessories, fitness equipment sales and antiques companies.

All the winners have now started trading via eBay, and are competing to be the most successful in their first year of trading. To help them, they are getting support through a series of boot camps about all aspects of running an internet business and entrepreneurship in general.

Andy Walton, e-business Manager at One NorthEast, said: “When we launched YouTrade, we wanted to inspire people to be enterprising and to turn their ideas into something real. “If we are to achieve the region’s aim of starting 22,000 new businesses in the next decade to help us close the productivity gap between the North East and other English regions, we have to develop our entrepreneurial culture and make sure people have access to the skills they’ll need to succeed in running their own business.“Â

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .