If We Can, You Can

Author:

Rona Askew

Business:

Tinderbox Events Ltd

Published:

10/11/2008 11:14:00

Myself and three friends, Emma, Verity and Praxedis, all met at Durham University and came out with good degrees, but we were all reluctant to go down the standard route of graduate employment.

In our final year, realising that the opportunities to exhibit art in Durham were limited, we’d decided to put on an art exhibition. ‘The Art Garden’ became an open air exhibition in the Durham Botanic Gardens which showcased work of around 50 artists.

Alongside the artwork we also put on an opening night champagne reception, an open air theatre production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and afternoon of live music and a family day.

We organised the whole event from start to finish, producing all promotional literature as well as managing PR and finances. The feedback we got from those who attended told us that there was a market for creative and dynamic events within the North East. So we started contemplating running a business together and ‘doing it for real’.

We thought about how rewarding doing it professionally and for ourselves would be. Our work experience that we did after graduating only confirmed this.

Working in London was expensive and claustrophobic and working for other people didn’t come close to the challenge and excitement of The Art Garden.

We were also convinced that working together made us a formidable team as we knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses so well having lived together for three years.

As a result, moving back up to the North East and running a business seemed more logical than doing anything else.