Cathy Brown (now Woodward) had previously worked as a meat cutter before being made redundant due to the closure of the butchers shop where she worked.

Rather than face the dole queue, Cathy decided to use her trade skills and start her own business. With the help of various grants and practical business advice she has opened “Cathy’s Fresh Cuts” within the Netto Store at Ashington.

Business in the first week has been brisk and she is about to recruit two recruit part-time employees. Cathy is now serving food with a distinctly Scottish flavour – delicacies include beef olives, haggis, Lorne sausage and Scotch beef.

She told TheSouthern: “I do miss my home town, so bringing in food from that area helps keep me in touch with home and all of the people I know up there.

“It has been quite scary starting out on my own but it’s also a great feeling knowing that I’m doing something I’ve always wanted to do,” said Cathy. “I’ve had a lot of help with various grants and practical business advice, in particular the local BizFizz team which provides free, confidential and professional advice to local entrepreneurs.

BizFizz coach Graeme Trotter was delighted to help Cathy in her first steps towards running her own business. He said “Cathy was a joy to coach; she has a lot of passion for what she does and battled every obstacle in her way.”