Alison Darrington - Darrington Training

Alison Darrington decided to set up her own company in 2006 to have a more flexible lifestyle. She grew tired of a repetitive corporate job that often involved working 14 hours a day, many of them travelling.

“The department within which I worked was told that our job role was going to change and it would mean more travel, more working hours and less of what I love doing, or we could take redundancy – it was the incentive I needed to start up on my own,” she said.

Alison had recently moved to East Anglia and had very few local contacts, which compounded the isolation associated with self employment.

“I missed that interaction and general chat, and missed those people who were special to me,” she said.

Alison had trouble finding support and information about setting up a business, until she attended an Enterprising Women event in Ipswich.

“I was immediately impressed with the friendliness, the sincerity, the information and knowledge that we were given just at that meeting, and the motivation to just do it and be part of a large support network which was new and different. I felt that the primary aim was to help and encourage people like me who sometimes feel like a fish out of water!”

Alison also appreciates that the programme is publicly funded.

“I loved the fact that you could become a member for free where most business networks cost a lot to join; you could put your profile on their website for free as well, and this has driven traffic to my own website!”

Since the initial event Alison has made the most of training opportunities.

“Each training session I’ve attended has been informative, interesting and interactive. I have learned a lot from them, some of which has been challenging too! The atmosphere is friendly and supportive, and because of the discussions we come away with other people’s helpful advice too,” she said.

Alison now socialises with fellow entrepreneurial women she met at Enterprising Women training sessions, and feels her developing network is as much of a benefit as the business support.