BEST NEW
BUSINESS
Sponsored by Tees Valley
Combined Authority
WINNER:
FOURTEEN
DROPS
Fiona McLain was delighted to win the
Best New Business award – almost a year
to the day since opening her wine bar
Fourteen Drops on Yarm High Street.
Fiona is a rare exception – a female in
the male-dominated world of wine. Rarer
still, the 31-year-old from Eaglescliffe
is a sommelier in the Tees Valley, and
she’s proving that it’s possible to run a
successful startup despite being dyslexic.
The name Fourteen Drops was inspired
by an old saying of Fiona’s late grandad
Peter Ellis – that there are always 14 drops
left in a bottle of wine – who left her the
money to start the business.
Fiona opened in late 2017 and Fourteen
Drops has thrived, supporting artisan wine
and gin producers and employing around
15 people.
A second Newcastle branch recently
opened, there are plans for another shop
and wine bar in 2019, and the business is
also about to go online.
Fiona said: “The award was unexpected,
but I’m really pleased and excited for the
area and industry.
“Wine is super male-dominated, like so
many other industries, so to be a female
role model can’t mean any more to me.
“It’s all down to hard work, passion and
knowledge. Being dyslexic, I’m not from
an academic background.
“Growing up with it you are made to
feel different, and maybe I found wine
because it’s a different avenue.
“It’s about tasting, experiencing and
talking to people, so there’s a route out
there for everyone, and hopefully I’ve
found mine.”
Fiona McLain (right) of Fourteen Drops received the Best New Business award
from Julie Gilhespie of category sponsors Tees Valley Combined Authority.
Jessica Williams of Just Williams.
RUNNER-UP:
Julie Fletcher of Pie Jackers.
RUNNER-UP:
Just Williams Pie Jackers
Based at Fusion Hive in Stockton,
Just Williams “provides an innovative
outsourced end to end sales team”.
Jessica Williams, 32, set up on her own in
2015 after starting in retail banking, and
now has a mainly female team of four full-
time and one part-time staff.
Through careful growth, turnover has
increased from £80,000 to an on-target
turnover of £252,000 for 2019. Jessica’s
vision is that Just Williams will become
the leading outsourced sales provider in
the North-East and nationally. Her firm’s
current growth path allows for two more
appointments this year, and a further four
or more next year. In crust we trust! Middlesbrough-based
Pie Jackers has gone down a storm since
Julie Fletcher and husband Neil gave
up corporate careers to set up their
handcrafted gourmet pie business. Pie
Jackers has won a tasty four coveted
British Pie Awards since starting in May
2016, and an award from former Dragons
Den star Theo Paphitis.
The business trades at food events
across the North-East, offers a catering
service and supplies a growing number
of bars, coffee shops and family venues.
The next step is expansion, with the
goal to open a Pie Jackers’ cafe-bakery
employing a team of staff.
SPONSOR’S MESSAGE
Julie Gilhespie, interim managing director at Tees Valley
Combined Authority: “These awards provided me with a
great opportunity to hear a host of inspiring stories from our
incredibly talented local businesswomen.
“In the Combined Authority’s efforts to encourage new
businesses and drive economic regeneration, we can’t lose
sight of the people behind the brand and the women at the
helm of these brilliant new companies would have all made
deserving winners.”