Tees Business Tees Business Issue 16 | Page 50

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.”