An accountant from Derry has described how he turned a love of local history into a successful tour guiding business.
“I always had an interest in history and had considered doing it as my degree but I didn’t see a career plan from that so I went into accountancy,” he explained. “One of my consultancy clients was an engineering company and I sometimes had to work in Sweden and Spain for them, so I took the opportunity while travelling to do local tours and this kindled my plan to do it as a business when I retired.
The Go Succeed programme is a £17 million scheme backed by the UK government’s department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and offers a range of support for start-ups and those considering setting up a new company. “Initially I signed up for mentoring only but an idea came through with my collaboration with the NWRC Business Centre to develop a tour using augmented reality,” he recalls.