Annette Molyneux, over 50 from Plymouth took her lack of pension into her own hands and began her own enterprise.”

Soon after Annette Molyneux retired from teaching in 2006, she found herself affected by a change in state pension legislation.  Annette needed a new job, and decided she had always been good at flower arranging.  After carefully considering her options, Annette decided to study floristry with a view to starting her own business. 

Annette attended an enterprise awareness day in Plymouth to find out more about self- employment.  It was here, that Annette discovered The Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise and quickly set to work on her business plan with support from PRIME.

Thanks to guidance from PRIME, Annette has met many of the obstacles that face PRIME clients, such as setting up a business in her own home, researching appropriate insurance and finding reliable and cost-effective suppliers.  However, she has overcome these challenges and is now the proud owner of her own business, Cherish Floral Design.

Annette registered self-employed in July 2011.  She says, “I feel extremely honoured to have received such support so late in life from PRIME.  It has breathed new life into my future and provided that much needed motivation and reassurance that sometimes disappears with redundancy and early retirement.”

 Visit Annette’s website www.amemorytocherish.co.uk/ 

Gerry, 55 years old, was made redundant but proves mentoring really can help lead to business creation.

With a background in IT and technical project management, Gerry Chandler, 55, took redundancy five years ago from mobile phone company Orange, but due to the economic turndown he struggled to get either full time or contract employment.

Gerry decided to add more strings to his bow by retraining, and in 2010 he became an ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) accredited mediator, specialising in workplace dispute resolution.

“I felt I had the ideal background for this kind of career change,” says Gerry.  Gerry also got in touch with The Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise who placed him with a mentor – Bob Jordan to help set up a mediating business.

“I think the most important thing that Bob has done is to really focus me on my priorities. It’s very much like having my own business partner” says Gerry.

 Bob, who is in his early 70s, started his career as a BBC engineer, but at the height of his career became Head of Human Resources with management responsibility for four and a half thousand BBC staff.  During his retirement, Bob agreed to be a PRIME mentor.

Bob says, “I come from a working class background and I have known what it is like to go through tough times. As a PRIME volunteer I can use my years of business experience to help get people where they want to be.”

 Thanks to Bob’s guidance and Gerry’s will power – Gerry has successfully started his mediating business, Elephants child and is helping conflict management in businesses across the UK. 

Elephant’s Childs primary objective is to offer an innovative and cost effective approach to anticipating and managing conflict in the workplace, based upon rapidly establishing effective relationships, built upon trust and common understanding.

For more information visit: www.elephantschild.com