Award-winning South Tyneside entrepreneur's plans for expansion

A fast-growing South Shields firm is expanding by taking entrepreneurs on walks!

Far North has launched a new division which cares for bosses who are at risk of burnout.

One method of helping their mental wellbeing is by taking them on pier-to-pier walks. That way, they can talk to each other away from a business setting.

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Feedback has shown that the idea is working a treat and it gets them away from the corporate world.

The service is being offered through a new branch of Far North, based in Eldon Street, and it is called Carpeway.

Carpeway was set up by Ian Farrar, who won the Entrepreneur of the Year category at last year’s Best of South Tyneside Awards with the parent company Far North.

Ian revealed how his four-year-old firm has grown even more since picking up the title.

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“It has gone a bit crazy,” he admitted. “I am at the point where I am upscaling the business.”

Each week, Ian interviews business leaders from around the world.

He also started his entrepreneurship podcast almost three years ago and it is now heard in more than 100 countries by thousands of people.

Once a month, in collaboration with the South Tyneside Business Invest Team, he live streams these interviews across Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and records in front of an audience.

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Ian has expanded by doing even more international work, taking on more staff and also launching the new branch, Carpeway.

He reflected on how all this had happened since an amazing night at last year’s Best of South Tyneside Awards.

“It was fantastic,” he said. “What I enjoyed about it was the community side of the night.

“There were lots of people who I recognised and lots of people who won awards. That showcases some of the great work in the borough.”

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When Ian’s own name was announced as a winner, he had to walk from the very back of the Roker Hotel to reach the stage and collect his award.

“I had to walk past everyone and people were encouraging me,” he said.

He urged Gazette followers to get nominating and added: “We live in a world of lots of social media content and the awards are great content to share with your clients.”

Time to nominate

This year’s awards will be taking nominations until Friday, August 30.

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That’s loads of time to put forward your favourites – and once we pass that deadline, the judges will meet to draw up a shortlist in each amazing category on September 3.

Then it is on to the grand finale which will be held on Thursday, September 19 at the Roker Hotel.

We will have much more on the finer detail of this year’s awards in the weeks to come.

But the most important thing for now is for you to get those entries in – and it is you the reader who can make all the difference.

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We want you to get involved. You can do that by putting forward nominations for everything from sports team of the year to entrepreneur of the year, and community group to fundraiser.

The finale promises to be a fantastic occasion and we can look forward to it with the backing of a string of fantastic backers.

The Best of South Tyneside awards, this year, have the support of Sunderland and South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust, Barbour, JML, Harlow Print, UTS, and Warmseal.

To nominate, send your entries by email to: [email protected].

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There are plenty of categories to choose from in this year’s Best of South Tyneside competition.

So take a look through and decide which one applies to your own favourite - and then be sure to nominate them using the nomination details elsewhere on the page.

Get your nomination in as soon as you can as that way, you know you’ve put an unsung hero in the running for honours.

The categories

Green Champion of the Year.

Child of Achievement.

Fundraiser of the Year.

Entrepreneur of the Year.

Local Hero Award.

Sporting Excellence/Young Sportsperson of the Year.

Sports Team of the Year.

Community Champion.

Student of the Year.

Community Group.

Small Business of the Year.

Large Business of the Year.

Child of Courage

Young Performer of the Year.

Lifetime Contribution.

Special Recognition.