Nostalgic dream of young Sheffield entrepreneur turns into business success

Emily Hurst, 22, is brewing a bright future for herself after securing help from a unique Sheffield City Region-wide business support programme.

 

With help from the programme she has opened vintage-inspired Memory Lane Tearoom, but she almost gave up on her dream.

Determined to achieve her childhood ambition of running her own café, Emily opened her first Memory Lane Tearoom last summer. Borne from her love of all things vintage, Emily's business was inspired by childhood trips to her grandparents' house, where she would bake with her grandma and watch black and white films from cinema's golden age.

Emily acquired a grant from The Prince's Trust and together with money she had carefully saved, began the search for premises for her budding café. Sadly, for the entrepreneur dreams turned into a nightmare, as the seemingly perfect premises she had found quickly turned out to be unsuitable and soon after, her grandmother passed away.

After such a personal loss, Emily was considering taking a break from pursuing her business dreams, but unexpectedly stumbled across an alternative property. She acquired the building and began working with the Prince's Trust, a delivery partner for Launchpad which is a free support service. Emily said: 'Opening and running my own vintage café has been a dream of mine for years, but I quickly realised that as an entrepreneur you don't just have to know about running your business: you are responsible for every aspect of its development too. The new premises I found felt like a parting gift from my grandma and this, along with support I received from The Prince's Trust and Launchpad, gave me the confidence I needed to believe in my goals.'