Enterprising duo ‘take law into their own hands’!
A pair of enterprising businesswomen have taken immigration law in Sheffield into their own hands after spotting a gap in the market and starting up their own consultancy.
Bettina Yarde and Louise Jennings both worked for reputable and established immigration firms but after deciding to opt for a better work/life balance, the pair realised they could combine their experience and qualifications to escape the 9 to 5 treadmill and take control of their own careers - while helping to fill a shortage in the city’s immigration resources.
The result is Morgan Dias Immigration Consultants Ltd - based at Watson Chambers, Market Place - which offers legal advice on immigration, nationality and asylum law.
And thanks to Sheffield Enterprise Agency (SENTA), the businesswomen (both aged 28), not only received help starting out on their own but have gone on to secure a major partnership deal …
Explained Bettina: “We’d both worked in immigration for the last five years but we were at the stage where we did not see ourselves making much headway in our field.
“Louise is also a single mum so she wanted to find more flexible work and we agreed that we had the qualifications and experience but were fed up working for someone else.
“We wanted to find something that offered us a better quality of life and more of a work/life balance. When you work in a legal firm you are always under pressure and we felt if we’re going to be under that pressure we’d rather be doing it for ourselves.
“Louise and I were aware there was a deficit in the number of legal firms dealing with immigration issues despite the fact that Sheffield and the surrounding areas have large ethnic communities. This means these people struggle to find good quality advice and representation in the city and often have to resort to travelling to places like Manchester and Bradford or even London.”
Louise and Bettina - who are both accredited to Level 2 under the Immigration and Asylum Scheme operated by the Legal Services Commission - approached SENTA who were able to help out with business planning support as well as advice on book-keeping, marketing and networking.
SENTA is part of Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and provides fully integrated support to new business start-ups and businesses up to two years old. Its start-up programme is funded by Yorkshire Forward under contract with Business Link South Yorkshire.
“SENTA helped give us the motivation to still pursue setting up the business despite several knock-backs we had previously received concerning funding,” said Bettina.
“We attended SENTA’s business skills course which was very useful and gave us further encouragement. It was also helpful to have a personal SENTA business adviser because we were able to meet to discuss different areas of business that we were unsure of and SENTA was willing to fit meetings around us working full time.”
SENTA also provided the duo with free tickets to Business Link South Yorkshire’s recent flagship ‘eVent’ which featured speakers including former Dragons’ Den resident Doug Richard and networking expert Will Kintish.
“As a new business we just would not have had the money to go to the eVent without SENTA,” added Bettina, “and as a result of attending it we have secured a new partnership deal. That would never have happened if SENTA had not helped us go to the eVent so that was amazing!
“Through the eVent we also learned how to be more effective at networking - when you work for someone else you often end up sat at your desk while the employers are out making new contacts so this is a vital skill that we are strengthening right now.”
SENTA business advisor David Grayhurst said: “Bettina and Louise are a great example of a SENTA success story - they spotted a gap in the market and have founded a business on their knowledge and experience that now caters to a need in the city. This means their success is good news not just for SENTA but for Sheffield as a whole.
“We’re pleased they were able to gain so much form attending the eVent. Our two-year aftercare package means SENTA can continue to help Morgan Dias develop and grow as it faces new challenges and opportunities after its successful launch.”
Since becoming involved with SENTA, Morgan Dias has also become a member of Sheffield Chamber and its Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Forum.