REBECCA'S "PRIDE OF NORTHUMBRIA" HAMPERS GO DOWN A TREAT (November 2005)

Rebecca de'Wessington is a mother of four who has taken to self-employment with such conviction and gusto that she is already being tipped as a future North East Businesswoman of the Year by business experts. Her new business, Pride of Northumbria, specialises in luxury hampers filled with the best of Northumbria produce, particularly food and drink, and already the signs are that there is a great demand for the service she has just launched, aimed at the top end of the market.

For instance, 600 VIP guests attending an outdoor classical music concert next summer in the grounds of Macdonald Linden Hall, Golf and Country Club, at Longhorsley, near Morpeth, will share the contents of attractive new picnic hampers containing the very best of regional produce brought together by Pride of Northumbria.
Linden Hall is among a number of leading hotels and other hospitality providers, keen to impress important customers, queuing up to order from a wide range of Pride of Northumbria hampers.

Rebecca, the energetic and ambitious proprietor of Pride of Northumbria, her first business venture, says she is "very encouraged" at how well it is going. The business is based at Newbiggin By-The-Sea in Northumberland.
She has enlisted the enthusiastic support of many of the North East's finest food and drink producers-most of them members of Northumbria Larder-and other creators of top quality Northumbrian products. Rebecca says they are only too willing to provide her with the ingredients she puts together in her attractive handmade wicker baskets.
For instance, the luxury hamper at next year's concert at Linden Hall, where the soloist will be Julian Lloyd Webber playing with the English Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Haslam, has been described as "The Symphony Picnic Hamper."

The menu starter is two slices of Craster oak-smoked salmon and the main course will include the connoisseurs' platter of Northumberland Cheese, slices of Broom Mill cured beef and ham, JR Jam caramelised onion chutney, JR Spice pepper chutney, Mason and Graham mixed spice nuts, the New Barns Terrine, consisting of rare-breed pork, free-range chicken breast, brandy, pistachio nuts, apricots and fresh herbs. To accompany that mouthwatering lot, will be a Newcastle Broon Ale cob suitable for two persons.
The sweet course will be a miniature bottle of Lindisfarne Mead, a Jenkins and Hustwit celebration cake, and two packets of Heatherslaw Bakery butter shortbread.

For beverages the diners can choose from a bottle of Lindisfarne elderflower or damson wine, Abbey Well still or mineral water. Each hamper will contain cutlery, napkins and glasses. Rebecca's hampers, which range in price from £25 to £460, are named after well-known Northumbrian places, including Alnwick, Haydon Spa, Lindisfarne and Kielder. Apart from some of the best food in Northumbria, the historic area which embraces the whole North East, some hampers include "pampering" products, such as luxurious combed Egyptian cotton hand towel embroidered with the Pride of Northumbria logo, a selection of top quality handmade soaps and balms as well as a customised Lindisfarne Castle candle, and a blend of detox tea. Each hamper comes with or without alcohol and the more expensive ones contain an audio CD of Northumbrian music, an original handcut silhouette of a castle, and a Northumbrian wildlife carving.

Rebecca makes no secret of the fact she is aiming at the top end of the market and she will work with customers to provide them with customised hampers. Already, some of the big corporate players in the North East have been in touch with her. "I believe I have launched the business at the right time," she says. "There's an enormous interest now in the finest Northumbrian produce and by bringing it altogether in our hampers we have created a top quality gift that does justice to the region's food producers, craftspeople and artists." Her only slight regret is that there is not a North East Champagne or, at present, a quality chocolate product in the range. "If anyone is making or is planning to make chocolate on a commercial scale I would like to hear from them."

Rebecca, who is originally from Wolverhampton, spent most of her early years in Cumbria. She attended Workington Grammar School which she followed by taking a BTEC National Diploma in Business and Finance at the local technical college. She has had a wide variety of jobs. Including hotel worker, auxiliary nurse, administrator, office manager in a building repairs company, and a brief spell in the Civil Service. "That last job convinced me it was time to give up working for other people and to set up my own business. I've always had a creative talent and it was just bursting to get out. I pay close attention to detail and I take great pride in my work, which is why I thought of Pride of Northumbria as the name for my company." In her younger days, Rebecca was a singer and ballroom dancer and was, in fact, a one time Northern Counties ladies' ballroom champion.
"That was a long time ago," she says. "Now I'm concentrating all my energies in running the business and gearing up for the Christmas rush."

Pride of Northumbria hampers can be made up on an individual basis and Rebecca is willing to offer help and advice to customers. Tel: 01670 818246. They can be bought on-line at: enquiry@prideofnorthumbria.com, or by phone. The web address is: www.prideofnorthumbria.com

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