Northumbria graduate business turns up the heat

15th February 2017

Things are hotting up for Northumbria University graduate start-up Summer Takeover which is on track to turnover £1.3m following the launch of two new companies and an office expansion.

Northumbria graduates Ben Trattles, Harley Gibb and Warren Pearson launched their business, Summer Takeover in 2013 when they were still students. The business caters to the unique market of young travellers who wish to work abroad by offering working holiday packages to party destinations. Ben chose to complete an Enterprise Placement with Student and Graduate Enterprise, Northumbria’s free start-up support service, as part of his Business with Marketing degree.

Summer Takeover already has the accolade of being the University’s most successful Enterprise Placement to date, turning over £100K during Ben’s Enterprise Placement year. With support from the Northumbria Enterprise and Business Support (NEBS) project, part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the business has gone from strength to strength. Following an office expansion, it now employs 8 full time members of staff, 20 in-resort reps and also boasts a team of over 200 student sales affiliates.

As well as steadily growing Summer Takeover over the last couple of years, Ben, Harley and Warren have launched two further businesses; Uncharted Croatia and Tidal Zante. The Group has plans to further expand including the recruitment of more staff, offering placement and internship opportunities that will hopefully see their turnover double in 2018!

The Group’s Managing Director Ben Trattles said: “Summer Takeover, Uncharted Croatia and Tidal Zante wouldn’t be in the position we are now without Student and Graduate Enterprise’s continued support and mentorship. Having access to professionals in legal and finance has particularly helped us navigate through difficult situations successfully and focus our undivided attention on the growth of the companies”.

For more information on the Group’s businesses, please visit:

https://summertakeover.com/

https://unchartedcroatia.com/

https://tidalzante.com/

Through the NEBS project, £2.1m of funding has been secured to provide two key strands of business and graduate support. It will provide SMEs in the North East with graduate interns, part-funded by ERDF. The enterprise strand of the project focuses on promoting enterprise and entrepreneurship to students and graduates including starting a business and to help existing businesses grow. For more information please visit www.northumbria.ac.uk/nebs.