A FORMER Whitby joiner has just opened his first pine and fireplace centre in Guisborough and is looking for sites in Scarborough and Redcar.

Business is flourishing for Mr John Pickard, who first opened a shop in Skinner Street, Whitby, with his wife, Olwyn, in 1995.

He believes his Whitby pine and fireplace centres would not have been so successful without help from North Yorkshire Business Services.

"When I started out, I was a self-employed joiner with no real experience of business matters but my advisers have held me by the hand all the way and helped me with all aspects of my business," he said.

Mr Pickard's shops sell bespoke pine furniture, made to order at the company's Guisborough workshops, and top quality fireplaces, exclusive to the Whitby and Guisborough areas.

North Yorkshire Business Services has a network of ten consultants spread across the North York moors. It specialises in helping new start-ups, sole traders and small to medium enterprises with all aspects of business, from training to taxation and from information and communications technology to marketing.

It has just become a sub-franchisee of Business Link York and North Yorkshire, part of the national network, increasing the scope and quality of information it can access and supply. For further information telephone Mr Tom Saunders on 01947 600827.

Mr John Pickard, on the right of the picture, is seen with Mr Saunders, and administration manger, Susan Kendall.