HOME is where the heart is, and, in Christine Pearce’s case, it is also where the business is.

For Christine and business partner Paula Smith have set up a successful online business on the back of their passion for renovating period properties.

And, thanks to extensive Business Link support, the company Restoration & Beyond, which serves the market for restoring period homes and new-build renewable homes, is thriving.

The idea came to Christine a couple of years ago, when she was working on her own Edwardian house in Hartlepool – a restoration project she had embarked on in 1991.

She recalls: “I was decorating my hall and stairs and I was becoming increasingly frustrated not being able to find basic things like two-feet of old floor board to fit the dimensions of the house. I was wondering why on earth I couldn’t find these vital bits and pieces.’’ Then it struck her that there must be other home owners in the same situation and with the same frustrations.

Sensing a gap in the market, she shared her idea with Paula Smith, with whom she had previously worked as co-owner and director of a management training company.

Before they started trading last summer, Christine and Paula carried out extensive market research, including visiting exhibitions, conducting online surveys and talking to potential suppliers. They also got in touch with Business Link to for advice and support on the more fundamental aspects of running a business to give them the best possible start.

Restoration & Beyond is an online market place where people can find all the products and services that any home owner might need to restore and old house or do a self-build home.

The pair care passionately about the environment and realised that there is a link between making older homes energy efficient and building sustainable new homes, so the business serves both markets.

“To knock old houses down and build new expends a lot more energy than keeping the old home, but older homes are draughty,’’ says Christine. “To be environmentally friendly a home needs a constant temperature and a lot of materials used for restoring older homes and new build are similar. We have a huge housing shortage in the UK, there are 25 million homes, five million of which are period homes, built before 1919 and we should keep as many of those as possible.’’ The company earns an annual subscription from the carefully vetted suppliers who are featured on the site and also a commission on each sale or service enquiry.

Even though it is less than a year old, Restoration & Beyond is growing well. Website hits are increasing on average by more than 500 a month, the site is being featured in the national and regional media, Christine and Paula won the One to Watch category in the Women into the Network awards and the company has attracted the support of a private investor, local businessman James Robson.

Christine and Paula are in no doubt that much of this success has been thanks to Business Link, which provided advice support and guidance on how draw up supplier contract agreements and other legal agreements, development of their brand and design of the website and attendance at exhibitions. They also introduced them to the North East England Investment Centre (NEEIC) where they were able to access funding. Additionally, their Business Link adviser, Nicola Campbell also put them in touch with Hartlepool Council which gave them a grant of £500 towards marketing costs.

“Business Link have done a lot for us,’’ says Christine. “Nicola Campbell has been absolutely fantastic right from the very word go. We met with her frequently and she helped us with the research and later with the funding and we have had two different tranches of funding from Business Link and that has helped us tremendously.

“We still keep in touch with Nicola and update her and she is there whenever we need any help or any information or advice. We also like Business Link’s website and have found that very useful and in the early days we followed through all the steps on there, and it was great to have access to its legal information and find out things such as whether we needed to register for the Data Protection Act. I think that the website is invaluable and more people should use that.’’ Nicola Campbell says: “Christine and Paula have demonstrated determination, drive and commitment to get their business off the ground, spending months researching the market and generating quality suppliers to match their customer needs.

“They have embraced the challenge and opportunity to cater for a growing market using all their knowledge and skill to launch their business successfully. They have been a delight and pleasure to work with and are fantastic role models for others. I look forward to supporting them over the coming months and years to help their business succeed and grow here in the North East of England.’’ Business Link has a team of expert advisers who offer advice, help and information to individuals and companies across the region, giving them access to the ‘business brains’ who will help to get their business idea off the ground, or grow their existing company. For further information about Business Link visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/northeast or call 0845 600 9 006.