Marie Jackson, Entrepreneur and Business owner of Kawasnacki, Berwick-upon-Tweed
“I contacted NBSL to ask for advice on starting my own business early last year. I was looking at buying a burger van and being self employed for the first time. After doing a few zoom courses with NBSL, I was assigned Linda as my business advisor and she helped me through every step of my journey, from my business plan, all the way through to gaining grant funding.
I learned so much from both the zoom courses learning basic terminology and from Linda. Without all this help, I certainly wouldn’t be where I am now. My burger van is open and I’ve been trading for nearly 3 months. No it’s certainly not easy, it’s a massive learning curve but I’m so grateful for all the help from Linda and NBSL.”
Marie first registered with NBSL In March 2024 and over a year later, her dream of owning and operating a “burger van” (oh, it is so much more than burgers) has become her reality – an ambition Marie had from a young age.
In December last year, Marie wrote the following introduction to her business page:
“A little about me, if anyone doesn’t know who I am. My name is Marie Jackson (soon to be Bell in February). I have spent the last almost 10 years working as a chef in a couple very reputable local pubs, prior to that I spent many years in different roles but mainly customer service of some sort.I currently run an honesty box just along from my house where I sell my own homemade traybakes, cakes, chutneys, jams and eggs from my 26 chickens and 5 ducks (Thornton Junction Honesty Box) this is my sole job right now since leaving my full time work a few months ago. The opportunity arose to buy this horse box, which was already operating as a burger van, but I need to do a lot of work to get it up to the required standard and make it my own. Thankfully I have the most amazing man to help me get it there. This is my first time being self-employed and is a massive learning curve for me.
No doubt there will be bumps along the way, but I’m determined to get there I have a potential pitch lined up but won’t know for certain until the new year. If it falls through I’ll be on the hunt for another so might be asking for help if it goes wrong. All being well I’m looking to start trading heading into Spring time.”
Following a year’s worth of business plan writing and countless mentoring meetings, we received the news:
Following a year’s worth of business plan writing and countless mentoring meetings, we received the news:
“Finally we have a start date!!! My street traders licence has been approved woop woop. I will be looking to open on Tuesday 22nd April.”
Marie’s burger van has also featured in the local Newspaper, the Northumberland Gazette quoted Marie, just before her open date:
“It’s very surreal, I’ve wanted it for so long and it was one of these things I thought was just going to be a pipe dream and never gonna happen, but it finally has and I can’t wait.”
The support Marie has received over the last 17 months has started with advice and mentoring around her catering kitchen and honesty box where she was selling eggs and traybakes to supplement her income. She regularly mentioned the dream of owning and operating a Burger Van and we did pursue this during her sessions as a “sideline”, but the two main stumbling blocks were:
- Finding and financing a van/horsebox of good quality
- Securing the funds to do any necessary improvement work
- Locating and securing relevant permissions for a pitch
These hurdles were attempted on numerous occasions, but proved impossible to overcome – but Marie is a determined businesswoman who held onto her dream. We came at each problem from various angles and finally, with the financial help of her father, Marie found and bought a converted horsebox down south and collected it for a full refurbishment in Northumberland. Still unable to finance the cost of the DIY improvements, Enterprising North supported Marie with a £709 grant to purchase various items needed for the conversion to comply with current legislation and best practice in catering.
The last problem, finding a pitch, was the theme of several months of searching, again with support provided during mentoring sessions, finally a pitch was secured, contractual agreements made and an open date set! Marie has now been trading successfully for several months and her business is going from strength to strength.
A little insight into Marie’s early trading days and the journey of trial and error, testing the market and acting upon demand:
“Tomorrow I’m going to leave soup off the menu. So far I’ve only sold a few portions, I don’t want to keep wasting it and I don’t have the freezer space to store too much of it. Maybe it’s heading to the wrong time of year for soup? Maybe people just don’t fancy it. Anyhow….I’ll leave it off tomorrow and see how I go forward with it. Its a lot of trial and error to start with. Today for example, absolutely hammered, even had to get my dear husband to drive into Berwick to get more stock for me after i was wiped out at breakfast, and still had to close shortly after 1pm because I’d sold out again lol. Finished up and raced across to Booker at Galashiels to restock for tomorrow. Again it’s a learning curve, hopefully it will prepare me better for next time. But thankyou to each and everyone of you who have been supporting me. It’s very much appreciated and I hope it’s not been a disappointment xx”
A final note: In June, the Northumberland Gazette and its readers voted for “The 6 best places for breakfast in Berwick” and Kawasnacki, the motorcycle-inspired breakfast and burger van came third. (Source: The 6 best places for breakfast in Berwick recommended by readers)
