Barningham bright spark Jay hatches a winning idea

A young Teesdale entrepreneur’s company which provides Mandarin-speaking guides for Chinese tourists visiting Britain has been named one of the best new businesses in the North-East.
Jay Smith, 26, from Barningham, collected a cheque for £1,000 after a panel of judges from the business world voted his company – Beiwei 55  – the one they would most like to invest in.
They made their decision after hearing his pitch at the launch of NatWest’s small business “hatchery” in Newcastle, where Beiwei 55 is based.
Beiwei 55 is one of 80 fledgling enterprises chosen to take part in NatWest’s Entrepreneurial Spark scheme, which offers free coaching to help aspiring entrepreneurs expand their businesses.
All have been given office space in NatWest’s Newcastle headquarters, with free superfast internet, regular mentoring sessions, networking events, and business support from NatWest staff, accountants KPMG, IT specialists Dell and lawyers Pinsent Masons.
Mr Smith, a former Teesdale School pupil, is now based in Newcastle. He set up Beiwei 55 with former classmate Eve Baker after leaving Leeds University with a first-class degree in Chinese and Spanish and working for a tourist company in China.
He said: “More and more Chinese are visiting Britain, and we identified a need for British Mandarin-speaking guides to give them a more authentic experience whilst they are here. We do tours all over the country, taking in not just the usual tourist sites but also trying to immerse them a bit more in our culture, even including a trip to the pub if possible.”
The company has expanded rapidly since its foundation two years ago, and now employs five Mandarin-speaking guides offering tours to tourists ranging from individual families to groups of up to 40.
It also offers professional translation, recruitment and corporate event services, and works with some of England’s top Premier League football companies hosting prestigious Chinese visitors.
The Newcastle hatchery was launched by Ross MacEwan, chief executive of RBS – of which NatWest is part –  who said the selected entrepreneurs had shown “fantastic” camaraderie, hope and ambition. “I’ve loved the enthusiasm from my colleagues for what’s going on – that’s why we got involved, to learn how to deal with entrepreneurs and create a fantastic bank as part of that.”