Paul Dennis and Anna Lyttle
Two University of Cumbria students have set up their own events management business and have already secured a number of lucrative contracts.
Anna Lyttle (31) from Carlisle and Paul Dennis (32), originally from London, are in the second year of a foundation degree in performance, festivals and events at the university and are now directors of Shakey Ape Events Limited, with business premises at Carlisle Enterprise Centre.
Both Anna and Paul worked for Carlisle Tourism Partnership on BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in May 2011 and have since been involved with several other events around Cumbria, including, Solfest, the Carlisle Fireshow and Christmas events in Carlisle and Barrow.
They are also running a successful monthly comedy night, Comedy Sauce, at the Source Café on Nelson Street, Carlisle securing some of the UK’s finest, award winning and up-and-coming comedy talent and are already making waves in the comedy scene with acts and agents alike.
Outside the county, Shakey Ape also event manage and run the comedy stage at the Blissfields music festival in Hampshire and site manage Pulse Festival in Southampton.
Their new company now has over a dozen events on their books for 2012 and is working on developing comedy events at music festivals across the country. Anna says:
“As mature students with young families, it was important for us to try and earn some money while we studied for our qualification. We saw an opportunity and took it and the University of Cumbria have been very supportive. Our success so far has been fantastic and we have had the chance to work with some really inspirational people including Marie Whitehead, the director of CN Events.”
Paul adds: “Anna and I discovered that we worked really well together and we decided to turn that into a business. We’ve been blown away by our success to date so it’s great that our hard work is paying off!”
Laura Baxter, university course leader for FdA Performance, Festivals and Events and BA (Hons) Event Management comments:
“Anna and Paul are first class students, successfully combining university study with a growing business and family lives - it just goes to show what the right combination of talent and hard work can achieve!”
Posted on Thursday 2 February 2012