Gareth Brazier has come a long way since he was made redundant from his job at Caterpillar in Peterlee last year.

After flirting with the idea of joining the police, he stumbled across a pal who was looking for a partner at his vintage clothes store, Rare-Ape at Holmeside.

Gareth, 23, snapped up the chance and in January he joined forces with shop founder Gary Lynch to channel his energy into his passion for fashion.

A couple of months later and Gary had to pull out of the project and put his half of the business up for sale.

Gareth, of Wear View, managed to get together the cash and for the last few months has been running the shop solo.

He said: "Gary went to Sunderland University and did a business degree and he saw a gap in the market.

"Most cities have about five or six vintage clothes shops, but Sunderland had none so he decided to set it up.

"He put a lot of hard work into getting the shop ready and when he left it was a bit daunting because he had all of the business experience and I was pretty new.

"I thought it was a pretty big step running my own business at a young age but thought I would give it a shot."

With help from Sunderland City Council's business development team and the Business Innovation Centre, Gareth managed to get the shop on top form.

He attended several training courses to equip him with the skills needed, and advice is at the end of a phone whenever he needs it.

"The council and Bic have been absolutely fantastic. I can't speak highly enough of them," Gareth said.

Now Rare-Ape is gearing up to go global, with Gareth putting the finishing touches to his new website, which will enable him to sell his stuff around the world.

Gareth, who studied journalism at Sunderland University, has employed 15-year-old Rhys Ansah over the summer to help launch the website.

He has also secured a marquee at this year's Leeds Festival where he is hoping to sell clothes as well as get his name and the website known.

For more information, visit www.rare-ape.co.uk
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