Award-winning Sunderland business Geo Journey goes international

Sarah Pavlou, Innovate 2 Succeed Programme Manager, with Fiona Waistell and Christina Armstrong

The pair, whose Geo Journey scooped the Business Education award at November’s Sunderland Echo Portfolio awards, are expanding to Dubai, after receiving help through two of RTC North’s programmes – Scaleup North East and Innovate 2 Succeed.

The programmes allowed them to tap into a pool of expertise and knowledge, freeing more time to spend on their business.

Geo Journey provides children with a suitcase and activity packs as they travel the World and the Solar System with key characters Geo and Atlas.

Fiona and Christina met the team at RTC North when they embarked on the Scale Up Programme and then moved to Innovate 2 Succeed.

On the back of support from RTC’s specialists, Christina and Fiona were introduced to leading retailers across the UK and added a new business collaboration with a leading online marketplace in the Middle East, now trading with Mumzworld.com in the pipeline.

“Working with RTC has really helped us take our business to the next level and we are particularly excited to start trading in the Middle East,” said Christina.

“The opportunities we have discovered through RTC have opened new doors for us and even new international markets, which is fantastic.”

Sarah Pavlou, Innovate 2 Succeed Programme Manager commented: “It’s great to see Christina and Fiona taking Geo Journey off to Dubai as a result of the guidance and support they received from the Innovate 2 Succeed Advisors and the Scaleup partners.”

RTC North is delivering the programmes, which are part funded by the European Regional Development Fund and are aimed at helping North East businesses grow and prosper.

The Scaleup North East programme is aimed at supporting North East-based businesses that can demonstrate both the hunger and potential to achieve high levels of growth and is being delivered in partnership with the North East Local Enterprise Partnership.

Innovate2Succeed helps growing companies with plenty of ambition to manage the development of products and services, helping get them to the right market.

For more on help from RTC, call 0191 516 4400 or visit www.rtcnorth.co.uk.