Bawtry husband and wife taking their business to the next level

Leon and Kelly Roden have expanded their kitchen and bathroom business specialists Meliora after calling on help from Launchpad – a unique support programme which aims to help entrepreneurs unlock their business potential.

Leon first began thinking about working for himself back in 2017. having become frustrated with the generic, often off-the-shelf designs of major kitchen and bathroom suppliers.

When an opportunity arose to team up with two ex-work colleagues, he jumped at the chance.

However, when they couldn’t agree about the future direction of the business, Leon and Kelly decided to acquire it in its entirety, placing an emphasis upon creating unique, one-off rooms.

Having never run a business before, Kelly, a former legal secretary, attended a meeting at Doncaster Chamber where she learned about the practical help and support available through Launchpad, which provides free help and support to new entrepreneurs during their all-important first three years of trading.

And such has been the success enjoyed by Meliora since engaging with the Launchpad programme that the business has recently relocated to larger premises, choosing a historic 17th century Grade II-listed former stable block in the heart of Bawtry as its new base.

Kelly said: “After signing up to the Launchpad programme I was introduced to Caroline Bond, who helped us to identify our strengths and weaknesses and gain a better understanding of the steps we needed to take to build and grow our business.

“With the help we’ve received from Launchpad we’ve gained a much greater understanding of the many different roles business owners undertake, as well as helping us to develop a future growth plan for the company.

Caroline added: Through our one-on-one sessions and taking part in some of the Launchpad workshops, we were able to help them to overcome the barriers they were facing and securing new premises is a real statement of intent.”