A MIDWIFE of 20 years who swapped the maternity unit for her own business unit has spoken of her delight, after helping over 1,000 expecting mothers through their pregnancy.
Tori Young, 43, set up private ultrasound scan clinic Before We Meet Ltd in a bid to ‘make every pregnant woman feel like the only pregnant woman’ and has been overwhelmed by the reception the business has received since launching in February 2019.
Operating out of the North East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC) – which the company relocated to recently – the baby scan studio provides early pregnancy, gender, 4D and 2D baby scans in a setting designed with expectant mothers and their families in mind.
Tori said: “Having worked as a midwife for the best part of two decades, I knew what becoming pregnant meant to people and was shocked that there were so many companies taking such an informal approach to scanning.
“I looked after a few couples who had been for private scans and more often than not they complained about the service they were given and how they felt the process was rushed to get them in and out of the door as quickly as possible.
“Working for the NHS, you get a great grounding of how people like to be treated and what being pregnant means to them and I knew there must a better way to go about it, so I decided to give it a go myself.”
Since launching just over two and a half years ago, Tori has built the business from the ground up, carrying out scans on over 1,000 mothers to be and supporting many of them through each and every stage of their pregnancy journey.
She said: “I set out to provide a service that women enjoyed and valued and I think the fact that almost all of our business has been generated through word of mouth speaks volumes about the quality of the service we offer, and just goes to show that all of our hard work has really paid off. I’m overjoyed with how it’s been received so far.”
Tori started in a small business unit but relocated to the BIC in a bid to make her service more accessible to clients and to tap into the centre’s various business support programmes.
“Many of our guests work full-time so we often have to work out-of-hours, as well as Saturdays, therefore we wanted somewhere that was not only accessible 24/7 but also somewhere our staff and customers felt safe and the BIC ticked all of the boxes,” she added.
“It’s easily accessible from all of the major transport links, offers free parking and has on-site security and maintenance staff who are always available to help should we need their support.
“The support I’ve also received from the centre’s business advisers has been invaluable. From developing and refining my business plan to just having someone impartial to run ideas by, the support has been second-to-none.”
Donna Surtees, Centre Manager at the BIC, said: “Tori has done brilliantly to identify a niche in the market for the provision of a more personal, welcoming approach to baby scanning and turn it into a flourishing start-up business.
“The BIC was set up to provide a springboard for aspiring entrepreneurs to make the jump into self-employment and scale their businesses, be it providing business space or business support, and we’re delighted to have supported Tori on her journey so far.”
For more information on the North East Business & Innovation Centre, visit: https://www.ne-bic.co.uk/