Noreen Ahmed is NES North West Entrepreneur of the Year

Beauty By Mirage Logo

Rochdale entrepreneur Noreen Ahmed has been named NES North West Entrepreneur of the Year after winning a Business Competition that coincided with last month’s NES North West Regional Networking Event.

The Business Competition was held for 2003-2004 NES scholars to give their new businesses an extra boost - and to celebrate the success of NES across the region with over 190 NES scholars graduating from the programme last month.

Scholars’ entries – an outline of their business plan and aims for their future - were judged by representatives from the regional partnership of MMU Business School, The Prince’s Trust, Furness Enterprises, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, Lancashire Business School, John Moores University, Manchester Business Consortium and Rochdale Borough Economic Partnership. Three winners were chosen from each region receiving prizes of £250 and £500, with a grand prize of £1,000 awarded to Noreen Ahmed as the overall winner.

Noreen runs Beauty by Mirage and the judges were very impressed with her business plan: “Noreen demonstrates enthusiasm and commitment to developing Beauty by Mirage into a successful and sustainable business,” they said. “She provided an excellent competitive advantage and a clear vision for the future.”

“I am chuffed to bits!” says Noreen, whose middle name ‘Mirage’ means a reflection of beauty or happiness. “My business plan was thorough and detailed, and I was very happy with the feedback I got from the judges. I’m really pleased to have won the competition, and I’m looking forward to spending the £1,000!”

Beauty by Mirage is a health, beauty and tanning salon offering a broad range of high-quality treatments, including facials, waxing treatments, airbrushing, massage and body treatments. Noreen also offers natural based products and exclusive makeup and skincare ranges. Her target market is affluent people in Rochdale, including the Asian community. For example, she provides bridal packages for both communities, such as a full makeover, massage and tanning, or henna decorations, scarf settings and jewellery for Asian brides.

Originally from Birmingham, Noreen qualified in beauty in 1987 and has worked in both industry and teaching. She moved to Rochdale when she married ten years ago and now has 3 young boys aged under 7. A chance offer of premises led Noreen to consider setting up a business, and she applied for the Rochdale NES programme, run in partnership with Rochdale Borough Economic Partnership.

“I needed support and to be 100% confident before I went ahead with a business,” she explains. “NES was very informative and helped me set up my business officially. It gave me a structure and really helped me understand things like cash flow and finances. The networking opportunities are fantastic. I would not have been able to set up my business without NES.”

Visit Beauty by Mirage at Stevie House, 3 South Parade, Rochdale or call Noreen on 01706 525599 or 07976 097886. Click to visit Beauty by Mirage web page.