REGENERATION agency Liverpool Vision has awarded its 1,000th business start-up grant.
Olusola Akinya, from Toxteth, has established Dress Sense Couture, in Kensington, selling colourful and unusual African clothing and accessories.
Women’s support agency Train 2000 also advised Mrs Akinya, 22, on her venture.
She said: “My mother sells clothes back in Nigeria and she sent me some to wear and people here really seemed to like them and it was then I realised there was possibly a genuine market for them.
“Many of my lines are not currently available in this country, which means it’s not just people in Liverpool that are buying them, but also from London, Birmingham and Manchester.”
She also hopes to open an Afro-Caribbean beauty parlour and employ hairdressers from different ethnicities.
Vision’s Start-Up provides up to £500 for start-up costs for new businesses.
Chris Heyes, Vision business start-Up manager, said: “Olusola is an excellent example of how you can turn a good business idea into reality, and we wish her every success with her venture.”
The Prince’s Trust also provided Mrs Akinya with funding.
