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Two childhood friends from Ballymoney have turned their passion for travelling into a business venture thanks to the support of the Go For It programme in association with Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council.

This project is part funded by Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth and Jobs Northern Ireland (2014-2020) programme.

Matthew Pollock and James Bleakly launched Karen & Co following a camper van road trip to Morocco. In 2018 the pair set off in a minibus they had converted themselves, which they named Karen the Convoy with the Sahara Desert as their final destination.

During their trip they posted daily updates of their journey, garnering a huge following on social media. On their return, they recognised a gap in the market for camper hires in Northern Ireland and decided to set up their own campervan rental company.

Pictured L-R - Adam Wallace, Business Advisor at Enterprise Causeway, James Bleakly and Matthew Pollock and Ivor Wallace and Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council

James said: “Karen & Co is a campervan rental company where old school minibuses are converted into camper van. These vans are then rented out to the public, allowing them to travel the coast of Ireland and UK.

“We named our first ever van Karen. The type of vans that we normally have are LDV convoys and we immediately thought Karen and the convoy sounded catchy. Now our fleet has grown so it’s become Karen & Co.”

The business partners first discovered the Go For It programme when they saw a post on social media.

Matthew said the business advisers at Causeway Enterprise agency couldn’t have been more helpful and provided them with all the tools they needed:

He said: “From reading the business plan we were able to see an overview of the business and were able to see further ahead to where the business is heading, where we should be allocating money and different things that we might not have thought of.”

For anyone thinking of starting their own business Matthew said if you believe and are passionate about what you are doing then there is nothing stopping you:

He said: “If you know what you want to do, there will be challenges ahead but if you are passionate about your product or your service, I’d definitely say go for it.”

For information contact the Go For It team on 0800 027 0639 or visit: www.goforitni.com

Friends go from bus to business with campervans