How we've helped Dee Anna Knight Art

DAK Art have used Growth Hub’s expert help to boost their business skills.

The pair had recently set up their mixed media art company in Liskeard, but were looking for ways to promote their work and build their brand.

Their sought-after work is constantly evolving as the talented mother and daughter team experiment with new techniques.

However, Abi, who recently graduated from university, realised that she and her mum needed some support to develop DAK Art from a business point of view.

She got in touch with the Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Growth Hub and has now been given the necessary tools to help DAK Art develop and thrive.

“They’ve helped me a lot with confidence, for one thing,” said Abi, who had no previous experience of running a business. “I’d done bar work but I had no experience with any type of company and my mum hates the business side of things! She’s very creative.”

The Growth Hub has been able to offer independent, impartial advice and guidance in a number of key areas, including marketing and finances.

“When you start a business, you feel very alone in what you do,” said Abi. “You have no idea what you’re doing and it’s nice to have that help and support and Growth Hub definitely did that for me.

“With all the compassion and understanding they’ve given me – it’s given me the desire to create more.”

Abi took part in a business-based course and has also benefited from a series of one-to-one sessions.

She said she felt listened to and supported. If there was anything she didn’t understand, Growth Hub’s experts were only too happy to go over key points and make things easier.

“It was such a thorough process,” said Abi. “They really make you feel like they wanted us to be a success.”

Both Abi and her mum now have the confidence they need to make their business work, leaving them plenty of time to get creative.

Abi said: “I would absolutely recommend Growth Hub to many businesses, in fact, I’m going to do that at my next meeting with a bunch of like-minded artists because it’s helped me so much.

“It has educated me in things I never thought I would be educated in and things are starting to flow much more easily.

“They really give you the information you need to be able to do all the things that are in your head. They make it a reality.”

The Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Growth Hub from May 2016 -  June 2023 was part funded by the European Regional Development Fund and match funded by Cornwall Council, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership.  The project received £2,848,591.49 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.