Business Gateway funding for horse riding venture

Jodie Crawford, 16, will use her £5,000 Business Gateway funding to develop a further six stables at Crawford Equestrian near Falkirk. Picture: Contributed

A TEENAGER has been awarded funding from Business Gateway to build up the horse riding venture she launched this summer.

Sixteen-year-old Jodie Crawford, a champion show jumper who has ridden for Scotland, will cater for other up-and-coming young riders with the help of a top coach.

Crawford, who has been riding since the age of four, took the reins at Crawford Equestrian following a refurbishment of existing stables next to her family home near Falkirk.

While her parents helped set up the centre, the young entrepreneur has invested her 
own money in the venture too, purchasing ponies to train up and sell on.

Now Business Gateway at Falkirk Council has approved a £5,000 cash injection from the BP Loan Fund, allowing Crawford to see through her vision by developing a further six stables. Once they are complete, she will be employing her first full-time member of staff.

She said: “There are only a few yards in the Central Belt of Scotland that offered all-round equestrian facilities and hardly any that offer a competition yard for riders competing at a high level. I knew we had the space, so the funding and the support I’ve received from the Business Gateway team at Falkirk Council has been vital in helping me create the competition yard I wanted.”

The teenager plans to use the business to fund her own riding ambitions, competing in the UK and Europe.