A PHOTOGRAPHY business specialising in Highland cows was born out of lockdown.

Sarah Smith, of Bardon Mill, has owned photography business Mirror Image since 2013 specialising in photos for schools, pet and families, but she had to think out of the box during the two national lockdowns.

This was when she turned her attention to wildlife and, more specifically, Highland cows and new business Chewing the Cud was formed.

She said: “All throughout the lockdown I was coming up with ideas on how to keep on going.

“I never had so much time on my hands, I had time to reflect think about the bigger picture.

“I had always wanted to do wildlife photography, but I thought that would be when I retired.”

After hearing about Business Northumberland, and how it could help her, at a networking event Sarah got in touch and was given one to one support with a business growth advisor as well as access to a programme of online workshops to support the digital marketing for her business.

Business Northumberland provides support to small and medium enterprises across the North East who are looking to sustain and grow their business online. The fully funded support programme is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Advance Northumberland, so there is no cost to eligible businesses when accessing the support.

Chewing the Cud was put forward for the newly launched Northumberland Covid Business Response Programme, a brand new programme born out of Covid which supported Sarah to help get the new business off the ground by providing her with a fully functioning ecommerce website at no cost to her business.

She said: “I definitely recommend it, especially in this uncertain time, starting a new business in a crisis, it’s about getting the right tools and knowing that you have people on hand. The support has been has been amazing and the training is perfect.”