Military practitioner turned interior designer accepted onto leadership programme

Rebecca Lewis-Knight, an operating department practitioner with the Royal Air Force for 10 years, now director and head of design at her company Ivy Rose Interiors, has been accepted onto Aston University 's Small Business Leadership Programme (SBLP).

The free fully funded programme, part of a £20million package from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, supports senior leaders to enhance their business ' resilience and recovery from the impact of Covid-19.

The Centre for Growth at Aston University are one of 19 accredited business schools to deliver a specialised government funded programme for leaders of small businesses to thrive.

Rebecca has had a passion for design since childhood and completed her first degree in Textile Design at Nottingham Trent University. But her parents both being from a military background, she was drawn to follow a similar path and work as a healthcare professional in the Royal Air Force, leaving her design ambitions as a hobby rather than a career.

Even after a decade in the Royal Air Force, Rebecca has kept her designer roots close to her and spoke of decorating her tent while serving in Afghanistan.

She has since returned to education and obtained a First Class BA Hons Interior Design degree at the University of Wolverhampton last year, her third degree in total.

During this time, she won the university 's Lord Paul prize which helped her start up Ivy Rose Interiors, based in Harborne.

Speaking about her entrepreneurial journey so far, she said: “In 2019 I decided to hang up my surgical clogs and return to education. I 'm not generally a person who does things by halves, so I thought it was a great idea to set up my company Ivy Rose Interiors at the same time.

“I bagged my first paid design contract by 4pm on my first day of university. I thought 'this is going to be a breeze� ' As the course progressed and the pandemic surged things changed. Hello remote learning, obligatory lock down puppy and a rising feeling of guilt for leaving my clinical profession. I craved a support network in the world of business to keep me moving forward and focused on my ambitions. ”

Feeling this way, Rebecca decided to take up a start-up membership with the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce where she was paired with relationship manager Jayne Hume.

Rebecca said: “Within minutes of speaking to Jayne, she had filled my diary with events and opportunities to network. She has without doubt accelerated my focus and confidence with her local network wisdom. I have been able to meet other like-minded people and share our experience and valuable lessons learned. ”

It was at Rebecca 's first networking event that she was introduced to Christian Byron from Aston University who informed her about SBLP.

She added: “I 'm delighted to report after the application and follow-up interview I was offered a place on the course which starts this September.

“The experts running the programme will help me to build a targeted action plan to grow my business. I 'll be in the company of other ambitious business leaders, building my network as we attend workshops and one-to-one support sessions. I can 't wait to start exploring and identifying strategic growth opportunities for Ivy Rose Interiors. ”

Find out more about Ivy Rose Interiors

To find out more about Aston University 's Small Business Leadership Programme, visit: Small Business Leadership Programme | Aston University