Insider Media Limited

Two former chiropractic students who met at college in Wales have reunited to open their first practice in Lincolnshire, after securing £112,000 worth of funding.

Lisa Crisp was working at the Chirohealth Clinic in Lincolnshire when Amy Houghton applied for a job, unaware that the friend she had not seen since her student days in Glamorgan was already an employee there.

After three years of working together the pair jumped at the chance to take on the Hykeham-based practice from their employers, who wanted to concentrate on their other clinic in Scunthorpe.

After securing a £112,000 Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) loan from Lloyds TSB Commercial, the pair have refurbished and rebranded the clinic, which has now reopened as Hykeham Chiropractic.

Houghton explained: “I had no idea where Lisa was working when I applied. She had graduated a year ahead of me and I had been to study further in America.

“But it was great to work with her. I even spent six weeks living with Lisa when I first moved to Lincolnshire. We have a good friendship and a respect for each other’s professional skills. I don’t think we would have had the confidence to go into business together if we didn’t.

“Once we had agreed to take on the practice, Lloyds TSB Commercial was a great help. Lisa and I are good at cracking backs but we needed a bit of help cracking a business plan and the bank has a lot of experience working with healthcare practices so was able to give us great insight into how we should structure things.”

Lloyds TSB Commercial healthcare banking consultant Steve Denham said: “As the UK economy continues to recover it’s fantastic to see two relatively recent graduates, still both in their 20s, taking the first steps into business as partners.

“Amy and Lisa are highly qualified and clearly could have great careers working for other people but they seized the opportunity to set up on their own and have proved that they have a hands-on approach to business as well as chiropractic treatment. They’ve already made the clinic their own and are attracting a fresh client base to build on existing clients. It was fantastic to be able to help them via our dedicated team of healthcare specialists.”

Crisp added: “It is a bit daunting setting up a business a few years after graduating but we both feel like we’ve had great support and it is definitely exciting and satisfying working for yourself.”