Suzanne Noble and business partner Mark Elliott

WATCH OUR ONLINE POLITICS CHANNEL, PEEPS, ON YOUTUBE

WHEN childhood pipe dreams get left on the shelf, life’s circumstances rarely allow us to return to them.

So anyone contemplating a career change after 50 will be encouraged by a cohort of senior Islington entrepreneurs who are embodying the mantra that you’re never too old, and it’s never too late.
Startup School for Seniors is an online programme, commissioned by Islington Council, that supports older residents to turn an idea into a business, with the promise of £500 for the best idea.

The school’s co-founder, Suzanne Noble, 63, said: “A lot of people don’t expect to be in this position – they think they’re approaching retirement age and suddenly they still need to work and make money.

“I have been self-employed for most of my life, so here was an opportunity to give people a different way of thinking about their future, show them they have all this lived experienced that could be valuable for anything they might want to do.

“This is not the next Mark Zuckerberg – these people are realistic in their ambitions, but they want to make something of it.”

Pizza entrepreneur Tom Artiss

Ms Noble has had a diverse career herself – from working in video production, to setting up a baby sling business and launching a podcast and TikTok channel called Sex Advice for Seniors.

“Starting a business is basically always the same,” she added, “which is that you have to find a problem that needs solving and then figure out how best to solve it.”

The course has helped mother of six Veronica Nkom, 60, from Highbury, get her funeral support business going.

“It’s a bit like being a doula, but for funerals,” she said.

After a death in her family, Ms Nkom realised that her background in events management meant that organising funerals was something she could do to help people with their grief.

“I have so much to give because I have no distractions,” Ms Nkom added.

“I want to wake up and be part of what makes the world function.”

Tom Artiss, 56, was also among the participants in the first Islington cohort.

Mr Artiss, originally from Canada, has been a foodie all his life, but a year-long stint at a Utah-based Michelin-star restaurant with a tough culture during his youth put him off professional cheffing.

Veronica Nkom

Decades later, Mr Artiss was an academic at Cambridge University when he picked up kitchen shifts at the Almeida Theatre.

When the head chef left, Mr Artiss temporarily stepped into the top role – and never looked back.

He said: “It was just bliss. I was running my own kitchen, creating my own menus. It was just a eureka moment. I loved academia, so for something else to come along and supplant that, it has to be something special and something that you’re meant to do.”

Mr Artiss joined the Startup School to develop his vision of a takeaway pizzeria in Angel that will sell Roman-style pizza al taglio, which “doesn’t really exist” yet in London.

Pizza al taglio is sold in squares and is more of a “cheffy medium” than Naples pizza, because it holds its shape better, making it easier to experiment with toppings.

Mr Artiss added: “At my age you’re sort of thinking, ‘how do I want to spend the last 10, 15 years in activity, out in the world? Do I want to fade out marking papers and writing articles, or do this thing that feels so exciting?’ When I’m cooking, I’m at home. This is happiness. If I can get paid to do this, then I don’t need to do anything else.”

Applications are open for the next cohort of Startup School for Seniors, which includes 1:1 mentoring. It starts on November 18 and runs online for two weeks.