Paul's a model businessman (From Warrington Guardian)

Paul's a model businessman

A UNIVERSITY graduate who rejected traditional employment routes has set up a successful modelling company.

Paul Marshall, aged 24, left the Padgate campus of the University College of Chester with first class honours in business management and IT in 2003.

After working briefly in recruitment he decided to bite the bullet and fulfil his long-term ambition to open a modelling agency.

Strut Promotions has already provided models for major exhibitions at the London Olympia, the Birmingham NEC and the Cardiff CIA; with many national and international clients including Acclaim Recruitment of Australia already featuring in their portfolio.

His models also brought some glamour to the opening of Manchester's Harley Davidson dealership when it opened its doors in March.

Paul says he hopes to develop Strut Promotions into a major national agency brand and feels his experience is a good example of other employment avenues graduates can take aside from graduate positions.

He set up Strut with a £5,000 loan from his aunt who runs a recruitment agency in Leicester and is benefiting from her gift of rent-free office space.

Paul said: "I'd always dreamed of being a model myself but didn't become one. However, running Strut lets me maintain my interest in the industry while also coming up with business ideas, which I enjoy."