Northumbria School of English is celebrating after winning the top prize at North Tyneside Business Forum's first ever Lions' Lair event.

Christine Goodwin, the school's managing director, was voted most promising business and won over £1,000 worth of consultancy from some of the region's leading business finance experts.

She said: "I am absolutely delighted and completely surprised to win at Lions' Lair. I was very nervous going into the event and the standard set by the other businesses pitching to the Lions was very high. I am really hoping that this will give the school a great platform to go forward and expand in the future."

Northumbria School of English, in Whitley Bay, is one of just four accredited English language centres between the River Tyne and the Scottish Border. It has seen student numbers, turnover and profits grow significantly during the past year, and is now looking at the best way to meet the growing demand.

The Lions' Lair was a special 'Dragons' Den' style competition held at Tyne Metropolitan College's Coast Road campus with some of the region's leading business finance experts. Christine was one of four business owners who pitched to the specially assembled panel of Lions.

It was organised by the North Tyneside Business Forum, which is supported by North Tyneside Council to provide a support network for the borough's businesses.  The aim of the event was to showcase the funding opportunities available to help the region's small and growing businesses to expand.

The 40 business owners and managers attending the free event learned about what it takes to present the perfect pitch to impress potential financial backers, and to set up their business to win the support of the region's top dealmakers.

Karen Goldfinch, who chaired the Lions' Lair panel and is a member of the North Tyneside Business Forum steering group, said: "I'd like to congratulate all the businesses that took part. We had four fantastic presentations and this shows the vibrancy and diversity of businesses that we have here in North Tyneside. Northumbria School of English is a fantastic business with great potential to grow, and I'm looking forward to watching its development in the future."