Bolton entrepreneur Bernie Mulligan found her way into university life when she made the decision to practice what she preached to her children – ‘get a degree’.

But now, having graduated with a First in her Business Management undergraduate degree course last summer, she is well on her way to completing her masters.

And while she has yet to finish her MBA dissertation with Bolton Business School, Bernie has also found time to work on her future career, an online organic aromatherapy and holistic therapies business, set to launch in June.

Bernie, age 46 had AAT accountancy qualifications when she joined the University of Bolton and had been an auditor for Manchester City Council for 12 years. She had also been in business
Now she is ready to launch potionshop.co.uk which she is developing with her friend, Beverley Higham, a lecturer in aromatherapy and reflexology at Wigan and Leigh College.

Bernie, a mother of five, finds the drive to run home, business development and study comes from her experience of being a business owner: ‘When you run your own business you work 60 to 70 hours a week, that’s not a problem for me and I continue to do that. The advantage is the flexibility you have with your time – I’ve done nine-to-five, I didn’t want to go back to that,’ said Bernie. ‘Working for yourself, you can take time in the day but work in the evenings.’

Her passion for aromatherapy and reflexology comes from her own long journey back to health, following a road traffic accident in 2001. Bernie credits complementary therapies treatment for aiding her recovery from multiple spinal fractures and internal injuries.

‘I was so passionate about the complementary therapy I took a diploma in aromatherapy and reflexology. I then applied this to charity work at the BASIC – the brain and spinal injury charity attached to Hope Hospital – I even got to meet Princess Anne there,’ said Bernie.

And if Bernie is passionate about her new business she is equally enthusiastic about the University of Bolton. ‘I came to Bolton as a mature student who thought she should do what she was always telling her children to do – get a university education.

Said Bernie: ‘I was concerned I might stick out in the classroom as a mature student, but Bolton has such a diverse student population and is very welcoming. You can’t walk into a classroom and say any one group dominates. It really does have a very good feeling about it.’