TEN days after graduating from Essex University these four friends had set up Zizzy Bar - a mobile bar company catering to all manner of events.

Viktoriya Madzharska, 23, Iliya Todorov, Stefan Georgiev and Nikola Nikolov, all 24, decided everybody needs drinks at a special occasion and made their part-time jobs the basis of a promising venture.

An initial crowd funding campaign secured the professional bartenders £2,000 which was boosted by a further £1,000 from the university.

Since then they received invaluable support from other Essex alumni and are preparing to launch their second £2,000 campaign in February.

This will fund more equipment and help them grow their client base.

Miss Madzharska said: “When we started Zizzy Bar we didn’t know what careers we wanted as we’d graduated in different subjects covering business, computer science and marketing, but we’d decided whatever business we did do, we’d do everything ourselves.

“This was absolutely essential in the beginning.

“Our initial aim was to open the first green smoothie bar in Colchester but after facing various barriers with hiring the venue and getting a licence from the council, we changed the plan.

“We also didn’t have the time then to dedicate to such a risky business but by the end of next year, we’d like to concentrate solely on this.”

Gazette:

Co-founders - Iliya Todorov, Viktoriya Madzharska, Nikola Nikolov, Stefan Georgiev

Zizzy Bar is based in Colchester but operates across East Anglia.

The team were already working with a catering company when they decided to go self-employed and used their contacts in the hospitality sector to start them off.

Their market research told them the highest number of weddings and engagement parties were held in Essex and already they have serviced three “challenging” weddings and two private parties as well as the recent Gazette wedding show.

The next step is securing bookings for festivals of which hundreds are held in the UK each year.

She said: “That would be brilliant.

“At the moment we have two handmade wooden bars and we’re thinking to have different styles for different events to match our client’s themes.

“I always try to find out what other bars are doing and I discovered not many do cocktail-making classes - but if you teach someone to make it at home, they will remember us when they recreate it.”

For more information, Facebook search @zizzybar or email office@zizzybar.co.uk.