It’s never too late to make a change in career, says enterprising Sharon Killip.

At the age of 55 Sharonhas swapped office life at Strix to go on the road as a dog groomer with her own business called Vroom Groom.

’I’m loving it and I’m already getting some great feedback from people across the island,’ said dog lover Sharon.

Sharon plays relaxing classical music in the converted Peugeot Boxer van which is top of the range and fully equipped for tasks ranging from nail clipping to full wash and trims for island pooches.

She only left her job with world-renowned company Strix at the end of March and then embarked on a Level Three City and Guilds intensive dog grooming course in London Colney a few days later. She told Business News she ploughed around £30,000 into the business. She said she dipped into her pension pot from Strix where she was a PA and then executive assistant, to help fund the enterprise.

Sharon lives with her husband, retired civil servant David, near Ballasalla. They have three dogs of their own: Jasper, three, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Tywin, four, a black flatcoat retriever and Ffinlo, five, a golden retriever.

Sharon said: ’I had been with Strix since 2003 and enjoyed working there. It was a great place to work. I loved it.’

Asked why she had decided to leave to go it alone she said: ’Just because I had this idea, this little seed, that just would not go away. It would have been easier to ignore it and let it go away.’

But she kept plugging on and started conducting her own research into what dog grooming involves.

’I thought: ’’There is a market out there. I love being with my dogs and I’ve worked for myself before. So what’s not to like?’’ ’

She decided to make the career change.

’I thought: ’’you know what, I can do that.’’ I did all the research and looked into the market over here and my husband was with me all the way on this journey.’

While still employed at the respected kettle control company Strix, she enrolled on a micro business course backed by the Department of Economic Development. ’It was invaluable, the support was amazing.’

She added: ’It got to the point where I had to decide whether to go ahead or not. I’d been talking about it for so long.’

She handed in her notice on the Friday and a few days later went on the ’very intensive’ month-long course at Groom Arts Academy at London Colney, St Albans.

Sharon, who has lived in the island since she was four, said the career change fitted in with her lifestyle and family commitments.

She has two sons of her own, Alex, 29, and Callum, 26, who has been lending a hand with the new technology aspect of the job with her Facebook page and a soon-to-be launched website.

She also has a stepdaughter Evie and stepson Adam.

Before joining Strix Sharon had various jobs including a business delivering well known brands of cakes to shops around the island.

Other roles included briefly being an air hostess for Manx Airlines.

Sharon, who will be 56 in August, said she hoped her story might be inspiration for others looking to pursue new avenues in the world of work and business. ’I suppose the message is that it’s never too late to make a change!’

Sharon will be exhibiting the mobile van at the Southern Show, Great Meadow, on Sunday, July 30. Sharon pointed out she was at Strix when Eddie Davies was executive chairman. ’Eddie once said to me that when he agreed to join Strix, which was in its infancy, he made a "calculated leap in the dark". I guess that’s a good description of my launch of Vroom Groom!’

Sharon Killip with one of her three pet dogs Jasper in the fully equipped Vroom Groom van. She says the island is a nation of dog lovers