BORN and bred in Southampton, Sarah Beattie was delighted when she, her footballer husband James and their three children moved back to the south coast from Cheshire late last year.

The couple had bought a home in Poole around eight years ago and rented it out since.

But they decided that now it was time to live there.

“James was coming to the end of his football career and his contracts were like a season long – having three young kids, that was really unsettling,” says Sarah.

“We had this house down here, the tenants had moved out and we were at a bit of a crossroads really. We decided to take the plunge and move back down here because this is such a fantastic part of the world and we absolutely love it.

“We got ourselves settled in and then I met up with an old friend – Kellyanne Morgan – who ran LMP Models agency.

“We got chatting about her agency and over a cup of coffee we’d decided to relaunch the agency together from my basement!”

The agency – LMP Model Boutique — was an exciting new direction for her and she, James and their children – seven-year-old James, George, 3 and Halle, 2 – were settling in well, with their oldest child enjoying his new school. Then came a job offer for James at the other end of the country that he couldn’t refuse.

“He was umming and aahing about still playing football because of his age and what has happened with his past seasons and then this job came out of the blue – he’d made such an impact when he was playing at Accrington Stanley and the chairman had really liked him so he got offered the job of manager.

Daily Echo:

Sarah and James in 2008

“We had to make a decision over whether to all move back up north again, because we still have a house there which we rent out.

“But for me, running the modelling agency is amazing and I’ve reached a stage in my life where I really want to do something different.

“So we decided that the children and I would stay down here. There’s no stability in football – he could be gone again next season and we just have to make sure that our family has a strong base. “It’s pretty hard because we only see him about once every ten days and we miss him massively but it’s a small price to pay.

“You never know where being a manager will take him and it’s a new challenge for him which he absolutely loves.

“It’s working for us – long distance relationships are tricky but we’re used to it.”

Sarah says that launching the modelling agency has come at the perfect time to fill her evenings with James being away from home.

“It’s keeping me really busy and is something I can plough all my thoughts into. Primarily I am a mum to three children but because I mostly spend evenings on my own I can catch up on my work. It fits perfectly around having children, especially as our office is in my basement!”

The agency has been expanded since Kellyanne ran it on her own, with lots of categories such as plus-size, commercial, classic, fashion and character. As well as running the agency, Sarah is on its books as a model herself.

Sarah says it’s important to her and Kellyanne that the agency represents a wide range of people and takes care of its models.

“There were things I didn’t like when I was with other agencies such as people giving you false hope by telling you a job was essentially yours and when you got to the casting there would be 100 other girls there or you wouldn’t get paid on time.

“It could be quite cut-throat. One time I was taken on by an agency and told to lose weight and change my hair. It was disheartening because I was a small size ten.

You have to be realistic with models but sometimes there’s no need for it.

“We look after all our models – we only have around 50 we get to know them personally and have a wide range of looks.”

Sarah, who went to Barton Peveril college before going on to take sports studies at the University of Southampton, is delighted to be back near her parents, who still live in Botley.

She is also still involved in local charity Sophie’s Appeal which was started in 2003 by Lin and Mike Barringer with some close friends following the diagnosis of their daughter Sophie with Wilm’s Disease. This cancer of the kidney claimed the life of Sophie in December 2004 at the age of six.

Daily Echo:

James met Sophie when she was a Saints mascot and the pair became friends. Since then James and Sarah have done lots of fundraising for Sophie’s Appeal, which raises funds to support the social, emotional and educational welfare of sick children and their families or carers while being treated either in hospital or the community. When they got married in summer 2006, rather than receiving presents Sarah and James asked their guests to make a donation to Sophie’s Appeal, raising some £7,000.

Sarah is planning to put on a fashion show next year to help raise more money for the charity.

Although she has lived in different parts of the country and is now down the road in Poole, she says she will always be a Southampton girl.

“I’m always in Southampton,” she says.

“My heart belongs to the city.”

For more information about LMP Model Boutique, visit lmpmodelboutique.com.

 

Could you be the face of South Coast Fashion Week?

Sarah and Kellyanne are looking for a male and female to become the face of South Coast Fashion Week, which is being held at the Bournemouth International Centre next May.

The last round of the competition, before the final, is being held at the Concorde Club in Eastleigh on October 10. Anyone wishing to enter simply needs to download an entry form and take it with them on the night. There will be no need to do any modelling or have your photo taken at the event but you can enjoy a fashion show and entertainment put on by LMP Model Boutique.

The winners will receive a yearlong contract with LMP Model Boutique as well as a host of other prizes.

For more information and an application form, visit southcoastfashionweek.co.uk.