Lake District

twitter imageFinding out what’s  happening in Windermere, Bowness and Troutbeck Bridge between quarterly issues of the printed HUB is now even easier by following @HUBWindermere on Twitter.

The next printed edition is due to be distributed by Royal Mail week commencing 25th February.

The copy deadline for the Summer edition is 29th March.

This year has not been the best  for footfall and revenue generation at many attractions.  The negative impact of the Olympics on incoming tourism , unforgiving weather conditions and the ongoing gloom over the economic climate all contributing to a severe downturn in attendance figures across the sector.

Taking time out to look at your attraction from an impartial viewpoint, particularly that of the customer,  is never easy and certainly one of the major challenges facing retailers in their fight for survival on our high streets.

Applying his extensive business development skills, understanding of how customers perceive and use space and wide marketing expertise our ‘Shop Doctor’ can bring a refreshing insight into identifying issues impacting on business performance at visitor attractions.

Looking at an attraction through  a fresh pair of eyes can provide an insight into the business that may not have previously been considered. Link this to recommendations as to how to improve the way the attraction interfaces with the customer, ideas to improve catering or retail efficieny and suggestions regarding routes to effective diversification the outome could prove very stimulating. 

If you are considering how to revitalise your attraction in time for 2013 now might be a good time to talk to Let’s Talk Shop.  Our skills are not just orientated towards retail development alone, they are transferable into any business where direct customer interface and delivery of high levels of customer service are critical to maintaining existing levels and, ideally, attracting increased and profitable attendance in the future.

A further 15 towns have been identified today to receive funding to help implement some of the Mary Portas recommendations to government, bringing the total of supported towns to 27.

The full list of the  towns announced today are:

Ashford, whose Town Team will use its local market to attract people back to the high street by offering new stall-holders the opportunity to have a ‘stall for a tenner’;

Berwick, who will work with local builders and other businesses to give their high street a much-needed facelift;

Braintree, who will provide mentoring support to the high number of independent shops in the area;

Brighton (London Road), who will encourage retailers to work together to tackle vandalism and crime to help realise the area’s full potential;

Hatfield, who will look beyond retail to provide community and event facilities to encourage more visitors to the high street;

Leamington (Old Town), who plan to focus their efforts on tackling the high vacancy rate in the high street and encourage new businesses to the area;

Liverpool (Lodge Lane), who will help aspiring young entrepreneurs in the community by offering a mentoring service;

Waterloo – Lower Marsh and the Cut (London Borough of Lambeth), who plan to set up satellite markets and tackle the high number of empty shops in the area;

Forest Hill, Kirkdale and Sydenham (London Borough of Lewisham), who plan to renovate 12 empty premises and improve signage in the local area;

Chrisp Street, Watney Market, Roman Road (London Borough of Tower Hamlets), who will use exploit their high visitor numbers to run a series of public information programmes;

Loughborough, who plan to involve students from Loughborough University to reinvigorate their high street and encourage budding business owners to consider setting up locally;

Lowestoft, who will create a Town ‘group’ discount scheme to attract local people, and establish a mentoring scheme in conjunction with schools, colleges and retailers;

Morecambe, who will set up a community café to provide advice and support for those looking to take up business opportunities;

Rotherham, who will launch a publicity campaign to highlight the unique nature of the high street and encourage people to ‘shop local’; and

Tiverton, who plan to improve parking facilities to encourage more visitors and tourists to the town centre.

The government has said it will share £5.5m between the 27 successful bidders and 392 other town teams. The 15 pilots will receive a share of £1.5m to make their ideas a reality. This includes £300,000 from the Greater London Authority for the London pilots.

Towns not selected to be pilots are to be supported a new online encyclopaedia – 100 Ways to Help the High Street and run by the ATCM.

In association with Cumbria PR we can provide a copywriting service, from promotional leaflets and newsletters, to content for your web pages. We also offer an editing service to ensure that your written promotional material is of the highest standard.

All enterprises, from voluntary sector organisations to corporate businesses, should recognise the importance of sharp and relevant copy to stimulate the required response in their readers.  Written material should be relevant and to the point, appropriate in style for the target audience, and free from technical and grammatical errors.

A background in journalism, writing and editing for publication, is the ideal basis for this craft, to communicate messages effectively, succinctly and persuasively. Cumbria PR can provide this service, for individuals and for organisations, large and small.

For further information please contact Eileen Jones on 07791 178903

eileen@cumbriapr.co.uk

http://www.cumbriapr.com/copywriting.html

Our telephone lines are being moved to our new offices this morning (Fdiday 20th) and, as a consequence, or main line 015394 40020, and those associated with it, are presently not available.

BT advise that we should be up and running again by 13.00.

For some of the time we can be contacted via our fax number 015394 46140 or you can contact Bill Smith direct on his mobile 07766 208 082

Also apologies for the intermittent Twitter feed to our website – normal service will hopefully be resumed as quickly as possible

With effect from the beginning of January 2012 our new office address will be:

Let’s Talk Shop Ltd
“Overbeck”
Woodland Road
Windermere
Cumbria
LA23 2AN

All other contact details will remain unchanged.

PLEASE ADJUST YOUR RECORDS ACCORDINGLY

Adopting some simple resolutions for the New Year could help attract new customers to your shop.

Why not try some of these:

  • Regularly look at your business from the customers point of view, remedy any failings immediately.
  • Keep your shop front well swept and free of weeds and rubbish.
  • Refresh the message on your ‘A’ sign, keep it informative, clean and sensibly located.
  • Display your business contact details clearly on the shop fascia or window.
  • Request the window cleaner to clean the shop fascia on a regular basis. What about cleaning the insides more regularly?
  • Ensure window displays are regularly changed and that the window is working for you even when the shop is closed.
  • Illuminate your window effectively and keep window lighting on after the shop is closed.
  • Repair light fittings immediately something goes wrong and keep bulbs to the same specification.
  • Remove unnecessary notices from your shop window and door – particularly if they are promoting another business.
  • Remember the age old retail adage – EYE LEVEL IS BUY LEVEL” and use it to maximise the appeal of your window and interior displays.

Look out for more simple resolutions from ‘The Shop Doctor’ to help make your shop work harder for you in 2012.

Sometimes addressing the simplest of things can make the greatest impact.

Wishing you a Happy New Year, and let’s hope for a more prosperous one.

 

 

 

Public toilets are not always available where or when you need them, there is often a queue at the ladies, and facilities for disabled people, children and for changing babies are not always adequate.

However, public toilet provision is at the discretion of local authorities, and there is currently no legal requirement for Councils to provide any toilets at all. In fact 40% of public toilets have closed in the last ten years. The campaign group ‘We need the Loo’, a joint venture between the Women’s Design Service, the British Toilet Association and the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering has therefore launched an online petition to ask the Government to make adequate public toilet provision a legal requirement.

They are asking for adequate toilet facilities for everybody, including men, women, children, babies and disabled people.

If you would like to play your part in ensuring we have public toilets as part of more sustainable, comfortable and inclusive communities, please publicise this petition. It has its own Facebook page, and the petition can be found by searching for public toilets on the government’s e-petition web site, or by using this link –  http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/15258

Well maintained, well equipped, clean and easily accessible toilets can make a real contribution to how customers use our towns – a way has to be found to improve, not remove, public toilet provision.

epetition flyer – we need the loo

epetition press release