The Angel Hotel and Caradog Cottages Abergavenny - Travel PR

The Angel Hotel is a luxurious, family-run hotel located in the centre of Abergavenny, recently included in The Sunday Times Top 100 Hotels. A former coaching inn, the hotel has offered hospitality to locals and travellers for nearly 200 years. The Griffiths family acquired the hotel in 2002 and have transformed it to the contemporary and stylish establishment it is today with 31 bedrooms a popular bar, multiple events spaces and formal restaurant The Oak Room.

The same family own Caradog Cottages, seven beautifully decorated self-catering cottages some in the centre of Abergavenny and others just outside the town. The hotel and cottages are situated just into Wales and well located to explore the natural beauty of the Brecon Beacons and Black Mountains, to wonder around the independent shops in the market town of Abergavenny.

We were due to commence a PR partnership with The Angel Hotel in March 2020 just as the Coronavirus pandemic took hold and the project was put on hold until autumn 2020, although in the interfering months I secured Welsh and UK national print and broadcast news coverage featuring comments and interviews with the owners.

PR highlights have included:

• The Guardian - Foodie Breaks

• The Telegraph - Britain’s newest culinary getaways

• Mail Online - Best festive restauants

• The Times - Review and inclusion in Top 100 Hotels

• Sainsbury’s Magazine - Staycation at the Angel (print)

• The Simple Things - Caradog Cottages review (print)

• The Times - Running holiday in Wales

• National Geographic Food - Weekend in the Brecon Beacons

• Hush Magazine - The UK’s Coolest Afternoon Teas

Restaurant launch - Catch at the Old Fish Market, Weymouth

Catch at the Old Fish Market opened in June 2021 amidst the colour and energy of Weymouth’s working quayside. It offers an authentic sea-to-plate dining experience serving fish and shellfish with unequivocal local provenance and landed just a few feet from the restaurant kitchen. Head Chef Mike Naidoo was inspired by the quality of local produce to Dorset to open the restaurant after years at Jason Atherton’s Pollen Street Social.

Although Dorset is a haven of top quality local food, Weymouth does not have a reputation for fine dining and the owners of Catch want to create a destination restaurant that also supports the local fishing industry. . Within a few months of opening, the team secured a Michelin Guide listing for its commitment to “Sustainable Gastronomy.”

We began working with Catch in autumn 2021, a few months after opening. We developed several themes for the PR campaign to launch the new restaurant:

• Restaurant Reviews: Invitations to restaurant critics in national newspapers and magazines. Secured a review in the Financial Times by Tim Hayward, Sainsbury’s Magazine etc

• Profile raising: Building a profile for head chef Mike Naidoo with interviews, recipe placement and profile opportunities including Delicious magazine, The Caterer, Code Hospitality

• Establish Catch at the Old Fish Market as a destination restaurant in Dorset, linking with local tourism organisations and accommodation. Securing coverage in Coast magazine, Elle magazine, The Dorset Guidebook.

Legendary chef, Shaun Hill at The Walnut Tree Inn - PR and profile raising

Shaun Hill is the legendary chef behind the Michelin-starred The Walnut Tree Inn, near Abergavenny in Wales. Shaun is 74 and still working in the kitchen every day, he began his career working for Robert Carrier in 1966 and became renowned as the chef who put Ludlow on the food map with the opening of the Merchant House. 2022 marks 14 years at The Walnut Tree. He has no plans to retire!

The Walnut Tree has been a food-lovers' destination since the early 1960s when it was owned and run by Franco Taruschio. It is now part of a family-owned group of businesses which includes The Angel Hotel, in Abergavenny, The Angel Bakery, The Art Shop and Chapel and Caradog Cottages. There are two self-catering cottages on the site of The Walnut Tree and another nearby for guests to enjoy a relaxed overnight stay while visiting the restaurant.

I was due to start work with The Walnut Tree Inn in March 2020 just as the Covid-19 Lockdown began and the owners put the project on hold. To support them through the challenging few months that followed, I offered pro bono PR support to the Welsh and UK national newspapers and trade press. I secured interviews for Shaun Hill on the ever-changing situation in prominent places such as BBC News, BBC Wales, The Caterer, The Telegraph, BBC Wales and Wales Online.

In November 2020 as hospitality opened up and travel became possible we launched the campaign in full. The restaurant has a strong reputation and a loyal audience including many influential restaurant writers and journalists but had not done any proactive PR for five years.

PR activity has focussed on reviews and travel pieces:

• Profile pieces for Shaun Hill, one of the longest-serving chefs in the country securing interviews in media including The Telegraph, Wales Online, The Caterer, Chef magazine Code Hospitality, National Geographic Food.

• Restaurant reviews in The Week, The Telegraph, Conde Nast Traveller

• Recipe placement - The Guardian Feast Magazine, Staff Canteen, National Geographic Food

• Travel destination/restaurant with rooms - The Telegraph, The Times, Waitrose Magazine, MailOnline

• Opinion-pieces / business news - focussed on issues including continued lock-downs and staff shortages - BBC News, BBC Wales, Wales Online, The Telegraph, The Caterer, Big Hospitality, Staff Canteen.

The Walnut Tree Inn >

The Walnut Tree Inn

Coverage highlights

• The Guardian - Chefs’ Tips and Foodie Breaks

• The Telegraph - Shaun Hill’s favourite places in Wales

• Chef magazine - Shaun Hill 4 page feature (print)

• Wales Online - Shaun HIll interview

• National Geographic Food - Michelin Star Restaurants in Wales (print)

• BBC News - Impact of Covid-19 closures

Fox & Hounds, Hunsdon - PR, content development, digital marketing, SEO,

We had been running our pub/ restaurant for 15 years and had got to the point where we needed a bit of a shake up/ wake up. Its easy to just keep plodding on doing the same thing and you are so busy running & working in your business that you don’t always take a good look at what you are really doing & why.

Polly really helped us to re focus our business and streamline and ‘tidy up’ our marketing & brand.

From helping with updating all our online presence, website, literature and introducing new ideas.

She is always quick, efficient & friendly and we have since continued to work with Polly to continue to keep moving forward.

Bianca & James Rix, owners of the Fox & Hounds Hunsdon.

The Fox & Hounds, Hunsdon is the only Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant in Hertfordshire. I have worked with the team for three years as they launched a new chapter of the business in 2019. In 2020, like the whole hospitality industry, they were heavily hit by the Covid 19 lock down and pivotted overnight to offer a community shop and meals to enjoy at home. They were so successful that they have carried on doing this and transformed part of the shop into a shop.

When I began working with them, the husband and wife team had never focussed on marketing and PR or analysed their brand, their values and key messages. Through a series of workshops we developed their story and built a brand and communications strategy. We reviewed and improved their website, helped them to build a social media strategy and hugely grow engagement and to develop and launch a regular email newsletter. We also reviewed and improved online listings from Google Business page to other restaurant and pub guides and entered the restaurant into local and national awards.

We have worked with them to build their media presence through effective PR securing reviews in key local and national publications including The Telegraph, i weekend, and Observer Food Monthly. We supported them to launch their community shop and secured interviews and profile pieces in national papers and trade press like Morning Advertiser and The Caterer about hospitality businesses pivoting in response to the pandemic.

The Sun Inn - increasing room occupancy

When Piers Baker, owner of The Sun Inn, Dedham and Church Street Tavern in Colchester, approached us about PR support in December 2017, his primary objective was to reach new customers and increase room occupancy for the bedrooms at The Sun. The ambition was for The Sun Inn to be known as one of the best places to stay and eat in the East of England.

The Sun Inn opened under Piers’ ownership in 2003 and was soon recognised locally as a proper pub serving excellent food that welcomed locals and visitors to Constable Country. As we began work on PR, the pub and hotel was shut for a major refurbishment in time for its 15th anniversary. Piers was looking for coverage of the refurbishment and 15th anniversary milestone shared with both local and national audiences.

Over the last 5 years, we have worked to get The Sun Inn and Church Street Tavern known to a national audience and build Piers’ reputation as an expert in the trade and business press.

We have secured feature length reviews in a host of top tier publications from The Telegraph, The Mail on Sunday, delicious, Food & Travel, Sainsbury’s Magazine, Time Out as well as shorter pieces in The Times, The Independent, Olive magazine and Waitrose magazine amongst many others.

Polly has worked with me on The Sun Inn and Church Street Tavern since 2017. Her remit was to undertake PR on the back of The Sun Inn's January 2018 refurbishment and increase occupancy in its guest rooms. At Church Street Tavern it was to seek opportunities to extend its reach to a wider audience. She has done all extremely successfully with a measurable increase in our room occupancy particularly. Polly is fast, diligent, keeps me informed of what she is focusing on and never fails to follow up. Her advice is valued on where/when/how to pitch ideas/events/offers. As an added bonus, she is meticulous on copy, a pedant on detail and captures the right tone for us. I thoroughly enjoy working with her, find her easy going and highly recommend her. Piers Baker

By June 2019 room occupancy had increased by 4% on previous year which is about 15 rooms a month more. with the busy spring/summer season seeing 10% increases. The number of guests eating increased by 8% to 88% of guests eating. Further increases were seen over the autumn and winter of 2019 until the Covid-19 Pandemic forced the business to close its doors in March 2020.

During the devastating lock-down period when all pubs and restaurants were forced to close, shattering their businesses overnight, we continued to work with Piers, establishing him as a representative of independently run pubs and restaurants with strong opinions about issues around rent reductions, social distancing, and adapting your business to cope. Piers has been quoted numerous times in trade publications including the Morning Advertiser and in national newspapers such as The Telegraph and The Times. As a result of this coverage he received invitations to appear on BBC Breakfast News in May 2020 and on BBC Newsnight in June 2020.

Coverage Highlights 2021

• National Geographic Food print & online - Winter Flavours

• The Telegraph- print and online - Best Pub Gardens

• Evening Standard - walks near London

Spectator Life - best pubs for post lock down

Coverage Highlights 2020

• Conde Nast Travel online - Essex Staycation

• The Caterer - Tier 2 Lockdown news

• The Telegraph - Reopening Guide

• The Times -Pubs with Gardens

• Broadcast interviews regarding pub closures - BBC Newsnight, BBC Brakfast News, BBC Radio Essex

Coverage Highlights 2017-19

• Sainsbury’s Magazine

• Delicious Magazine

• Mail on Sunday

• Waitrose Magazine

• Countryfile

• Coast magazine

• Food & Travel

• Telegraph Hotels pages

• The Times
  

Jack & Beyond - consumer PR and building a national audience

Jack & Beyond is a cake shop and café in Fulham, London which offers affordable bespoke and personalised cakes for delivery across London within 24 hours as well as nationwide delivery of gorgeous brownies and divine mince pies, macarons, cookies and more.

Jack &. Beyond launched in November 2019 not long before the coronavirus pandemic forced them to close their Fulham cafe and they drove them to develop a new online shop with products that could be delivered across the UK by courier. Through a successful PR campaign focussing on occasions such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day we have helped to build a successful online business with coverage in national newspapers and food & Lifestyle magazines. Back links to Jack & Beyond’s website from online coverage has been a huge bonus for SEO and helped improve their search rankings and driven traffic to the website. Fulop Gabor, founder of Jack & Beyond says:

“Polly is delivering exactly what we were looking for in terms of PR. We worked with two different PR agencies before we found Polly but neither hit the mark as Polly has.

She is always extremely responsive, understands the food & drink & hospitality businesses and has great contacts. Polly believes in our brand and potential as much as we do. Most importantly we couldn't have been happier with all the coverage with big newspapers such as The Telegraph, Daily Mail or Evening Standard. We are extremely happy with our partnership and couldn't be more excited about the future and our partnership with Polly.”

Binary Botanical - consumer & trade PR for beer brand

Binary Botanical is a new beer that blurs the lines between beer and wine and is described by its creators as the wine-lovers beer. It was developed by a team of women with years’ of experience of the brewing industry, who shared the frustration of wanting a moderate alcoholic drink – yet not enjoying the traditional bitter taste of beer. binary has a fresh, tangy and aromatic profile that will appeal to beer, wine and cider fans alike. 
binary also produce low alcohol version (0.5%) driven by the founders’ frustration that most non- or low alcoholic drinks are either bland or too sweet.

We began working with the Binary team around their launch in January 2019 and continue to support them with PR that includes:

• Launching Binary Botanical and the low alcohol equivalent to consumer food & drink and lifestyle press including offering samples to journalists. Coverage includes reviews and recommendations in Woman & Home, Psychologies and Olive, Good Homes, Vegan Life and more.

• Launching both products to the drinks trade press for both off-trade/retail and on-trade/hospitality market to increase listings - coverage achieved includes Just Drinks, Drinks Retailing, Bar, Restaurant magazine, Inside Drinks and Morning Advertiser and Imbibe.

• Building the founders’ profile as women in business / women in brewing in the trade press and local media including Surrey Life Magazine, Round & About, Guildford magazine and more.

• Raising awareness of a Dry January Cocktail competition open to bar tenders and mixologists through the trade press to encourage entries and highlight the winners - and generally to promote the idea of using no/low alcohol beer as a mixer in cocktails.

• Build expertise and thought leadership in trade and consumer press about issues such as pairing beer with food, beer in cocktails, the low-alcohol beer category.

You can see a selection of the coverage achieved on the press page of their website: https://binarybotanical.com/category/pr/

“As a small start-up brand we could not have asked for a better partner in Polly. Well respected and connected in the food and drink industry Polly is able to get the impossible done with a limited budget.

In addition, because we were new to the world of PR, the guidance to develop our communication strategy and honest feedback when we were going on a tangent was invaluable.

I would highly recommend Polly to anyone looking for a ‘partner’ rather than ‘supplier’ which is a rare find.

Danielle Bekker, Co-founder Binary Botanical

binarybotanical.com

Holt Farm - Business launch & social media

Holt Farm is a new online farmers market and fruit & veg box scheme serving Essex and Suffolk. It was launched by farmer, Pete Thompson, when he lost all his wholesale business as restaurants were forced to close in response to the Corona virus pandemic. The initial idea was to supply local people with fresh produce, to find a new use for some of the crops in the ground and to keep some of his staff employed.

Having worked as an external marketing team for Pete’s brands Cotchel, Reliquum and Thompson’s Baijiu since 2017, Pete called in my support to build the new business from scratch and reach a local audience. We began with a simple online shop on an existing website, but swiftly recognised we needed a dedicated site as orders were so high. We developed the brand story brought in a graphic designer to create a brand identity, a web development agency to build an easy to manage online shop in Shopify. We created social media accounts for the new business primarily focussing on Facebook for a local audience and Instagram for dedicated foodies.

Since the business launched in late March, Holt Farm has grown a loyal local audience and is delivering 150 fruit and veg boxes twice weekly. continue to manage their social media, create content for a regular newsletter and build the brand through local and national pr. A recent success was a feature on Channel 5’s A Week on the Farm.

“Polly Robinson has worked with us for a number of years, launching and supporting a number of products and supporting our senior & commercial teams. Polly has ensured we have reached above and beyond our aspired customer base and delivered great value for money. We look forward to continuing to work with Polly in the future. She brings with invaluable PR & Marketing savvy beyond the brief and is a pleasure to work with.”

Pete Thompson, Founder Holt Farm, Reliquum, Cotchel and British Baijiu

holt-farm.co.uk

Chef Gareth Ward / Ynyshir Michelin-Star Restaurant - PR

Gareth Ward - Ynyshir

I offered PR for Michelin-star restaurants Ynyshir in Wales between June 2017 and December 2019.

 Ynyshir is a destination restaurant and rooms, led by chef Gareth Ward and Amelia Eiriksson. Over the last two years, Ynyshir has been through significant refurbishment, with each stage moving further away from a traditional country house hotel, towards an exceptional destination. These developments have been recognised by numerous awards. In 2017 Ynyshir was awarded five AA Rosettes - the first ever restaurant in Wales to achieve that accolade and one of only three restaurants in the UK to reach that standard. Ynyshir also scooped the Decanter/Hine Restaurant of the Year 2017 and  The AA Wine Award for Wales 2017-18. It has retained its Michelin Star and is number 12 in the Good Food Guide 2018. 

Our focuswas to:

• Reposition Ynyshir as a destination restaurant, not country house hotel.

• Secure visits and reviews focussed on the tasting menu and cooking techniques in food press and luxury publications such as The Telegraph Ultra, Food & Travel, Country & Town House.

• Raise Gareth's Profile as a Chef to Watch with interviews and profile pieces.

• Secure appearances for Gareth at major events like Hotelympia and Abergavenny Food Festival.

• Explore opportunities for Gareth to appear on radio and television.

• Advise on website content and use of social media.

Working with Peers Communications.

V&A, Borough Market and Turnips Food Waste Collaboration

Turnips Borough, one of the oldest traders in Borough Market, has a pioneering approach to reducing food from their stall. So when they were approached by Borough Market and the curators of the V&A’s groundbreaking exhibition FOOD: Bigger than the Plate to collaborate on a sustainability pop-up, it seemed like a fantastic opportunity to showcase their ambitions to tackle food waste.

We worked hand-in-hand with the managers of Borough Market, their PR agency and the PR team from the V&A to create this unique event and engage the press, resulting in coverage on ITV London’s prime evening News at 6pm and 9pm as well as wide coverage in the London print and online media. Not only did the coverage give exposure to the partners involved but it raised the important issue of reducing food waste.

Turnips serve hundreds of portions of wild mushroom and spelt risotto every day using mushrooms which they have not sold and thus meaning that not one single mushroom is wasted. For one day only Turnips used oyster mushrooms grown in the V&A from used coffee grounds as part of the exhibition FOOD: Bigger than the Plate. Social enterprise GroCycle are growing oyster mushrooms in the gallery from bags filled with used coffee grounds, including grounds from the V&A café, usually these mushrooms are then used in catering at the V&A but on August 14th they were all sent to Turnips where they were served to huge crowds of people on an incredibly wet and un-summers day!

15 years ago, before food waste became the hot topic it is today, Turnips began finding new uses for fruit and vegetables which, while perfectly good, could not be sold by making of juices and smoothies with this produce. Today, Turnips Kitchen's team of chefs use a range of seasonal produce to create incredible street food every day, including their rich mushroom risotto made with organic British spelt from Sharpham Park and topped with generous amounts of parmesan – the dish that inspired this collaboration.

Charles Foster Turnips being interviewed for ITV News

10% of the sales were donated to Plan Zheroes, a zero food waste charity that Borough Market has worked with since 2014 to redistribute top quality surplus produce from traders to charities across London.

Interporc Spain - Press Lunch at Sabor

A celebratory pork lunch at Nieves Barragan’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Sabor, in Mayfair promised to be a real treat.

I was approached by Mindjuicer, the UK marketing agency for Interporc Spain (the Spanish inter-professional Agri-Food Organisation for White Pork) to raise awareness with the British media and food influencers about Interporc’s tour of the UK culminating in a press event at Sabor.

Founded by Nieves Barragan and José Etura, Sabor opened in January 2018 and was awarded a Michelin Star a few months later. Nieves Barragan and co-founder José Etura created an exciting menu to celebrate Spanish Capa Blanca pork with recipes inspired by the Galicia and Castilla regions of Spain including Pig's Head, Mojo Verde & Quince Alioli and Sabor mainstay Suckling Pig.

The lunch was hosted by the Commercial Delegate from the Spanish Embassy and the director of Interporc’s Pork Lovers Tour - the idea being to encourage UK consumers to eat more Spanish white pork – the campaign has EU funding and support from Spanish white pork producer Nuestra Carna Blanca.

We gave advice to the client about how to create a media event that would be appealing and engaging for the brand, ensuring the messaging was kept simple and unobtrusive. Invitations were sent to editors, publishers and food influencers from the UK’s top media including Conde Nast Traveller, Food & Travel magazine and BBC Good Food.

On the day we were joined by over 20 guests who were wowed by a feast to celebrate all things pork, the centrepiece being suckling pig cooked in the asador oven and served in the traditional way cut by plates. The event generated much positive exposure on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook as well as some online coverage. But the event was as much about relationship building as coverage and building an understanding of Spanish pork with the UK media. The client was delighted by the outcome and will return to the UK in 2020.

Lisa Goodwin Allen at Northcote - Restaurant PR

Northcote is a luxury, independent boutique hotel located in Lancashire. The restaurant  has held a Michelin star for 20 consecutive years. Northcote’s kitchen is led by Executive Chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen, who took up the reins in October 2017 when co-founder Nigel Haworth stepped back to become Chef Ambassador. 

• Raise Lisa Goodwin-Allen's profile with interviews, profile pieces and recipe placement.

• Secure opportunities for Lisa to appear at trade and consumer shows like the Northern Restaurant and Bar Show.

• Announce the line-up for Northcote's annual gastronomic event, Obsession, and manage press invitations to the London launch as well as the month-long event.

• Report monthly on coverage achieved.

Restaurant PR

Café du Marché - Full Service Communications

Tucked away down a cobbled mews in historic Smithfield in London, Le Café du Marché is an authentic and atmospheric French restaurant, run by the same family for over thirty years.

Le Café du Marché serves delicious classic French cuisine in the ground floor restaurant that has many loyal customers and has received praise from critics including Marina O'Laughlin. The restaurant has a unique and characterful private dining room on the first floor which is popular for corporate events as well as parties and wedding celebrations.

The owners of Le Café du Marché came to me looking for support with a full range of marketing and PR activity. Work commenced in December 2017 and continues with the aim of increasing bookings for the private dining room, securing restaurant reviews in the London and national media online and in print and improving communications with customers.

I am working closely with the owner and management team:

• PR - restaurant reviews, chefs profiles, recipe placement and trade expertise and opinions.
• Private event sales - improvements to marketing of the venue including writing and creating a new brochure; updating and adding to online listings including specialist wedding and events sites.
• Planning and creating a communications calendar including blogs, social media and newsletters.
• Writing blog content and creating an email newsletter.
• Event management for an exclusive open day event for event organisers and wedding planners.

British Dal Festival - Curation and PR

I am part of a small team to launch the first British Dal Festival in 2018. The festival will celebrate the magic of dal and similar pulse dishes from around the world through a week of events across the city of Bristol next month. The aim is to will highlight the cultural richness, flavour, and affordability of dal and in particular pulses grown in the UK, as well as their contribution to health, nutrition and environmental sustainability. 

I have been involved in the development, planning and PR for the Festival including:

• Developing the Festival's objectives, story and brand.
• Creating a website and social media profiles for British Dal Festival.
• Inviting high profile chefs and food writers to share dal recipes and memories for the website.
• Curating a programme of dal cookery demonstrations for the Festival's Grand Finale.
• Developing and implementing a creative PR campaign to launch the festival to the national press, and working alongside a colleague who focussed in the Bristol media.
• Securing coverage in national titles and local radio including a feature written by Diana Henry in Waitrose Weekend, a feature on pulses in The Observer and listings in Olive and Delicious magazines.

Tastesmiths - Consumer PR and sampling

Tastesmiths produce authentic home cooking curry kits designed to make it easy for home cooks to rustle up a delicious curry without the hassle of buying all the dry and fresh ingredients separately. Distinct from many curry kits all the ingredients (chilli, garlic, ginger) are fresh and spices freshly ground.

Tastesmiths had rebranded under new ownership in 2015 but never undertaken any proactive PR. A new listing with trade distributors Cotswold Fayre in autumn 2017, created an opportunity to build awareness of Tastesmith's with the UK media.

In a short and focussed PR exercise, I created a press release and targetted editors of the UK's leading food publications including Olive, Delicious, and BBC Good Food as well as trade publications like Speciality Food and Fine Food Digest. A very high conversion rate secured coverage in many leading titles.

Olive Magazine

Connecting with chefs & writers - Hodmedod

When Hodmedod started business selling British-grown fava beans in 2012 I helped them to get off the ground by reaching out to our network of journalists, chefs and food writers and encouraging them to try the beans which led to some

Three years later they have a diverse range of products including quinoa grown in Essex, British baked beans, a full range of dried pulses and gluten free flours.  The small team was stretched and they needed some regular marketing support as well as to engage with more chefs, food writers and bloggers to tell them about the new products.

Through sending samples to a new wave of food writers and chefs like Sabrina Ghayour, Olia Hercules and Honey & Co, we have achieved some high profile coverage for Hodmedod on Twitter and Instagram and got Hodmedod beans and peas on the menus of some London restaurants.

2016 is the Year of the Pulse and I will be working closely with Hodmedod to raise the profile of British grown pulses through creating new blog content, recipes, and events for the press and food community.

Branding - Lawson's Delicatessen - Slate

Lawson's Delicatessen was an award-winning deli on the Suffolk Coast which is now known as Slate. In January 2017 it was taken over by new owners father and daughter, Clare Jackson and John Ormerod who planned to rebrand the business to Slate, to open a new shop in Southwold and to start an ecommerce business.

I worked closely with the new owners before the the change of ownership and throughout the rebranding process. I advised them on communications about the change of ownership to their loyal customers, the local community, their suppliers and the small team of staff. This involved developing a new website, setting up an email newsletter, creating press releases for the consumer and trade press, re-establishing their presence on social media and facilitating a staff away day and workshop. 

I brought in specialist creative agency, WHAT Associates, to create a new brand identity and managed the development and implementation of the new brand.

I provided a full marketing service to the team including

• Strategic and practical marketing advice.
• PR to local and national media as well as the trade press.
• Writing blogs, including a monthly Cheese of the Month feature
• Developing and writing a monthly newsletter (including growing the database).
• Social media implementation and analysis
• Managing the website, creating an online shop and reporting on engagement.

Branding - Workshop Facilitation

Lawson's Delicatessen in Aldeburgh, is a much-loved specialist food retailer on the Suffolk Coast. When the founders retired and sold the business in January 2017, the new owners asked me to facilitate an away-day workshop for them and the staff. The objective of the day was to give the staff the opportunity to share their thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses of the business and explore ideas and new opportunities drawing on their years of experience in the shop.

The challenge was to create a welcoming and open environment for all the team to share their thoughts and listen to each other. It was important to make sure the team felt valued by Lawson's new owners and give them all a chance to get to know each other better.

I developed a number of exercises and games to make the day fun and engaging. We had cheese jokes, lots of post-it notes and quizzes.  I worked hard to make sure that everyone was involved and listened to and to make sure the discussion kept moving.

We wrapped up the day with a tutored cheese tasting and delicious lunch. It was an unusual opportunity for the whole team to get together away from the busy shop and have the chance to chat together.

As a result of the workshop, we developed a long list of actions for the team to put into place immediately as well as identifying some interesting ideas for development or improvements that will be implemented.