WiRE Blog

“At the end of 2009 vacancy rates across England and Wales High streets totalled 12.4%, up from 5% in January. It is now thought that this percentage has exceeded the 15% mark”.[1]

Due to a number of factors, including increased rent and higher tax rates; retail businesses are being forced to take a more flexible approach to retail.  On-line shopping has now become a global phenomenon and even the likes of Sir Phillip Green (owner of the Arcadia Group) is closing 300 stores from his successful Arcadia Empire and placing higher focus on on-line sales.

Here at WiRE we are all for on-line sales and wonderful websites, but in these difficult times, small businesses must take a mixed and all-embracing approach to finding new customers. Browsing through the brilliant WiRE Rural Marketplace, it occurred to us that we could help bring lots of new customers to WiRE members by taking the marketplace “on the road”.

So after much planning and research WiRE are hosting Marketplace Marquees at some of the best and busiest country shows this summer;  getting bigger crowds to small businesses (much bigger than on the high street) and showcasing unique and diverse WiRE member products.

By exhibiting at the discounted exhibition stands within WiRE Marketplace Marquees, customers can touch, feel and live your products, they can meet you and share your passion; we think it’s a much more powerful sales pitch than a website!  Footfall at country shows is on the increase, with the bigger shows exceeding footfall of 80,000 and the new trend to buy good quality and local goods, a stand in the WiRE Marketplace Marquee is a cost effective, fantastic way to get your product to new customers.

To book a stand within a WiRE marquee at Shows across the country, we still have spaces available. Visit: http://www.wireuk.org/wire-on-show.html

2011 is set to be a really exciting year for the WiRE team and its members. With bigger, better and more exciting events lined up and a few more in the pipeline, we want to get our members out on show. Boasting some of the most talented, influential and inspiring rural businesses in the Country within our membership, we will proudly be waving the new WiRE flags and representing the very best of British rural business.

We are kick-starting the year with the Passion for Rural Business Conference on 16th February here in the fantastic surroundings of the glistening new Regional Food Academy just a stones throw away from the WiRE headquarters. As you walk into the imposing atrium you will be greeted with beautifully arranged WiRE Member stalls dotted around, prior to entering the all new equipped lecture theatre.

The day will start with two brilliantly entertaining and motivating WiRE members, Claire Martinsen and Emma Heathcote- James followed by two expert seminars led by Regional Marketing Manager for Tesco Caroline Bartrop and Brand consultant Caroline Law. With a focus on Brand Management and guidance on suitable routes to market for varying business types and business sizes, there will be ample expertise at hand to make this a valuable day for all.

WiRE has listened intently to our member’s requests and we are now hoping to bring WiRE conferences closer to you! With the desire for regional conferences nationwide, we are currently in talks with sponsors to bring WiRE conferences to Somerset, Yorkshire and the East of England, so keep those diaries close to hand and watch this space…!

Starting off show season; in the fabulously countryfied “Farrow and Ball” style WiRE marquees, WiRE will be hitting the Devon County Show on 19th-21st May as the first of MANY shows to come through the Summer, later expect to see WiRE Marquees and fabulous WiRE member businesses at the Royal Welsh Show, the Three Counties, Great Yorkshire the Cotswold and view many more shows on our events page.

The year is only just beginning, WiRE want the whole year to be brilliant for you and your business by filling your calendar with opportunities to sell, promote and learn new skills.

The Events Team.

Sliding wildly down the long snow covered drive towards Shugborough Hall, I was hoping to discover the magic of Christmas and neither Catherine nor I were disappointed. Festivity was drifting from every corner of this beautiful stately home; from the smell of the roasting chestnuts to the glorious harmonies of the carol singers and the crisp snow covered ground. Placed neatly in front of the house was the thriving Christmas market with businesses tucked in every corner and hoards of shoppers ready to purchase those all important Christmas presents.

Having wandered round the vast diversity of different businesses, it struck me that many hadn’t tailored their stands to the festive season. In an ever evolving marketplace products and services must be tailored to changing consumer needs. This couldn’t ring more true at Christmas time, so why had many businesses not picked up on this? A simple festive hat or sprig of holly to tailor to the Christmas market

As I pondered on this, I couldn’t help but notice the stall next to me. The owners of Bow Wow Baking were drawing crowds of people to their stall. Neatly decorated with bowls of homemade dog treats and mini dog cupcakes, the stall was sprinkled with red Christmas bows and festive cheer. A well considered strategic implementation to add value by cashing in on the festive season.

With a batch of Christmas star dog treats neatly wrapped in paw decorated bags and festive red ribbon attached, these biscuits catered for both festive shopper and fussy hound alike. To me, this is an excellent example of market awareness. They knew who their target market was, made a line of products, adding value by using festive Christmas stars and packaging and priced their products effectively for their target market. Knowing that people were there to do their Christmas shopping with a little cash to spend, Bow Wow Baking did a promotion of buy two and get one free to appeal to those with less ready cash and even the men bored by shopping were hooked in.

In my opinion, this small market adaptation and product diversification was an innovative approach to embracing the seasonal change. In my mind successful businesses are those that get it right for their customers, it’s about flexibility, quality, convenience and tailoring your products directly to customer needs. Perhaps this is why Bow Wow ‘really took the biscuit!’

Very often people approach me and want to find out what it is that makes WiRE so special. Well here’s what I think sets WiRE apart from all the rest. WiRE is a small female rural business support organisation. With our office set in the heart of the Shropshire countryside on an agriculturally based University College, we is an organisation that wants to make things happen on a national scale, using the knowledge and expertise of Harper Adams University to help us achieve this.

Since starting here at WiRE, I have come to notice that WiRE celebrates rural entrepreneurship in every way, as our members cover a wonderfully diverse spectrum of business capabilities and skills. From small start-ups to larger more established businesses, it seems to me that this organisation never turns down the opportunity to support, promote and help women and their business needs. I think this is entirely evident through the WiRE website, where members can come together, promote their businesses and showcase their talent and hard work for the world to see on-line.

Another thing (and perhaps one of the most important things) are the WiRE networks dotted across the country. On a national scale, WiRE has over sixty active networks where like-minded women gather together to inspire, motivate, guide and help women from varying business backgrounds. With speakers, clinics, Q&A sessions, workshops and networking occurring across the country, WiRE has the ability to sustain and help women retain close working relationships with other like-minded business women in challenging geographical locations.

Since starting here at WiRE, I can’t help but notice the staggering commitment, hard work and pioneering attitude of all of our network leaders across the country as well as all the staff here at headquarters. Our network leaders are volunteers acting as ambassadors to WiRE’s very cause, and judging by the WiRE website, one can clearly see through the number of events on the network pages, networking is a hive of activity just waiting to help whichever business comes through their door.

In short… it is the people that make WiRE so fantastic. With business success stories gleaming from the pages of our new magazine to the members that all come together and exhibit beneath the WiRE umbrella, WiRE is about continuing support, camaraderie and a means of inspiration which ion my opinion, really comes down to you, our members.

What I think makes WiRE a cut above the rest is the ability to support you and your business. By providing endless networking, PR and marketing opportunities, be it on our website in our magazine or at shows across the country. It is wonderfully comforting to know that the support is there both on-line and one to one. With all of this achieved at your own convenience be it geographically, cost effectively and time efficiently I cannot fault WiRE and its network leaders for their want to support, promote and help your businesses. It really is a little gold mine of rural business potential there for the taking…after all…WiRE is what you make of it.

10am on a fresh sunny Wednesday morning, the WiRE team set off in pursuit of all things festive and trundled down the M6 heading for the Country Living Christmas Fair. With a fantastic journey all the way up to Kilburn we then crawled through the throng of London traffic all the way to Islington all very excited about what the fair would be like and what there would be to see!

Well what a treat…after an eventful journey we were not dissapointed and arrived at the Business Design Centre to the wholly satifying and deeply welcoming smell of sweet cinamon and mulled wine.  As we entered the hall climbing the steps with anticipation, we were greeted with a sight that would put santas grotto to shame!

Country Living really did pull out all the stops and the exhibitors made a truly magical display lining walls and shell schemes with sumptuous glittering christmassy delights. The whole place was bustling with a delightfully relaxed ambience as the pages of country living magazine were brought to life and people shopped at great ease winding through this maze of brimming festivity.

We were absolutley delighted to see some of our WiRE members there. Penny Lindop’s stall was simply stunning, neatly arranged with handcrafted cards and artistry and in a really fantastic spot.

As I wove from one magical stall to the next I couldn’t believe how inspiring and satisfying it was to realise that the room was filled with female entrepreneurs with the most spectacular products and business ideas. From handmade crafts, jewellery and homemade festive decorations galore, there truly was a little piece of magic for everyone to take home.

 I simply cannot wait to provide these opportunities to our members and showcase their wonderful businesses beneath the WiRE umbrella. If you havn’t yet been to the Country Living Christmas Fair, get yourself down there because you won’t be dissapointed.

Here at WiRE Catherine and I are getting really excited about the up-coming and ever expanding events callendar. The events office is seriously buzzing with a whole host of fresh and exciting opportunities for WiRE members and we can’t wait to share them with you all.

We start the callendar with a local event at Newport Girls High School on Thursday 11th November. From 7.00pm the Girls High will be transformed into a bustling market hall with WiRE members showcasing their fantastic products and WiRE will be there too, so do come and pay us a visit as we’d love to see you all!

Next up, WiRE will be running ice breaking speed networking sessions at the Enterprising Women Conference. On Wednesday 17th November our sessions will be open to everyone from complete novices to networking whizzes. Networking is about support, inspiration and motivation. It’s about sharing ideas, knowledge and expertise, as well as doing business. We want to give people a chance to open new channels of communication with the potential to lead to exciting business opportunities. So do come and join us as it is set to be a fantastic and insightful day and who knows, we may all come back with new skills and new business!

With christmas drawing in fast, WiRE couldn’t miss out on some of the christmas action taking place, so we are heading up north to Harrogate for the bustling Living North Essence of Christmas Fair. For those of you that get that heady buzz seeing all those Country Living-esque stalls all lined up glittering and glowing with trinkets and treasures galore…this really is the show for you. WiRE have secured a lovely 50% off for our members to come and exhibit from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th November. Catherine and I will also be there with a WiRE stand. We can’t wait see all of our members stalls beautifully arranged poised for christmas shopping action. There are still spaces available so do get in touch if you would like to attend.

On a more local scale, WiRE have also booked the Shugborough Hall event into our diaries. Shugborough Hall is hosting a Christmas market, transfoming this beautiful old house into a wintry wonderland of magical christmas festivity. Well of course, we couldn’t miss this one and we want our members to be a part of this too, so we have a 10% discount especially for WiRE members at the ready. The interest has been fantastic and we are really looking forward to seeing all our members beautiful stalls in this gorgeous setting and maybe get to hear some of those gorgeous christmas carols too!

Here at the events office, life is never dull. We love hearing from all our members whether it’s a chat about the great shows we simply should not miss, to members that are interested in exhibiting with us. WiRE is here to support you, therefore there is no greater importance than knowing what you want from us here at the events office, so pick up the phone or drop us an e-mail and we’d be really glad to help!

The Events Team

Tel: 01952 815473

e-mail: jaia@wireuk.org or catherine@wireuk.org