Spring to Action Ltd

Support for Food and Drink Businesses

 

Food Workshop

Get support to develop a food or drink business in Leicester. Learn about food hygiene, health and safety, business planning and test your idea and products alongside other food businesses.

Enrol on the FREE 2 day workshop at  http://www.thefoodworkshop.co.uk/enrol-now.php

 

Pitch Up Entrepreneur Competition

Leicester Market has a new initiative to inspire and assist budding entrepreneurs called the Pitch Up Entrepreneur Competition.

With this short term project they are looking for 8 “finalists” who will benefit from dedicated workshops, free test trading throughout June, a £250 trading allowance and overall business support.

The eventual winner will be judged by a panel and will receive a further £500, up to 6 months FREE trading at the market (if compatable with their Business Plan) and claim the crown of Pitch Up Entrepreneur 2012

 

Again entries and further information is available on line at www.thefoodworkshop.co.uk

Entries up until 18^th May

 

http://www.leicestermarket.co.uk/news/pitch-up-entrepreneur-2012/

Leicester Farmers Market

Thursday saw the much-anticpated return of the Leicester Farmer's Market, this time in Gallowtree Gate and around the clock tower.  Although the image above probably doesn't show it as well as it could've, the area surrounding the Farmer's Market was packed with foodies, looking for some unusual and tasty bites.

In the midst of much negativity about our economy and the recession, this was a real triumph of enterprise.  From rustic breads to homemade nougat, to rare-bread meats, there was something for everyone.  Before long my purse was empty and I'm sure I wasn't alone.

Although the traditional venue of the Leicester Market is much protected, this new venue seemed to really successful. Shoppers, people on their lunchbreaks, pensioners and young families all centre on this part of town and it was pretty hard to avoid. 

Everything looked scrummy, so well presented, with friendly stallholders who can tell you all about their produce and there was a real variety of items.  This has to be the future of local markets - gone are the days of sub standard veg (no matter how cheap it may be!), wilting plants or car boot sale items.  And now we've had a taste of what local produce is out there the demand will continue to rise.  Well done to the Leicester Market staff for arranging a very successful event.  Find out when the next Farmer's Market is in your area  - and let's all do our best to support them!

Starting a Food Business?

Starting a catering business can be a complicated task with so many areas to consider - premises, employing people, health and safety, food hygiene, pricing.. the list goes on.

This handy guide from the Food Standards Agency gives a quick and simple run-down of all you need to know.

Often, the main considerations are seen as being 3 things: pricing, customer service and most importantly the food itself.  How many places have you been to where at least one of those areas doesn't make the mark?

Spring Deliver Marketing Workshop at Aston Villa FC

Today's adventures began for Spring with a trip to Aston Villa FC to deliver a marketing workshop to the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector.  Organised by People 1st, the sector skills council, it attracted a wide range of businesses seeking to improve their confidence in their marketing skills and learn something new.

With six more events for People First around the UK, there ae still spaces left for people in the sector in areas including Bristol, Warrington, Newcastle and Norwich.  Find out more.

We also delivered a full 3 hour Marketing Workshop to Taste of Lincolnshire, which proved popular and a dynamic place to lead a workshop.  Call Stonebow for more details or to book your place on 01895 81 7009.

Spring works with Award-Winning People 1st and Stonebow

Spring is excited to announce that it has recently completed the development of a new marketing workshop for businesses in the UK.  Working with People 1st, the sector skills council for Hospitality, Leisure, Travel and Tourism, Spring has desgined training materials for a seminar called 'Focus on Marketing' as part of People 1st's acclaimed series of workshops to assist a range of businesses to improve business performance.

This half-day workshop is designed to provide companies with the essential marketing tools they need to attract new customers, focus on their niche markets and benefits from low cost marketing techniques.

Booking for workshops has commenced, with Spring delivering its first workshop very shortly.  To find out more or to book your place contact Stonebow.  This  half day seminar is available across the UK and can be delivered in house.

Spread some Purple Love

If you're like me and love the sound of good grub and like supporting local businesses then Purple Love might just be right up your street!

Those lovely folks at Olives Et Al are encouraging the UK to get out there and spend £5 this week in their local butchers, bakers or deli shop.  Luckily for us, there's no shortage of local food and drink businesses in the East Midlands so it should be a doddle. They've calculated that if we all spend just £5 this week that's an extra £50 million in our economy - and have handily supplied a Science Bit so you can work out how all those £5 add up to £50 million.

So if you sell food and drink from the East Midlands jump on board this excellent scheme and get yourself promoted!  Meanwhile, I'm going to do abit of surfing and decide what lovely treats I'm going to try first!

Price Setting in a Recession

Times are predicted to be tough for the world's economies.  Europe is offically in recession and unemployment in the UK is at an 11 year high.  Those who could've predicted this 12 months ago are few and far between.

But there are positives. The UK's Food and Drink industry is exporting in greater numbers than ever befpre and oil prices are dropping. There are still many signs of life in the economy.

What can a small business do to help them through these tought times?  The Bank of England predicts things will start looking up in the 3rd quarter of 2009 so SMEs have a fair few months to survive through before then.

What about dropping prices to seal the deal?  Surely it's more important than ever to get lots of orders in, even if it does mean a smaller profit in the short term?  This is a tough one for me and I don't have a surefire answer.  What I would suggest doing is clarifiying your unit price.  Whatever you do, don't sell for lkess than your costs.  If you're in ther service industry in theory you can be more flexible, but it does depend on the customer too. The worry is that in the medium term its harder to raise your prices again. 

A better way to consider extra value for your money - perhaps by giving away one item (e.g. an introductory offer for free) then selling at your usual price.You can also  ensure the customer gets good value for money by offering quality and service better than other places - e.g. by completing the task before your competitors but charging a slightly higher price. Let's face it, if your product or service is exactly the same as your compeititors then you need to adjust this anyway. You must always have a point of distinction.

The best thing your business can do is ensure you get paid on time. The vast majority of businesses cite credit as a problem in their business - so ensure your suppliers and your customers are using the same credit terms. If you offer your customers 3 months credit (including the cardinal sin of not invoicing them immediately after you've completed the work - and chasing the debt) but your suppliers offer you 30 days credit then you're already in trouble.

Take a long hard look at your cashflow and credit terms first, to ensure these simple issues don't damage your business.  Ensure every invoice is paid on time, every time.

Kate

Keeping it Local

This weekend I headed to the East Midlands Food and Drink Festival in Brookby (Leicestershire), on what was a rather wet and muddy field. Needless to say, us tough Brits weren't put off by a bit of frost and rain and the car park was full of foody types. If you haven't been to the festival, its a great mix of local food/drink producers, fresh food made on site and demonstrations by chefs. What a great way to spend an afternoon, wandering around food stalls and tasting some of our best local produce. We have an amazing food heritage in Britain and it's great to see it, and our local businesses, being celebrated.

Some of my favourites were

• Bison Burgers from Bouverie Lodge who rear Bisons in the Leicestershire countryside

• Chocolate Confetti who make chocolate truffles to suit every palate, and which look like abit of heaven
• Arty Party Cakes who design and bake cakes for every occasion

These local food and drink businesses are crucial to our local economy. As Monty Don puts it so eloquently “A frighteningly high proportion of packaged food depends on a few basic ingredients, such as maize, soya and palm oil, that can only be produced on a huge scale and at rock-bottom prices by a combination of environmental rape and human exploitation. We are literally burning up the planet in order to produce food that is harmful, unnecessary and repulsive. The growing and trading of the greater part of these basic ingredients is controlled by just four huge companies” (Gardeners World, October 2008).

This is why it's so important to support local traders and producers - because we just can't rely on 4 companies getting the world the food we need, especially during the current economic climate where large companies are biting the dust almost on a daily basis. Big Barn is an alternative which helps you find local food suppliers, understand about seasonal produce and get into the habit of buying locally, regularly.

Well, I'd better be off to nibble on the treats I bought yesterday (I've already finished my supply of Chocolate Confetti – it was that good!) and order my next batch of local food.

Kate