Robin Gregson - News
Welcome to my news page. Here, you can find out about recent developments, forthcoming events and other information that may be of interest to you.
- High Growth Programme - Free Coaching Support
- Start-Up Support in Lancashire
- Promoting Environmentally Sustainable Technologies
- Buy Local - Food Trade Event
- Chartered Marketer Status
- Press Day for Capernwray Dive Centre
High Growth Programme - Free Coaching Support
I recently became a registered coach on the High Growth Programme - a £10 million business support initiative funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA). The scheme is managed by The Winning Pitch and it provides up to ten days of free coaching support to companies and social enterprises with a significant capacity for expansion.
Under the programme, I am now providing free marketing coaching support to companies ranging from sole traders to PLCs and in sectors as diverse as engineering and the performing arts.
At a time when companies' budgets are stretched and managers are coming under increasing pressure to achieve more with fewer resources, the programme is an excellent way to secure valuable professional support and advice completely free of charge. More information, including eligibility criteria can be found on the High Growth Programme website.
Start-Up Support in Lancashire
For well over a year now, I have been working on contract with Enterprise4All, a not-for-profit business support organisation that is charged with delivering a variety of regional business support programmes funded by the NWDA.
Enterprise4All
specialises in providing support to under-represented groups such as women
entrepreneurs, people dealing with disabilities, over 50s and people from
minority ethnic backgrounds.
In May 2009, the company hosted the NWDA's 'BME Masterclass' at Preston North End, where business support specialists from across the region gathered to consider examples of best practice in delivering support for minority ethnic groups.
More recently, Enterprise4All was named by NWDA as one of the delivery agencies for the Intensive Start-Up Support programme, through which new businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs can secure free assistance and advice to help them succeed in their critical early stages.
My work is a mixture of in-house work - promoting Enterprise4All and the free support that it can offer to entrepreneurs and fledgling businesses - as well as direct consultancy support for some of those businesses that the company is assisting.
More information about the company and its services can be found on the Enterprise4All website.
Promoting Environmentally Sustainable Technologies
As
part of my work on the European-funded Resource Efficiency Centre programme,
I came across many examples of companies that are using modern, energy
efficient technologies to realise cost savings and to achieve a substantial
reduction in their carbon footprint.
One of these was Lee Engineering, a Lancaster based lighting and audio-visual specialist that recently helped a local charity to make very appreciable energy savings. It was my role to publicise the results of the project through a combination of PR and on-site photography.
Run by the registered charity, the Friends of the Willows, the SPACE Centre in Preston is one of the largest multi-sensory rooms in the country. A soft padded play area with sophisticated lighting and audio-visual facilities, it provides many forms of sensory stimulation and is ideal for helping those with learning and / or emotional difficulties to develop skills and to enjoy experiences usually unavailable to them.
However, the combination of intensive lighting and heavily padded interior walls had always made the centre liable to overheating and this placed a great burden on its air conditioning system, which was often kept running at close to full capacity.
Lee
Engineering responded by designing a highly efficient audio-visual system
based largely on LED lighting. In the first quarter since its installation
it has enabled the owners to slash their utility bills.
The new set-up has many more lights and lighting effects than before but the total power draw has been reduced by 75%. Not only has the cost of running the lighting fallen very dramatically, but waste heat has also been minimised so the air conditioning system does not have to be kept running in order to deal with it.
Publicising the results of such projects was one of the most rewarding aspects of my work with the Resource Efficiency Centre programme. It enabled me to play a part in promoting environmentally sustainable technologies and helped to provide businesses and other organisations with a powerful incentive to adopt them.
Press Day for Capernwray Dive Centre
They
say that you shouldn't mix business with pleasure, but sometimes the opportunity
is hard to turn down. That was the case when an EU funded business support
project on which I was working was extended to cover the far north of
Lancashire.
Run by North & Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, the CBAN project provided free support to small and medium sized businesses in ERDF-funded areas of the county. One of the companies that operates in the area covered by the extension is Capernwray Diving and Leisure - a popular scuba diving venue where I indulge one of my favourite hobbies - so I was keen to offer whatever help I could.
Although it attracts upwards of 37,000 visitors a year, Capernwray is largely unknown outside of the diving community, so I agreed to help the business to organise a series of press visits designed to raise local awareness about the centre. The campaign began with a specially organised press day, when we gave local newspaper and radio journalists a chance to discover scuba diving for themselves.
Chief instructor Adam Hanlon conducted the proceedings, introducing the journalists to the equipment, safety procedures and the site itself, before everyone entered the water and followed Adam on a fascinating underwater tour. My role was to co-ordinate the press invitations and the dissemination of information, enabling the reporters to put together their various feature articles. However, I also took the opportunity to act as underwater photographer for the event, which made the day as much fun for me as for the journalists - all of whom said that they had thoroughly enjoyed their visit.
This was the first in a series of media activities, which continued with announcements about the launch of an underwater filming business at the same site. Already, Capernwray is being listed on film makers' directories and it has been used as a giant underwater film set by a number of television and film makers.
More about Capernwray can be found here.
Chartered Marketer Status
As
of July 2007, I achieved the status of Chartered Marketer. Earned via
a formal process of continuous professional development, Chartered status
is intended to demonstrate that the holder practises the highest professional
marketing standards by keeping his or her marketing knowledge and skills
current.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing describes it as follows:
"Only The Chartered Institute of Marketing can award Chartered Marketer status to a marketer. We campaign with employers to recognise this status as the benchmark for highly skilled marketers. As a consultant in the marketing arena, Chartered Marketer status can demonstrate ongoing commitment and competency to your clients.
"Many marketers have a relevant marketing qualification, but Chartered Marketers must ensure that they maintain and develop the currency of their marketing skills and knowledge. Chartered Marketer status is an effective measurement of business competency and expertise, which will ultimately contribute to better business performance. It is also a reassurance that the marketer will be ethical, experienced and can demonstrate first class marketing skills to give (clients & employers) improved business advantage."