A team of experts from the world of retail are helping businesses in Telford to wow their customers by getting creative with their shop windows.
The window dressing workshops are being held as part of Telford & Wrekin Council’s Pride In Your High Street scheme, and are free of charge for the businesses taking part.
Previous workshops arranged through the scheme have included business start-up advice and social media marketing sessions, and organisers say feedback from traders has been tremendously positive.
Sally Themans, of the team delivering the business improvement workshops, said the window dressing workshops were very popular.
“We have an outstanding array of expertise on the panel and traders are going to have some fantastic practical advice to really make a difference to their shop fronts,” she said.
“We have Helen Chaudron from Tanners in Shrewsbury and Deborah Meredith from Tea and Roses in Bridgnorth, both of whom have won awards for their wonderful window displays.
“We also have Wellington-based marketing expert, Hollie Whittles, who has a strong retail background with River Island, and Johnny Themans, who has a wealth of experience of visual marketing in the hospitality trade.
“There is a wide range of knowledge on offer here and we are sure these sessions will prove to prove to be really valuable for everyone involved.”
Sally was herself instrumental in helping Bridgnorth win the Great British High Street award recently, and she will also be offering her advice as part of the project.
The 22 traders who have signed up for the workshops will be visited by the team, who will then produce a full report into how they can improve their visual marketing, before an intensive three-hour coaching session on their premises.
The business improvement project, part of the Pride In Your High Street Fund, has been running since Spring 2016 and has worked with traders in Wellington, Oakengates, Madeley, Ironbridge, Newport and Donnington.
The aim of the Pride In Your High Street Fund is to give a boost to traders in Telford’s traditional ‘high streets’ to help them improve their service and attract more people into the town centre.
There are just a few places left on the ‘High Street Excellence’ workshops being delivered in Newport, and anyone interested can visit www.good-2-great.co.uk/piyhs for more information.
Councillor Gilly Reynolds, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for education, employment and regeneration, said the project had been a great success.
She said: “The workshops have proved extremely popular with those that have chosen to take advantage of this pioneering initiative.
“Those retailers have already begun to put some of the advice into place and are beginning to reap the rewards.
“We want to see businesses that are robust and sustainable – that’s good news for local jobs and employment prospects – and these workshops have provided practical, tailored advice to help businesses.”
