Case Studies from November 2023

Sector: Health and Beauty

Location: Newark & Sherwood

Founded in 2022, the Old Rectory Spa is a family run wellbeing spa retreat providing holistic health treatments and exclusive spa experiences in the village of North Scarle on the Nottinghamshire/ Lincolnshire border.

The spa offers a range of luxury treatments which include an outdoor hot tub, sauna, cold water therapy and a relaxation room. The business employs a team of highly trained spa therapists who are qualified in offering bespoke treatments for customers. The team has grown from just 4 to now 14 in the last 12 months.

Challenges faced

Due to their significant growth the Old Rectory Spa has faced challenges in recruitment. As the business prides itself on having a team of knowledgeable and expert therapists, it has been a challenge to recruit therapists that meet these high standards. Despite these difficulties the business persevered and they now have a fantastic, highly skilled team.

An additional challenge faced was opening in the middle of a cost of living and energy crisis, which directly affected customer spending, impacting the business goals.

Solution and Impact

With support from a business adviser, the Old Rectory Spa has benefited from a number of interventions available through the Accelerator project. This includes undertaking an energy audit, as heating and electricity are one of the biggest overheads faced by the business. The energy audit will form part of a decarbonisation plan, which will feed into a wider sustainability strategy. This is incredibly important to the business and they have already made steps towards this, such as removing the use of unnecessary single use items and exploring the installation of solar panels and individual heat pumps for the hot tubs.

Through the installation of the heat pumps the hope is that per annum the business can save approximately two thirds of their hot tub’s power consumption. An average Hot tub costs approximately £100 per month to run with the current energy prices. Air Source Heat Pumps can reduce this by 50-60% in the winter and more in the summer. Therefore, the anticipated saving is between £1400 - £1600 per annum. This will also equate to a significant energy saving, allowing the business to move closer to their goal of becoming a sustainable business.

The business has also benefited from a Growth Voucher through the Accelerator project. This will enable them to work with a local brand consultancy to look at how they can raise awareness of the spa to promote their unique offering, helping to grow revenue.

“Although we have faced challenges in our first year, we have such a unique business, in the most beautiful setting, our customer feedback has been fantastic and we are excited and optimistic for our future.”

- Katie Statham, Director

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Sector: Housekeeping Services

Location: Derby

Established in 2018 by Toni Hibbert, Bright and Beautiful provides premium housekeeping services to domestic customers across the Derby area.

This covers a variety of services including cleaning, ironing, laundry and more. Having had previous experience in natural products, running a sales team and then progressing to sales director in a previous career, Toni then established Bright and Beautiful. The company employs a team of 20 experienced staff who are all DBS checked, fully trained in care, attention to detail and being security conscious to respect the properties they manage. The company prides itself on the use of only eco-friendly products.

Challenges faced

The business has experienced impressive year-on-year growth of over 20%. Furthermore, Toni has extended the service to include laundry and ironing services, effectively seeking to offer a full package for her premium customers. Toni would like to take this to another level by offering a subscription-based laundry service. Having tested the market with short-stay properties, she feels that there is potential to expand this market in line with the increase in Air BnB offerings. Managing the finances of a growing business remains a challenge and this is an area which guidance has been sought from the Accelerator project.

Solution and Impact

Bright and Beautiful has accessed the one-to-one support from the Business Adviser team to help manage financial forecasts which will help to maintain the impressive growth seen to date. Looking forward, Toni is keen to upskill her team to take on more customer interaction and sales roles and she is in the process of arranging telesales training for key members of the team, via a growth voucher through the Accelerator project. Toni has developed a strong team to support her and as she focuses on managing the business, as such, she has been introduced to the Help to Grow Management programme to support her own management development. This has been facilitated through the Accelerator project.

The impact of the support to date has helped to ensure that the business reaches its growth trajectory, as well as aiding Toni’s financial management skills. The training for the team will directly support the move into newer markets such as short-stay properties, which will contribute to additional sales and income generation. Investing in staff is a key part of Toni’s plans and many of her team have been with her from the start, which demonstrates how well they feel valued.

“The move to becoming a business owner was an exciting challenge for me, and five years on I have learnt so much. The advice and support from the business advisor team has been invaluable. I have a clear vision of financial forecasting and all-important numbers for 2024. I am so proud of my team and achieving my goal of providing ethical employment, building a valued business and putting Bright and Beautiful on the map in Derby!”

-Toni Hibbert, Director

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Location: Newark & Sherwood

Founded by Leisa Pickles in May 2018, Find me the Leads® Ltd works exclusively with independent food and drink producers to help them get their products into more places, predominantly in the hospitality, specialty fine food and health food sectors. Find me the Leads® connects businesses of all shapes and sizes both on- and off-line, to drive more sales, build long term business relationships and to get their services in front of the right people.

Challenges faced

The business found challenges in relation to growth and achieving the long term goals set out in the business plan. Owner Leisa wanted to grow the business by adding an additional revenue stream that would generate a reoccurring income, critical to the long-term growth of the business. In particular Leisa wanted to know how to reach more customers by utilising the skills and resources which already existed in the business more effectively. In addition to this, how to introduce a recurring revenue stream which can facilitate reinvestment back into the business and also free up the existing workforce to focus on generating additional revenue from new products and services.

Solution and Impact

Leisa decided to introduce an online membership programme to support more food and drink producers to expand into retail. By doing this, Find me the Leads® would be able to reach more businesses and add the additional revenue stream needed to help make the goals of the business a reality. Through this process Leisa was supported by a Chamber business adviser, Richard Crowden, as part of the Accelerator project. Richard was able to support the business through the growth voucher element of the Accelerator project which offers up to £2,000 of specialist consultancy and training. The consultant was able to support the installation of a membership portal accessed from the existing company website.

The introduction of this new product has had a huge impact on the business. It will enable them to support a bigger customer base providing them with the same product which they can access to suit their needs and requirements. By adopting a digital solution, the current workforce will be able to develop and introduce new products to the business which maximise their strengths and experience. Longer term, this product will establish Find me the Leads® as an expert in their field making them the go to Business for food & drink Producers who want to expand into retail and grow their existing sales.

“I am so grateful for the support received from the Accelerator Programme and in particular my Business Adviser, Richard Crowden. By accessing the services of a Chamber Consultant supported by investment from a UKSPF Growth Voucher, I have been able to introduce a new product to market, improve the productivity of my Business, safeguard the jobs of the existing workforce and secure long term business growth and prosperity.”

- Leisa Pickles, Owner

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