Case Studies from August 2024

Sector: Food & Drink

Location: Broxtowe

Rigsby’s Seasonal Foods is based in Beeston, Nottingham and is run by sole trader, Dr James Marsh and his foraging buddy Rigsby Dog!

This unique business is coming up to its first anniversary. All Rigsby’s products are either foraged, homegrown or made from surplus food donated by supermarkets and food banks. It covers the entire value stream from growing and foraging locally through to development, manufacture, packaging and logistics. It has zero product waste and reuses bottles and jars through a returns policy to reduce CO2 impacts.

Its products include shrub cordials, liqueurs, compotes, chutneys, pickles, ketchup, chocolates, infused honey and more. On top of this, being an agile business with the ability to make small batches cost-effectively and in-house, it makes products for customers and keen collaborators including Oak Tree Alpacas, The Mammoth Cinema, The Moot Bar and Nottingham Forager.

Challenges faced

For Rigsby’s the challenges can be seasonal as ingredients are only available at certain times of the year. This has led to drying out ingredients to allow for these ‘lean’ times.

Another issue is capacity. Due to the equipment it has as a start-up business, Rigsby’s is continually looking at ways to increase capacity but on a tight budget.

The operation is run on low-tech which Dr James would like to improve as the business grows. There is an ambition to become carbon neutral which is in keeping with the ethos of the business, but additional skills and knowledge are needed to achieve this and how to develop its in-house live KPIs.

Finally, there is hope for the business to become a vegan company, but this requires additional funding which it doesn’t have at present.

Solution and Impact

Dr James heard about free business support via the Accelerator project through a networking event held in Beeston, Nottingham at the Yellow Wood Café.

The Accelerator project is delivered by East Midlands Chamber and funded by Broxtowe Borough Council’s share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

He recently attended a two-day New Product Development session organised by Accelerator project partner, the Food & Drink Forum. From this course, he has developed two new products – artisan pasta from waste bread and foraged herbs (i.e. spaghetti, tagliatelle and ravioli) and clear fruit honey.

Although it's early days with his new products, Dr James believes his idea of diverting waste bread from landfills into pasta, will help companies save money in disposing of bread and reduce CO2 impacts. (Research shows that around 32% of all bread is wasted which is around 680,000 tonnes each year costing £1.1bn. Source: BBC News)

His long-term aim would be to teach people how to make pasta from waste and enable food banks to generate extra income from selling the pasta or providing the pasta as food for those in need. In turn, this would provide environmental benefits both in Nottingham and nationally.

Dr James has also attended training workshops on shelf life and preservation and turning food waste into products with the Food & Drink Forum, helping him towards his carbon neutral goals.

In addition, business surgeries at the Beeston library held with Alison North of Nottinghamshire County Council have been very helpful to Dr James in guiding potential funding routes for his sustainable eco-business.

“The support and advice has been excellent. It has given me a confidence boost to take my business to the next level as we seek to inspire others to reduce food waste and eat better using what we have in our environment and what we can grow in our gardens.

It has helped me move RSF to another level.”

- Dr James Marsh, Co-Founder & Company Owner

Read the full Case Study

This initiative is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and delivered by East Midlands Chamber on behalf of Broxtowe Borough Council.

Sector: Pre-loved clothing retail

Location: Mansfield

Harry Squires set up his pre-loved clothing business after being furloughed from his job as a tradesman during the pandemic. At this time, he began selling some of his clothes to make a bit of extra money.

He also sourced retro and reworked designer clothing from charity shops and car boot sales. This side hustle went so well that in October 2020 Harry left his full-time job to work on his business, Credible Clothing.

Initially selling online and through car boot sales a year later he opened his first vintage clothing store on Leeming Street in Mansfield, just as Covid restrictions were finally lifted. This store and another in Nottingham have now been re-let with both stocking Harry’s products. He has recently moved into a spacious warehouse where he can start implementing modern marketing and sales processes. This includes developing health and safety policies and barcoding to track products. He has four staff members.

Challenges faced

As a start-up business, some of the biggest barriers to growth have been capital and a lack of in-house business skills. Credible Clothing is currently using social media to promote its products, but Harry comments they are in the process of tapping into modern social media techniques to boost traffic towards its online platforms. The business is also in the process of building a new website to boost sales: www.credibleclothing.co.uk

With additional capital, Harry would like to source stock overseas which he believes would reduce costs.

Solution and Impact

As a relatively new business, Harry is being supported by NBV Enterprise Solutions, a partner in the Accelerator project. Accelerator is delivered by East Midlands Chamber and funded by Mansfield District Council’s share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

Harry has had several one-to-one meetings online and over the telephone with Business Adviser, Raj Raithatha who he says has been extremely patient and ‘super helpful’. This includes advice on cash flow forecasting and putting together a comprehensive business plan for Credible Clothing.

Raj commented: “Harry is an extremely inspirational young person. Though he’s faced some of his own personal challenges, he is determined, hardworking and passionate. I believe he has what it takes to succeed. It’s been a pleasure helping him on his enterprise journey.”

Harry’s business takes discarded clothing and converts them into retro items, which are high in demand today. His processes leave no waste as all materials are used in recycling locally.

Harry believes the business has the potential to employ many young students to work in Mansfield. He feels there’s a lack of opportunity for the younger generation and if he can grow the way he believes he can, he wants to create jobs across different creative industries including photography, textiles and fashion design, to name a few. To this end, he is investing in equipment and has set aside space to establish video and photographic studios at the warehouse. Here, he hopes to train and employ people to develop their textile skills.

“I feel happy to have received the support and I hope it can continue in the future. I have much to learn and am eager to do so within business.”

- Harry Squires, Owner

Read the full Case Study

This initiative is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and delivered by East Midlands Chamber on behalf of Mansfield District Council.

Sector: Defibrillator Distribution

Location: Derbyshire Dales

Defib4Life is based in Two Dales near Matlock. It supplies life-saving defibrillators, accessories and consumables to businesses, charities, and community groups across the UK. 

The business, which has just celebrated its fifth anniversary, has three employees and is led by Director, Michelle Waters.

Challenges faced

One of its biggest challenges has been increased competitor activity particularly where larger businesses have bought out the company’s competition. This has meant they’ve had the investment to grow and offer cheaper pricing undercutting the Defib4Life offer.

Michelle also wanted to free up time from day-to-day marketing to work on the business and create more sales opportunities.

Solution and Impact

Michelle has been supported through the East Midlands Combined County Authority Growth Hub and Accelerator project. Accelerator is delivered by East Midlands Chamber, in partnership with Derbyshire Dales District Council and funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

She has had one-to-one meetings with Business Adviser, Andy Bunn who initially carried out a diagnostic of the business, going through where the business is now and where it wants to be. Some work has been done on the company structure and team. It was also identified that digital marketing and the company’s website were potential areas of focus to check the effectiveness of their current activity and find any opportunities for sales growth.

Defib4Life successfully applied for a Growth Voucher which provided funding to bring in specialist marketing support from two consultants. The first specialised in marketing and looked to streamline their current marketing processes as well as create guidance and templates they could follow moving forward. The idea was that marketing tasks could be split amongst the team releasing some of the time and pressure off Michelle, who was doing it all previously.

The second consultant looked at website content and SEO to ensure the site was performing at maximum capacity before the business moved into another phase of digital advertising to drive people to the site.

The work has meant a streamlining of processes freeing up Michelle’s time to look at running and growing the business. She also hopes growth will mean they can create another job in the future.

Andy also supported Michelle with a grant application from Derbyshire Dales District Council. The business was successful and has received an Business Adaption Grant for £6,360.

Michelle and her team have taken advantage of several East Midlands Combined County Authority Growth Hub and Accelerator workshops over the years. Topics covered include The One Hour Google Ads Course, Using Video in Content Marketing, Blogging with Authority and Trust, Understanding your Ideal Customers and Getting Started with Paid Search Advertising.

“The support has been a lifesaver for the business. We’ve grown so quickly, so I have definitely needed the support and advice I’ve had.

Every time I have a meeting with Andy, I can re-set the business and implement what I need to enable further growth.”

- Michelle Waters, Director

Read the full Case Study

This initiative is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and delivered by East Midlands Chamber on behalf of Derbyshire Dales District Council.