By Gillian MacEwan, Branch Chairperson.
Our Branch Trade Fair that took place in June at the Birnam Institute, Dunkeld, has been hailed as a wonderful success - not only by Mike Duncan and me, but by the local businesses that took part.
Some busy stalls at the Perth & Kinross Trade Fair
See all the business involved - download this Trade Fair handout
As a spring-board for our ‘Keep Trade Local' campaign in Perth & Kinross, we organised the event to drum up some new business for our members and get local people thinking about what is available right on their doorsteps.
Branch Chair GIllian MacEwan with Leader of Perth & Kinross Council, Ian Miller
I was really happy with the distance some of our members had travelled and the diversity of those attending the event. Members from Crieff, Blairgowrie, Errol, Perth, Crook of Devon and Pitlochry all presented themselves very professionally.
I have to say that ‘Raptor World' may have been the main crowd pleaser - although ‘The Wicked Chocolate Company' would have a strong argument against the title!
In total, we had 16 excellent businesses take part, and I thank all of you.
I'd also like to thank the Council, Perth College and HM Revenue & Customs for their support in making the event a success. Public footfall was encouraging, as was the attendance by non-participating members. The feedback has been extremely positive.
With a clear increase in Branch member support and the positive impact on FSB member businesses, I'm thinking about holding more events like this in the future - despite the organisational pressures and the odd sleepless night.
Having attended similar fairs before, Kirsten Miller of Raptor World, Blairgowrie, was skeptical at first, commenting:
"I wasn't expecting half the activity or visitors that there were, so I was very impressed with the FSB event. I didn't sit down throughout the whole thing! I've made a good number of contacts for both sales and purchases."
Nick Oswald from www.legends-of-sports.com, spoke of the impact on potential sales, saying:
"The event was very worthwhile and extremely well attended. I made a lot of new contacts and also spoke with quite a few folk I already know, so a nice mix. I even had a few follow-up calls to do the next day, so that is all good."
Tivoli Homes, the Wicked Chocolate Company, and Roddy McDonald Wines doing a good trade