Stay ahead of the game, with the help of our superb business seminars delivered by key industry figures.

No pre-booking required to take advantage of this FREE expert advice!

 

All seminars will take place in the Presentation Theatre. No booking is required but it is advisable to arrive early to get a seat.

Sunday 25th FEBRUARY 2024

 

9.45am The INCREDIBLE BENEFIT OF BRANDED KITS IN YOUR STORE

With Steffi Stern, The Makerss and Ian Downes, Start Licencing

In this joint presentation Steffi and Ian will explain why you should bother with branded craft kits and how to go about getting started!
 
This power-packed session breaks down the game-changing benefits, community credibility, and customer magnetism that brand licensing and collaborations unleash on your business. Say goodbye to the notion that they’re just a fleeting trend – brace yourself for insights that will reshape your business. Ready to dive in? Engage with Steffi and Ian, ask your burning questions, and learn all about the benefits of brand licensing.

 

11.15am TIKTOK 101 – HOW TO HARNESS THE VIRAL POWER OF TIKTOK

With Nerrisa Pratt, Untld Project

With small business sales down and Instagram algorithms becoming more confusing than ever, it’s no wonder that in December 2021, TikTok, social media’s funnier, younger sister knocked Google off the top spot for the most visited website on the internet and it’s reigned supreme ever since.

With its signature brand of fun, easy-to-go-viral content and endless scrolling possibilities, the app is fast becoming a space that more and more small businesses are starting to explore.

Join content creator and small business owner Nerrisa Pratt as she gives her insight on the app, how to drive sales and raise brand awareness – no dance routines required!

This session will cover:

  •  What IS TikTok: Everything we know so far
  •  Why TikTok: The facts
  • Myth-busting and FAQ’s
  • Small business case-studies: Real stories from small businesses crushing the app
  • How to create content that’s authentic to your brand

 

12.45pm WHAT IS GENERATIVE A.I AND HOW WILL IT IMPACT YOUR BUSINESS

With Andrew Davis

  • What exactly is Generative AI, like ChatGPT
  • Why Generative AI will impact your personal and professional life
  • What are some of the important Generative AI tools and tactics to help grow your business
  • What do we need to be aware of!

 

 

2.15pm USING SUSTAINABILITY AND PURPOSE TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS

With Andrew Thornton

This interactive session is designed to help you come away with specific ideas you can implement to help your business grow – it will cover:

  • How purpose can be used to differentiate your business from competitors
  • How sustainability links to this
  • The role of people in the process
  • A case study from the independent supermarket Thornton’s Budgens
  • Use to sphere of influence to choose what sustainability tools could work for your business

There will be an interactive session where you will be helped identify specific sustainability ideas that you can apply in your business starting tomorrow.

 

CANCELLED DUE TO ILLNESS
3.45Pm SEWING ON SOCIAL MEDIA – HOW TO GROW AND MAINTAIN A SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING

With Holly Dennett

Holly will cover how to grow and then maintain a social media following for a business, sharing her journey, explaining how she grew her online following to over 130,000 within a year and became the first UK sewing influencer.

  • How to reach your target audience with social media content
  • What is engagement and why is it important
  • Once you have achieved your audience how to maintain your following
  • Why is data and analytics so important?
  • What are going to be the big trends for social media in 2024

MONday 26th FEBRUARY 2024

 

10.00am SECRET STRATEGY – HOW TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS THROUGH BRAND MARKETING

With Sarah Fox, Be More Fox

Sarah will start with the foundations of brand marketing, when you understand these core strategies, your campaigns and tactics write themselves! She will then take you through a customer journey funnel, how to talk to your ideal audience depending on what stage of the funnel you are in. Finally Sarah will discuss communities and connection, tying into our theme of purpose over profit.

  • Takeaways:
    Foundations of Brand Marketing – stop spending money without a strategy
  • The difference between a strategy and a plan
  • Your customers journey – what to say, when and how
  • Love your Advocates – building communities 

 

11.30am PREPARING FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: FASHION AND TEXTILES

With Elizabeth Dakin, UKFT

In this session Elizabeth Dakin, Sustainability Manager for the UKFT (The UK Fashion & Textile Association), will help your business prepare for a more sustainable future.

Takeaways:

  • A changing landscape – Preparing for changes in future sustainability legislation
  • Sustainability 101 – Guidance to help members and industry meet their sustainability goals
  • How we are tackling some of our industries biggest challenges

 

1.00pm HOW TO TALK TO PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET: KEEPING IT HUMAN IN THE DIGITAL AGE

With Helena Langdon

Helena’s presentation will shed an entertaining light on innocent’s approach to social media and customer service, illustrating how a willingness to communicate openly and naturally with the people who buy their stuff has proved invaluable to innocent’s digital success.

What you’ll learn:

  • How doing great customer service can lead to building and fostering an online community of loyal fans
  • How to create entertaining and successful social media content with little to no budget
  • How to make a stapler go viral. It’s worth coming along for that, if nothing else.

 

2.30Pm HOW SKINNYDIP LONDON EVOLVED FROM A UNIVERSITY BEDROOM DREAM INTO A GLOBAL LIFESTYLE BRAND

With James Gold

  • An overview of the Skinnydip brand journey
  • The Dragons Den experience
  • The evolution of diversification. Embracing multi-channel strategies
  • The power of licenses to propel growth
  • Prioritising profitability over Revenue streams and knowing when to say no
  • Sustainability and integrating this into our brand values
  • Future plans