Case study 1: Designer Curtains
Designer Curtains is a family run business at Chadwell Heath, High Road since 1986, providing impeccable workmanship along with quality service and advice. It has won two prestigious national awards.
They provide exquisite made-to-measure curtains, exclusive fabrics and coordinating wallpapers and blinds. The collections include top designer brands like Harlequin, Sanderson, Designers Guild, Osborne & Little, and Crowson to suit all customer needs and tastes.
Through the BRM project barriers to growth and business support needs were identified and discussed with the owners. Using the health check template, key issues affecting the business were identified and a remedial action plan was suggested and agreed. Then a simple but effective action plan was agreed and managed by the BRM project.
What support did they receive?
The BRM project identified opportunities and signposted the business to various support providers including:
- The BRM offered intensive support to complete and submit a Home Office grant application to implement security measures in the shop.
- Referred to Vision-On specialist retail training on sales and merchandising
- Referred to East London Business Place(ELBP) to access local opportunities
- Referred to the Chadwell Heath Retail Forum
- Was featured as ‘Business of the Month’ in the economic development e-newsletter circulated
to 700+ businesses.What did they achieve?
- Secured Home Office Grant for security worth £3,000.
- Redesigned their shop windows following specialist retail training, leading to more enquiries and sales.
- The ELBP project has put him forward to a property developer to decorate the show home.
- Through the Retail Forum it is more connected with fellow retailers in the area, up-to-date with local developments and happy that common concerns are being looked at.
- His website received substantial hits following circulation of the e-newsletter leading to enquiries and sales.
Being a micro business with limited resources, Designer Curtains has immensely benefited from accessing business support. They strongly believe that small businesses can increase their growth and profitability through careful planning, studying target markets and accessing the business support suitable for their business needs.