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“Guys from the academy have entered national events in the past, but we’ve never had success like this before.

 

“We wanted to give our kids the keys, not just to the karts, but to a lifetime of participating in and enjoying motorsports. Our aim is to provide a simple and cost effective way for them to get into racing.

 

“The children do so much to support the circuit, we want to support them and their dreams of success.”

 

The Brentwood track has been operating for the past twelve years, and its academy programme has been open for the past three.

 

The Cadet Club runs every Sunday and is open to anyone between the ages of eight and sixteen interested in trying their hand at competitive racing.

 

Further information about Brentwood Karting is available at

 

 

A York-based fax marketing specialist has been inundated with enquiries from companies making alternative plans for mailshots ahead of this week’s postal strike.

Firestorm Marketing Solutions has fielded enquiries from dozens of firms in the past seven days – a substantial increase compared to this week in a typical year – since industrial action from the nation’s postal workers was first mooted at the beginning of last week.

Talks with Royal Mail bosses on Monday failed to reach a compromise, so a 48 hour strike on Thursday and Friday went ahead. Further strikes are expected in the run-up to Christmas, with a three day strike proposed for next week.

Managing Director Mike Pollard said: “A lot of small businesses will be dreading the postal strike because they will face difficulties receiving payments from customers.

“They are being forced to look into alternative methods of taking payments, and the same is happening with mailshots.

“Companies want to continue marketing themselves, and although this week’s strike will only last for 24 hours we have no idea how long the impasse at Royal Mail will last.

“There could be further strikes and it’s encouraged firms to reconsider their old friend, the fax machine.”

Fax marketing ensures companies can reach their targets without having to worry about buying an email list, or their message getting caught in a spam folder.

It’s also relatively inexpensive, with each fax costing less than 3p to send.

Mike Pollard said: “Postal workers are taking a big risk with this industrial action, because companies will find other, more cost-effective ways of reaching their target audiences.

“And once those customers have gone it will be extremely difficult for Royal Mail to attract them back.”

Further information on Firestorm’s services can be found at www.firestormltd.co.uk.

Media enquiries should be directed to Richard Swancott Associates on 01782 416371/07880 733138, or info@richardswancottassociates.co.uk.

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At 2.5p per fax, this is more cost-effective than mailshots, telephone calls or even email marketing. Email may be free, but it can be very expensive to acquire a list of email addresses. While a decent-sized mailshot of just 100 companies would cost around £360, cold calling these people would be expensive, even without factoring in the man hours needed to make the calls. A fax campaign to 100 businesses would cost around £250.

Fax marketing campaigns can be tailored to fit the business, rather than just taking a scattergun approach. We advocate targeting smaller numbers to get the best response. Those who don’t want to be faxed can add their number to the Fax Preference Service (FPS). And of the remainder, there are no spam filters to block the progress of your fax!

Fax marketing has declined in recent years, thanks to the popularity of email, but reports of fax’s death are greatly exaggerated! The vast majority of businesses still have a fax machine. It gives you another option for contacting customers and prospects, to add to email, phone, word of mouth, PR, advertising, mailshots and all the others. Marketing theory suggests your prospect needs to hear about you seven times before they’ll do anything. The quicker you find seven ways to contact them, the quicker you’ll get their business!

Campaigns can be set up within one or two days, because all that’s required is the copy for the promotion. No design time, no list-building time, no staff recruitment time. Time of course is money, so the longer you wait the longer it will take you to get that business.

Prospects will be picking up the phone while your fax is still warm on their machine! Some of our clients have reported covering their costs within 24 hours. Others have reported five-fold increases in business almost overnight!

Further information is available at www.firestorm.co.uk.

Media enquiries should be directed to Richard Swancott Associates on 01782 416371 or 07880 733138, or info@richardswancottassociates.co.uk.

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A flourishing cash flow management specialist has recruited a new sales director to build on their recent growth.

David Imperato has joined the board at Warrington-based Optima:RM from his previous role as senior executive at credit management firm Intrum Justitia.

Fellow directors Julian Llewellyn and Ed van den Berg believe his experience in the financial services sector – David has also worked at director level with Lloyds TSB and Barclays – will help them build on 12 consecutive months of growth since summer 2008.

Julian Llewellyn said: “We’ve just reported a record year of growth and the arrival of David gives us the experience, resources and bench strength to drive that growth even harder.

“Our solutions are uniquely positioned in the market – a factor recognised by David and influential in his decision to join us.”

David is keen to grasp the challenge of continuing to grow the company, and helping achieve their target of £5m turnover within three years.

He said: “I had come across Optima:RM a number of times whilst at Intrum Justitia and I just couldn’t understand how they could deliver such a high service level at very competitive rates.

“By chance I had the opportunity to meet with Julian and Ed and it became clear that together we could take the business on to another level.”

Optima:RM offers a range of services across the whole order to cash cycle, including sales ledger management, credit risk management, credit control, and debt recovery.

Their modular service allows companies to pick and choose from their services and only pay for what they use.

Further information is available from the company’s website: www.OptimaRM.com.

Media enquiries should be directed to Richard Swancott Associates on 01782 416371/07880 733138, or info@richardswancottassociates.co.uk.

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An innovative partnership between Staffordshire Police and a Bluetooth marketing agency helped to raise awareness of potential crime at this year’s V Festival.

The force used three of TextBlue’s messaging devices to send crime prevention messages to revellers during the weekend at the Weston Park.

Two messages per day were sent, free of charge, to Bluetooth enabled mobile phones within 100m of the boxes, on subjects like taking care of possessions and making sure vehicles were locked when they were unattended.

Alongside this, the system was used to send traffic information, to make the force’s presence more visible and warn festival-goers not to drink or drug drive on their way home.

Staffordshire Police’s Stoke-on-Trent Divisional Communications Manager David Bailey said: “We view the Bluetooth boxes as useful tools in crime prevention and sent a number of messages to festival-goers while they were on site at the V Festival.

“We have been using the devices for a while and they have improved communication with the public, encouraged witnesses to come forward after a crime or a car collision, and even helped to find missing persons.”

The force has purchased 16 boxes from the Stoke-on-Trent-based agency following a successful trial, and distributed messages, ringtones and wallpapers at the Potteries Shopping Centre and Stoke City football matches at the Britannia Stadium.

TextBlue Managing Director Quinton Watton-Smith said: “The flexibility of the service appeals to a wide range of companies and public sector organisations.

“The trial with Staffordshire Police was so successful the system has been taken up by the Lincolnshire, Lancashire, Kent, Somerset and Metropolitan police forces.”

Further information on the service offered by TextBlue, visit their website: www.textblue.co.uk.

Media enquiries should be directed to Richard Swancott Associates on 01782 416371/07880 733138, or info@richardswancottassociates.co.uk.

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Sutton Coldfield business coach Steve Bentley is to host his first programme for aspiring entrepreneurs in Uganda this month.

The director of Financial Management Solutions is launching the Foundation for World Achievers with a three day programme in Kampala, the Ugandan capital, between September 16^th and 18^th.

The courses will cover accountancy and cash flow, marketing, personal development, confidence building and the role of God in business.

His intention is to encourage entrepreneurship and help the country recover from the rule of Idi Amin – the economy was decimated after the former president forced many businessmen and women to leave between 1971 and 1979.

He said: “The three day programme will cover business skills and encourage a positive mindset, with the goal of helping people set up their own business or move their businesses forward.

“We aim to bring in up to 20 entrepreneurs at first and if successful will be running more programmes in future.

“Our intention is to bring economic abundance to Uganda and help people earn rather than relying on charity.”

Should the trial be successful, Steve will be looking to roll the programme out to other deprived countries, and for other businesses to get involved, either through sponsorship or by providing their skills to mentor people.

Media enquiries should be directed to Richard Swancott Associates on 01782 416371/07880 733138 or info@richardswancottassociates.co.uk.

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An innovative accommodation provider is celebrating after harnessing the power of Google to massively increase the traffic coming to their website.

Collacot Holiday Cottages, in North Devon, is in a prime location near tourist hotspots like The Tarka Trail and Dartmoor. But as a result they also have plenty of competition, so owner Richard Harrison has had to think of ways to stay ahead of his rivals.

And they also had to move fast to bring in bookings for their nine self-catering cottages, to ensure the downward trend caused by the recession was not too damaging.

One of those ways is the internet, and more specifically search engines like Google. Through a collaboration with Devon consultancy Open Eye Marketing, they have been able to take advantage of services like Google Local Business Results.

Google Local allows businesses to achieve first page positioning by securing popular search phrases. In this case the keywords included ‘holiday cottage in north devon’ and ‘short breaks in devon’.

Richard Harrison said: “With many of our competitors struggling in these tough times we continue to have high occupancy all year round and our rankings on Google play a significant factor in our success.

“Our potential customers are using Google every minute of every day, so it’s therefore essential that we and other accommodation providers make the most of it.”

Andy Maclean is Managing Director of Open Eye Marketing, which handled the Collacot Holiday Cottages’ Google Local campaign.

He said “For hotels and other accommodation providers Google’s Local Business Results really represents massive potential in terms of dramatically increasing occupancy.

“We all know Google is the place to look for business and holiday accommodation, and our service which guarantees first page positioning has benefitted our clients enormously!

“In August the client’s site had over 8000 page views and was found by over 1300 different search phrases on Google.”

For more information on the services provided by Open Eye Marketing, visit their website: www.openeyemarketing.co.uk.

Media enquiries should be directed to Richard Swancott Associates on 01782 416371/07880 733138, or info@richardswancottassociates.co.uk.

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Celebrated local artist Sarah Bell is to have more than 40 illustrations published in the latest Archers cookbook.

The Newton Abbot-based painter, well-known for her work in Devon Life magazine and art workshops at Sampsons Farm, was contacted by publishers David and Charles to produce the drawings for The Archers Cookbook, which hit the shelves last month.

The book, the third written by the long-running Radio 4 show’s Angela Piper, features more than 150 recipes and references to numerous Archers plotlines.

Sarah hopes the project will lead to more collaborations with publishing companies, especially on cookbooks, and supplement her logo design work and the promotion of her new art break venture.

She said: “I’ve worked on books in the past, but not for a few years, so to produce 45 illustrations in just five weeks was a big challenge.

“It was great fun though and I’d love to do more cookbooks, especially as food is a recurring theme in my work.”

Sarah has been a professional artist for more than 20 years, having started painting with her father at the age of 11.

The Archers is the world’s longest-running radio soap, having first hit the airwaves in 1950, and has now broadcast over 15,800 episodes.

Angela’s character Jennifer Aldridge is one of the show’s longest serving – she joined the show more than 40 years ago.

Further information on Sarah’s work and art breaks can be found here: www.watercolourworkshops.co.uk.

Media enquiries should be directed to Richard Swancott Associates on 01782 416371/07880 733138, or info@richardswancottassociates.co.uk.

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Leading commercial refrigeration specialist Coolpoint has launched a new compact cooler to help bar and restaurant owners with limited space.

The Wrexham-based company has called the Coca-Cola approved unit ‘Quench 2’ (model number CX1050), and believes the climate condition ‘C’ category endorsement demonstrates the chiller’s reliability and strong performance.

Other features of the compact units – which have also been approved by Pepsi – include internal lighting and illuminated light box, which can both be switched off to save energy, convenient ambient storage, and adjustable shelves.

Managing Director Akhtar Shah said: “The Quench 2 units are ideal for anyone with limited space and the Coca-Cola C category approval shows they are durable and perform to high specifications.

“Like the rest of our product range, they have been developed using the close relationships we have with brands and our network of distributors.

“We always use their feedback to continually improve our products and this commitment to customer service is helping us to perform strongly through the downturn.”

Coolpoint can deliver the ‘Quench 2’ units – and the rest of their product range – anywhere in the UK within two working days, using the company’s ‘Rapide’ delivery service.

Alongside designing and manufacturing cabinets to meet client specifications, Coolpoint specialises in supply chain management, and tailored services including warehousing, in-house equipment refurbishment, after sales servicing and WEEE-compliant recycling.

The company supplies brands and companies outside the UK, and has a number of customers in Europe and around the world.

However, in Germany the products carry the C-Box brand, rather than Coolpoint name.

Further details are available at www.coolpoint-worldwide.com or from the team on 0870 442 2305.

Media enquiries should be directed to Richard Swancott Associates on 01782 416371/07880 733138, or info@richardswancottassociates.co.uk.

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