Date: 24/11/2009
Beauty salon owner Adele Hyde from Niche Beauty in New Mills has scooped first prize in a national competition staged to reward first-rate retail marketing.
She won Ł250 - and the prestige that comes from beating 3,500 other entrants across the UK.
She entered the competition after attending a series of marketing workshops run by retail marketing expert Diane Jackson, who was brought to the area by High Peak Borough Council in partnership with Derbyshire County Council and Derbyshire Economic Partnership.
Adele was one of 35 delegates from High Peak small businesses who took advantage of the most recent free workshops.
Known as the Shop Doctor, Diane devised the programme for independent business owners. The surgeries cover different facets of retail marketing, including cost-effective advertising and promotions activity, visual merchandising techniques, and how small businesses can also apply the customer psychology that retail giants use.
Adele explained: "Before I went to the Shop Doctor workshops, I had planned the content of a window display to promote a fantastic new night cream. But it was at the workshops that I learned so many professional tips and techniques for product display from the marketing expert. I came back to my salon, applied them to my window display and that won me the top prize".
Sam Keegan, national sales director for night cream manufacturer Declčor UK described Niche Beauty's window display as "eye catching, inspirational and enticing to new and existing clients".
'Doctor' Diane was naturally delighted with Adele's success.
"It is brilliant to see business owners take on board the ideas and retail marketing knowledge that I share with them at these workshops. I've tailored my courses to enable small independents to compete more effectively, and I know they work. Niche Beauty is indeed proof of that, and on a national scale!"
The High Peak event was the sixth in a series of workshops held around many parts of Derbyshire during 2009, with more planned for next year. Aimed at supporting local businesses and creating prosperous towns, the programme was first brought to the High Peak in 2005 and, in partnership with Derbyshire County Council's Market Towns Initiative, has been brought back and expanded so that new business owners and more towns can benefit.
Said Tony Kemp, the borough council's Executive Councillor for Regeneration: "This is excellent news. I'm so pleased that the workshops have been able to help Adele achieve this national award. The feedback from everyone has been extremely positive, with attendees calling the Shop Doctor inspirational and full of practical, well thought out ideas.
"The council continues to support retailers and improve our town centres, and this is a good example of how we have worked with partners to benefit local businesses", he explained.
Niche Beauty, in High Street, boasts an inviting and unusual relaxation lounge with dry hydrotherapy treatments. The customer simply lies there and lets the machine do the work!
For more information on the Shop Doctor series, call 0845 129 9948 or send an e-mail to shopdoctor@retailsurvival.co.uk.