THE SHOP DOCTORS CAME TO BLAENAU GWENT

Independent retailers were given a boost when the Shop Doctors came to Blaenau Gwent to hold a series of marketing workshops or ‘surgeries’.

Between December 2009 and March 2010 two retail marketing specialists worked with shopkeepers in Abertillery, Blaina, Brynmawr, Tredegar and Ebbw Vale at West Mon Golf Club and in their respective businesses to help improve the health and vitality of their shops.

The Shop Doctor surgeries were funded by Blaenau Gwent Council and supported by the Heads of the Valley Programme and Blaenau Gwent Local Public Health Team.

39 delegates from 27 businesses attended the surgeries in January and received 324 “man hours” of learning in total. A further 14 businesses were visited during the in-store one-to-one consultations in March.

An independent survey of delegates was conducted after the workshops were complete to establish their reaction. Many contacted confirmed they had received practical help and ideas for their business on the workshops and that they felt their time had been well spent. Some endorsed the fact that they now had ways to see their business through their customers’ eyes.