Search

3rd May

Oh Dear another month gone by.  Time goes so quickly when you are meeting so many people. Ucan has taken a lot of time and energy, but it is such good fun to be involved with that group.  Last Saturday we did a flash mob....The Ministry of Silly Walks....Ulverston's first flash mob.

I made a site visit to Doewood Lodges

This is a project up the coast road run by Mark and Helen Towers.  They
are creating a tranquil, green holiday site with fabulous lodges.  They are re-introducing native wildlife and trees.  Here is what the lodges will look like:

Preview Weekend:  16th and 17th August.

Emma Jones

Emma Jones is one of the authors of Go Furness.  She has just published a book called Spare Room Start Up, more about that on www.goulverston.co.uk on the business spotlight page.  She MCd an event at the Lanternhouse last week where locals were invited to meet Mr Booths and Sarah Dunning.  more than 70 turned up and there were a few business opportunities created.  Catered for by The Best Events, see below

Fiona Young
 The Best Events is run by Fiona.  They organise corporate events, weddings and parties and community meets.  She gets business from large organisations and sets up wacky events that you will never forget!

Carl Hallows
 Carl is forging ahead with his festival plans, he has some great bands lined up and lots of fun stuff will happen on the field.  He has had incredible support from the community and various funding bodies. 

5th April

Barry Houghton at Fell Foot
Wood is really busy building and
growing his outdoor events place
and it is looking really good.  His website
is nearly ready and you will be able to see
for yourself! 

A bit of the Furness Fest Line Up:

THE HOLLOWAYS

 OPM      SUBNOIZE SOULJAZ

GUNS 2 ROSES       AMENTI

CRAINE     MAJOR MAJOR

Carl from Furness Fest came to
speak to us at UCAN about his
plans.  All very exciting and we
are looking forward to all the
spin-offs from this. 
What a lovely man.

Anita from Ulverston Brewery and Archie Workman from Game Change
have joined forces and produced a bottle of real ale called Bridie's Brew.  Anita is supporting Janet and Lloyd in their quest to Save Greenodd Post Office.  The local community are really pulling together on this one.  The website is www.saveourpostoffice.net
Please call in an use this post office during the next few months.  Rural post offices are a vital part of rural communities.

March 23rd...Whoops another month

Been a very exciting one. I have met some great people in town. 

Fiona Kennedy is a Star!

Not only does she run the fabulous Olive, but is very involved in the community arts group in town called UCAN.  She and a small group are working really hard to make sure that the Lantern Procession finale is as bright as ever. www.ulverstoncan.co.uk

Joanne Allday has big plans with her company Showing Off.
She is starting a local business
school and has ideas about taking
it to Africa once it is established.
How cool is that!

Don't just dream of a Better Life!

Eric Barker is your man if you are looking for a life coachor a business coach.  With years of business experience, he has the T-Shirt!  What a lovely guy, you will feel at ease with him right away.

His business is called Proactive Futures

Feb 22nd...How did all that time go by?

Been sooo busy meeting people, no time to blog!

Well, Sarah Atkinson of the Medicine Garden has big plans.
She and another 3 women are starting a community organic growing project, making it easy even for complete novices to learn to grow.  She will even tell you how to cook and eat the stuff once you've grown it!
She has some fantastic courses on offer at the Medicine Garden.  580222

Many of them involve Good Food!

Found myself getting involved in the Lantern Supporters Group.  they are working on taking over the finale this year and are looking for arty types to chip in.

The dates of the meetings are on my events page on Go Ulverston.  A fantastic group called UCAN (Ulverston Community Arts Group) are really involved, enthusiastic and have lots of ideas.  Give us a shout if you want to join in.

I had coffee with Graeme of 'Futures' at the Custom House In Barrow

He is doing a fantastic job of helping people back to work.  He also runs a fabby business called Wandering Boots...he takes people out on 4x4 runs and walking trips.  Great guy, great work.

Jan 26th

Kate Whiteside is an excellent videographer who films through her company Key Advice   www.keyadvice.net.  She very generously gave a lot of her time to the Paddlers for Life group, attending meetings and creating a fantastic documentary style video that was used at the launch.  Kate is well known in the town for her work and her passion and enthusiasm for Ulverston and as the Web Editor for the Wezzy Gezzy. 

Dave Crossley is the founder of Monster Monster. 

Collectively, Monster Monster are singers, bands, dancers, costume designers, MCs and carnival acts.  They created themed club nights and parties that attract crowds in both Manchester and Furness

Dave is thinking big! He has lots of ideas about developing his popular nights and has some big gigs in the pipeline. 

Check out the myspace for more info

It was great to meet Michelle and Andy of ADW and hear how they have grown their business, given up their day jobs and taken risks to follow their dreams. 
They have moved into the fire, security and cctv side of electrics and also have some really funky lighting systems that dim slowly over time.

Jan 18th

I interviewed Nicci at Crooklands Garden Centre recently, there are some really great things happening there.  The cafe is up and running now.  It looked amazing at Christmas time, and Nicci is now getting ready for the gardening season.  It is certainly a vibrant and 'growing' business!

Mike Singleton works at his studio in the Gill, at the Ulverston Natural Health Centre.  His business is called Skywave Studios.  He has a wonderful voice that he uses well.  He has recorded many books at the Priory and also does corporate voice-overs, hypnotic cds and artistic recording.  Mike is a really lovely person and can make you feel comfortable and at ease very quickly.  Great space for small bands and singers.

Well, I met with Tom Lloyd, creative filmmaker just before Christmas.  He was the guy who was responsible for SuperCasino.  He does all kinds of funky work with sensors and film.  He does very creative corporate and artistic film work. 

          

Louise Mary Martin

What a star!!! 
Went for a drink and a chat with Louise this week.  It was a real honour to have time with her and to hear all about her journey as a musician. 

If you haven't heard Louise sing before, click here

15th December

Karl has started offering some sea kayaking excursions from Roa Island to Walney.  Sally Broom's young professionals had a go at the weekend, and I went to film them.  It was really good.   Brilliant weather, and everyone enjoyed the day.

10th December

Had a cup of tea with Ian Gillett today.  He runs a business called SLR Ltd.  It is a software business that has evolved over the past 12 years.  He is currently marketing a piece of software called RAKE that permits people to send 15 GIGs via a zipped and secure email file that is easy to open by the intended recipient.  How cool is that?  He has other really unique packages available and is really doing well on the international market. 

9th December

Well, today I interviewed Karl who runs a sea kayaking business from the banks of Rampside!  His current website is called www.westcoastseakayaking.co.uk but he is about to launch a new business specifically for the Furness area.  Give him a shout if you feel like a paddle, and fancy going to see the seals and other wildlife you would normally not get a chance to see.

30th November

I attended the Inaugural Ulverston Business Forum, run by the Cumbria Chanber of Commerce and Industry.  John Hutton took some (rather heated questions) and the Commerce presented a history and setthe forum up for the future.  It sounds like it will be a useful forum for anyone in business locally, for networking, speakers and information about what is going on locally.  For more information, contact graham@cumbriachamber.co.uk. 

26th November

I had a meeting with Alan Marsh (former owner of Marsh's Sars!!) who now works for the Federation of Small Businesses locally.  I joined, and think it is a really good deal.  Benefits include legal support, free banking, local networking, advice and support for local business.

Contact FSB for more information

24th November

Met a designer called Chris Thorp, who runs a business called Mobius.  He does some great design work, and very intriguing photos.  Based at Oxley, he contracts for them, Manchester Airport and takes on projects for local businesses.  If you are looking for a creative, unique and quirky marketing solution, contact Chris.

19th of November

Finished a website for Carolann Williams-Kent, who does pet and animal photography, www.yourmemorymaker.co.uk.  It was great to hear that she has just won a National Photo competition!  Her business is certainly doing well, it will be interesting to see where the next months take her.

18th October

Here are some of the local bright sparks I have interviewed in my travels!

I had a great interview with Liz Drew from Tinner's Rabbit and was really pleased to hear that she has started her own publishing company called Handstand Press.  So all you budding writers can call in and see her in the shop!  If you are local that is....

  Liz Drew

 

I met a really great couple called Phil and Jo, who run Cumbria Filmmakers Network and We Make Media.  Phil has agreed to do a little documentary for Go Ulverston, so I am very excited about that.  They are doing some excellent things, and are bound to put Ulverston on the map with their fabby filmmaking and other media work.

Jo Hutton

Now, most people would know Anita Garnett as the hairdresser of 'Anita's',  but did you know she also has a micro-brewery in Ulverston?

It's called Ulverston Brewing Company, and you will be seeing a lot more about it!

Her partner Paul managed to convince her that real ale is in fact, not an old man's drink, and now they are brewing.  All of the ales have a Laurel and Hardy theme and  you can sample them at the Dickensian Festival

Anita Garnett

I was really moved when I met Mandy Christopher, who runs the Little Beastie's Pet Shop.  At only 21 she has grown her own business without any support (outside of her family) and has a big following.  Excellent business sense and a big passion for what she does make her pet shop a success.

Mandy Cristopher

 

25/07/07

 

Went to visit Forge Europa last week.  I have known of Forge Europa for a long time now,  but never really understoood what they did.  I was  stunned at the business that they have created, the markets that they deal in and the quality of everything they do.  Julie used to be a teacher at St. Mary's, and brings many skills with her including care and attention to detail with her to work.  They have worked  hard to establish a business that is doing well internationally, employs more than 20 people, and they give a lot to the community.  Forge Europa is an international LED display company. 

 

Sally Broom of Your Safe Planet is one to watch.  So young to be doing such amazing things! Watch this space.  She is so quick in her thinking and ideas, and so enthusiastic and fresh in her approach.  Tonight she is hosting a networking event for young graduates.  I will post more on this after the event...

 

1/08/07

Had a meeting with Katie Homes of Sting in the Tail.  She is a really inspiring and interesting entrepreneur....she has moved between businesses, dove-tailing her skills from one to the other and constantly moving into new and unknown territory in order to grow, expand and also keep afloat in a very competitive industry.  Probably most people in the town would know her as the owner of the Cafe, but she also runs a very successful top-of-the-market designer gift ware business. 

 

22/08/07

I went to speak with Laura at LMB Design. 

The studio looked gorgeous, and I was amazed at how the shop had come together downstairs.  As ever, she and Derek were working away at some new ideas, and creating some fabby screens with Steve Graham's artwork on them.  Laura's story is fantastic, a mixture of hard work, creativity, planning and calculated risk-taking, and determination.  She offers a really unique service in the area, spending so much time with people to help them create just the right look and feel.  And she is really good at helping people to acheive this by taking time to find out exactly what the budget is and working within it.  She spends hours searching the net, and finding obscure pieces of artwork that also serve a purpose, kind of doubling up a function with a unique piece of work.  And if she doesn't find it, she creates it, often using local artists.  And when she teaches as she goes, so that the customers can then keep building the look around the things that she sources for them.  Much of her work is about ensuring that her customers don't waste money on mistakes.  Drop in and have a look!