Show offers a launchpad for new rural businesses
by WIN Admin — published in Press Releases
A NUMBER of new entrepreneurs are using this year's Glendale Show in Northumberland to launch their businesses to the public.
The annual agricultural show, which is held in Wooler on August Bank Holiday Monday, has recruited a number of first-timers to its ranks of trade stands, including artisan food and craft enterprises.
They include Wooler-based Northumberland Nurseries, which opened for business earlier this year, and specialises in homegrown plants and advice. The business, set up by gardener Robert O’Rourke, is run along ethical and environmentally- friendly principles.
Alnwick-based mumpreneur Laura Rutherford has taken a stall to promote her online store Sweetie Home. The enterprise set up after the birth of Ms Rutherford’s daughter Bella, sells gifts for babies and the home as well as children’s fashions.
And Janet Lawlor is aiming to introduce her luxury Northumbria Muffins, made at home in Ellington near Morpeth, to shoppers in the food marquee.
She bakes sweet and savoury muffins using locally sourced ingredients wherever possible, which she mainly sells via farmers’ markets and regional outlets.
Glendale Show secretary Rachael Smith said: “For any rural business, the benefits offered by the Glendale Show are significant.
“As well as getting to sell their product and raise their company profile, they also have the opportunity to gain valuable customer feedback and to swap experiences with other stall holders.
“We hope this year’s show will continue to help support our rural businesses as they have an important role to play in Glendale.”
The show, which has been running for 118 years, now has around 300 stalls annually including a number of firm regulars, including Doddington Dairy.
The business, originally a farm diversification, now sells its products in supermarkets and across the region.
Ms Smith said: “Many of our stallholders are firm regulars and we work hard to make sure that the show is as successful for them as it is for the equestrian and livestock classes.
“Many of them are rural enterprises and may not have a shop window so this is a really valuable opportunity to put themselves in front of the 12,000 visitors who come to the show.
“Over 50% of the items on offer at the show are made locally and we have a policy of approaching new and start-up businesses in Glendale to encourage them to come to the show.”
Source: Karen Dent, The Journal