Member Article

Sales soar for ‘simply’ successful NE business

An award-winning North East company is celebrating the end of its fifth year in business by announcing a major increase in sales.

Simply Bows and Chair Covers, based on the Northumberland-County Durham border, was established by Sarah Pittendrigh and has just completed its most successful year to date. Its franchise network- which operates from Aberdeen, down to South Wales and into Essex- has completed over 1500 weddings and events and has fitted more than 120,000 chair covers within the last five years.

Sarah, who herself runs the County Durham and Teesside franchise, now dresses over 50 weddings and events a month during peak months, compared to just a total of 80 per year during Simply Bows and Chair Covers’ first year in business.

Thanks to her business’s ongoing success, Sarah has decided to restructure and consolidate and has also appointed a dedicated business development manager who will assist with Simply Bows and Chair Covers’ plans to enter new regions.

Kristy Giblin, who previously operated the Northumberland and Cumbria franchise, was recently approached by husband and wife team, Jaimie and Andrew Johnston, who were so impressed with the company’s success that they were keen to take on their own franchise. As a result, Kristy now works alongside Sarah to manage the business nationally.

Simply Bows and Chair Covers is a preferred supplier for luxury hotels all over the UK such as Rockliffe Hall and Seaham Hall in the North East, Rudding Park in North Yorkshire, Donnington Hotel and Spa, Berkshire and The Carnoustie Golf Hotel and Spa near Dundee, to name but a few.

To mark the fifth anniversary celebrations, Simply Bows and Covers will hold a celebratory event at Middleton Lodge near Richmond in September with some high profile guests expected to attend.

Simply Bows and Chair Covers has evolved into a UK-wide franchise operation with franchises around Scotland and as far south as South Wales and Essex. The company hires made-to-measure luxury chair covers, opulent chair cover accessories and table linens all designed and manufactured in-house and professionally fitted at each event.

The company has won over 14 business awards, including the coveted British Chamber of Commerce Most Promising New Business accolade in 2012 and accolades such as the Franchise Marketing Awards ‘Best Website’ finalist, second only to McDonalds, 2012 Newcomer of the Year at the North East Business Awards and Best Small Business in North East Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. The company has also been picked out by Dragons Den, Theo Paphitis, as part of his #SBS – a competition he runs on twitter to identify promising small businesses.

Speaking about her successful fifth year in business, Sarah said: “The last 12 months really have been phenomenal and that is thanks to my amazing team of franchisees and the support of my family and clients. It’s the culmination of five years of tremendously hard work and I am delighted to see the continued growth in sales year on year.

“As we go forward, it’s time for me to consolidate Simply Bows and Chair Covers so I have slightly restructured by taking Kristy on as my business development manager so that we can look at how we manage the growth in the different franchise regions and enter new ones without compromising on the quality we deliver.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Addison Associates .