John Giblin General Manager Otter Nurseries

SOS, Otter Nurseries!

by with 0 Comments

I’m fortunate to have a wonderful set of clients, who all are very generous people. And recently, family business Otter Nurseries came to my rescue, answering an SOS call.

Every year the village of Buckerell, where I live, holds a grand summer fete. It’s a lovely, traditional affair with tombola, white elephant, guess where the pirate’s treasure is, skittles, a raffle and cream teas. There’s also always a plant stall.

Over the decades, the stall has been organised pretty much by the same elderly couple in the village. Due to ill-health, however, this year they had to pull out. My neighbour stepped into help, but the plant stall looked to be in trouble due to a lack of plants.

It just struck me that one of my clients was pretty prolific in that department, so I made a ‘Batphone’ style call to my contact at Otter Nurseries. “That shouldn’t be a problem,” she said, “just call the general manager a day or two before.” I duly rang and was invited to go to collect a donation of plants.

John the manager and I walked around the plant centre with trollies, which he filled with lots of superb flowers: petunias, marigolds, surfina and much more. The selection barely fitted into the boot of my car and I drove home really delighted with my haul.

On the day of the fete, the plant stall looked superb, filled with colour. I watched the good folk of Buckerell fill their arms with flowers, ready to give their gardens an instant boost of colour.

It might be a small gesture, but the donation was gratefully received, and much appreciated. So herewith, a great big thank you!

 

New business Tickety Boo

Ottery PR is just Tickety-Boo

by with 0 Comments

Ottery St Mary is a very happening place, so it seems! I’ve been providing ‘Ottery PR’ for Otter Nurseries and Robin Rea at Rusty Pig for a couple of years now, as well as supporting the Volunteer Inn. I also handle the occasional bit of PR for the spicy Samosa Lady, Tina Chauhan-Challis.

My newest OSM client is Tickety-Boo. This is a fantastic project to revitalise the old bakery in the heart of the town with a coffee shop, playzone and events room.

Tickety-Boo is coming together fast, so it’s a bit of a rollercoaster ride at the moment. I’m overseeing the new website, setting up social media, sorting out photography, working on posters, sourcing balloons and helping to organise the opening event on August 13th. Phew!

Ottery businesses

What impresses me about all these Ottery businesses is their commitment not only to their own business but other local businesses too, as well as the community. They seem to have grasped the fact that if people work together for the good of a community, everyone wins. Otter Nurseries was headline sponsor for the Ottery Food & Families Festival and offers fundraising parking for the Tar Barrels. Rusty Pig, Samosa Lady and Volunteer Inn support the Carnival Committee that organises the Tar Barrels each year, as well as being involved in the food festival.

The ethos behind Tickety-Boo is to give the local community something really good to enjoy. No fried food here, everything is to be home-cooked by the talented chef, Dave using locally sourced ingredients. The playzone has been hand-built and the party room murals painstakingly painted by hand. The coffee shop also has a bespoke-made feel. There’s a lot of time and effort going into this.

It’s a privilege to work with such a vibrant community. The community Facebook page ‘Ottery Matters’ is always ablaze with opinions, grumbles, lost dogs (and once a donkey), concerns and celebrations. It’s one of the most engaged pages I’ve seen, and very entertaining to read.

I’m looking forward to the launch of Tickety-Boo and the opportunity for more Ottery PR!

Amos lighting to open new branch

Lighting the Way

by with 0 Comments

New showroom for Amos Lighting

I’ve known of the plans for a new showroom at Topsham in Exeter from the beginning of the year. It’s a bold move for this family-run business, but one that I am sure will go well.

We had to hold back from releasing any formal announcement for some time as the final negotiations were in the hands of the lawyers. Interesting how news leaks in the close knit Devon business community, though – I was asked on a number of occasions about the new showroom, long before the press release went out. Luckily all the documents were finally signed, sealed and delivered, so the story is now officially public.

Hot on the heels of the announcement I released a second press release, detailing the appointment of Ashton Hargreaves as the manager of the new branch. Ash is the perfect choice, and I’m looking forward to working with her once the branch is live.

Even though it’s only June, we’ll be racing towards the business launch and launch weekend in September. Catering, entertainment, giveaways – all to be organised and promoted. The launch is on the same weekend as the Self Build Show at Westpoint where Amos is exhibiting, so everyone will be working at full pelt. Watch this space!

Social Media

Amos Lighting has a healthy, active social media profile. But one important reminder that has come out of working with them is the need to ensure that login details for all social media are kept safe in a known place.

As part of my PR service I was asked to help sort out the company’s social media. We spent a fair amount of time trying to get into their existing accounts, set up long before I was on the scene. There was no record of the passwords, so it took a lot of guesswork, trying different combinations. We managed to access Pinterest but with Facebook and Twitter we had to start again, then work hard to get the old inactive pages deleted. It’s all done now, thank goodness! I have a note of all the logins, but, more importantly, so do David and Nicola Amos. After all, I might leave the country one day. Or retire.

Otter Nurseries award winning jam

Jam-tastic

by with 0 Comments

Otter Nurseries – not just plant experts

When I first moved to Devon nearly 20 years’ ago, I fell in love with Otter Nurseries garden centre in Ottery St Mary. My garden became crammed with flowers purchased there; some even featured in my homemade wedding bouquet.

Now one of my PR and social media clients, Otter Nurseries is a fascinating company to work for – there are many facets of the business (which has five branches) to learn about, such as environmental ethos (no chemicals are used in the growing nurseries), ongoing and generous support for many community initiatives and charities, free gardening advice and design… and jam.

Otter Nurseries jam is made in the kitchens of the garden centre restaurant, mainly by talented cook Liz Lee. I’ve bought several varieties over the years, including a scrumptious cranberry and orange at Christmas. It’s really so very good that this year two varieties of jam were entered into the Taste of the West Awards.

Fast forward several months, and I spotted on social media that the awards judging was taking place at Westpoint. I asked the Otter Nurseries marketing department how it was going. They were taken aback as they knew nothing of the judging and hadn’t sent any produce. After a few calls and emails it transpired that the entry had fallen through the net.

But all was not lost. The Taste of the West team exhorted me to take some jams to Westpoint – if I was in time they could still be judged. Cue mad dash to Otter Nurseries to collect some jars, cue equally mad dash to Westpoint to drop them off. I’d have asked for a police escort if I’d known.* Arriving at Westpoint I couldn’t see where to go – the front doors were locked and the back seemed shut up. I pounced on a man waiting in a car. He was, it transpired, a judge and pointed out the way in.

I was slightly breathless when I handed the jams over, but encouraged when the lady who took them said how nice it was to see some traditional jams being entered. No fancy ingredients in Otter Nurseries jam; no yak’s milk or pig’s blood… (makes a change).

Two weeks’ ago, an email arrived in the inbox from Taste of the West, and it was good news. The strawberry jam had received a Highly Commended but the fabulous raspberry jam attained a coveted Gold Award.

What else was there for it, but yet another mad dash to Otter Nurseries, this time to take a photograph of the talented Liz Lee and her (now) award winning jams so I could spread the word (no pun intended) to the papers and via social media. You can read about it here and I’m looking forward to seeing more coverage, in our local magazines and regional press. Jammy, or what?

TOTWAwards_2016_Gold*Please note, no speed limits were broken in the making of this dramatic scene.

 

Liz Chilcott 'poisoning' her husband

PR promoting poison?

by with 0 Comments

Magical stories

I’ve said before that I love working with Chilcotts Auctioneers – not just because they’re such nice people, but also because the stories they give me to work with are just magical in terms of PR.

Previously I’ve put together press stories on a whalebone that once belonged to explorer Ernest Shackleton, diaries written by a Japanese war camp internee, and a Chinese moonflask that sold for nearly £500K.

The ‘poison’ flagon

The most recent task was around a flagon that once contained a ‘cure-all’, quack medicine. This was nothing like the moonflask in value, being valued at a much more modest figure of £100, but the back story was just as interesting to research.

Microbe KillerGod bless the internet for giving me lots of resource to discover the truth behind William Radam’s ‘Microbe Killer’, invented in the late 19th century as a way to kill microbes in humans, thus defying many ailments – in theory. Although it was 99% water, the liquid also contained 0.59 sulphuric acid, 0.016 sulphurous acid and ash – and this was thought to have killed the grandfather of the vendor of the flagon, who had taken too much of it.

A great story in itself, but as usual Liz and Duncan Chilcott rose to the occasion magnificently when asked to pose for a photograph to accompany the press release. Liz cheerfully gave the pretence of wanting to poison her husband with a large ladle of the Microbe Killer – and of course, the press loved it.

Coverage

The story was picked up by regional press, including Western Morning News (who gave me a byline, much appreciated), Express & Echo and the Midweek Herald. It also attracted a lot of interest on social media.

I always have a sense of anticipation when I go to my monthly meeting with Chilcotts – what fantastic story will they give me to PR this time?

The black pudding team

Cooking on blood – PR for black pudding

by with 0 Comments

PR is sometimes seen as a glamorous job – think awards ceremonies, schmoozing, freebies. In fact, for most of us it’s far more belt and braces, and occasionally in my case, gory.

PR for black pudding

It can be quite a challenge, as someone who is pretty much a vegetarian, to work with a business that’s basically all about meat. However, knowing as I do that the meat is sourced from animals raised only with the highest welfare standards, no factory farming here, I am 100% behind my client, chef Robin Rea of Rusty Pig.

So when Robin told me he was working with Dr Jan Davison to try out eight traditional black pudding recipes, some from the 18th century, I dropped by with my camera and notepad.

PR for black puddingBlack pudding, you may know, is basically made from blood. I watched as jugs of blood were poured into bowls with various other ingredients, mixed by hand and put to simmer on the stove. Delightful.

What was really interesting was the basis for the tests. Jan is delivering a paper to the Oxford Food & Cookery Symposium looking at how offal was once used for dishes for the wealthiest people in the land, including the Royal Family. I learned how ingredients such as ambergris, rosewater and penny royal were used in black pudding. And how one recipe called for a porpoise (which I’m pleased to say was a recipe not used).

This fascinating story was picked up in the local press, allowing for the promotion of Rusty Pig’s ‘Bourbon & Black’ event, where diners will be able to try out the black puddings. I’m going along, but Robin has promised to make me a veggie black pudding for the occasion.

This is the one and only occasion that I might be justified in writing the words, ‘bloody PR’!

Goats milk chocolates from Chocolats de Caprine

All in the name of feature writing

by with 0 Comments

Feature creature

Sometimes, my occasional forays into the world of feature writing bring unexpected pleasure.

For the upcoming Devon Life Food & Drink issue, I proposed a feature on Caprine de Chocolats, a chocolate maker in Torrington making chocs from goats milk. I felt, in the name of research, the need to test out some of said chocolates, and duly placed an order. A tantalising selection of 12 chocs arrived in the post a few days’ later.

Now, it’s no secret amongst my inner (and outer) circle that I’m a bit of chocaholic. I’m the type that is fine as long as a wrapper is on the chocolate, but as soon as the chocolate is exposed to the air, I am driven to finish it. Chocolate goes off very quickly, you know. But these goats milk chocolates are something else again. Rich, and bursting with depth and flavour. One is enough for a day. Or I might manage two, at a push.

They must have a bit of creative juice in them too, as eating the chocolate led me to think of a new way to approach the article. The words were truly lit up by the taste experience provided by the cacoa.

Learning something new

Feature writing isn’t going to make me a rich woman, unless I secure an interview with Lord Lucan. However, it does give me the opportunity to try things out that I wouldn’t normally contemplate, and discover new things about life in Devon and beyond. Going up in a glider (and flying it for a hairy minute or two); researching all the spooky legends of Dartmoor; finding out what it is that makes people want to play in a brass band; learning about herbalism, taking off in a tiny aircraft and watching people throw themselves out of it (I was tempted).

Some features have led me to new PR clients. I met Amos Lighting when I wrote a piece about lighting for Devon Homes Magazine, and Rusty Pig when I interviewed chef Robin Rea for Devon Life. And over the past few years I’ve noticed that feature writing is making me a better writer in other aspects of my work; press releases, blog posts and even social media posts. I’ve been writing for years, but I’m a firm believer that you never stop learning. Hey, until recently I never really used the; semi-colon; now I’m overusing it; I am.

So what’s up next? Next week I meet the two men behind Christopher Piper Wines – I’m sure I’ll learn something there and be able to amaze my wine-quaffing friends with my in-depth knowledge of the Bordeaux region. Watch this space.

Editors Lunch Take Two

by with 0 Comments

I am not quite sure how it happened, but last year I was roped into organising a lunch for some of our regional editors. They had such a good time that they asked me to do it all over again.

Editors Lunch Patrick Phelvin and Jeff CooperThis time, we added the new editor of the Express & Echo, Patrick Phelvin, to the mix. He joined Andy Cooper, editor of Devon Life, Anna Britten, editor of Exeter Living, Jeff Cooper, editor of Taste Buds and Becky Sheaves, editor of West Magazine, Western Morning News.

Our destination was Jack in the Green, a fantastic foodie pub that sits on the old A30, away from the madding crowd but conveniently close to Exeter, and Andy Cooper’s office. We were all slightly shocked to see the encroachment of the Cranbrook development – with building work taking place right next to the pub’s car park.

It was great to hear our local editors’ commitment to environment. Anna bravely decided to take a bus from Exeter (though she willingly accepted a lift back into the city with Becky), and Patrick told us about his fold up cycle used to get himself into the Echo offices. Shades of W1A sprang to mind.

Everyone enjoyed the amazing food – I could have eaten my Capricorn goat’s cheese with raspberry twice over. Everyone ordered something different, from fish pie to Piper’s Farm chicken. The food was flawless. Although we ducked out of desserts due to time pressures, the plates of choccies that came with the coffees.

I am not allowed to repeat any of our conversation (Chatham House rules apply) let’s just say it was all very illuminating, and entertaining. The world of print is having a hard time, but these Editors lunch napkineditors are committed to print for the long-term, and I’m right with them on that. Okay, you can read up-to-date news on your laptop, desktop, tablet or phone in the blink of an eye, but there’s nothing quite like the feel of a newspaper, or magazine, with a cup of tea (or even a glass of cider) and a little bit of time to indulge.

Roll on the next Editors Lunch.

 

Raising the Rafters

by with 0 Comments

A couple of months’ ago I received a call from a choir. Now, I’ve worked with many, varied clients to provide PR support, from big corporates like Thames Water and Lloyds Bank, to new businesses such as Barrel Top Wagons and Baking Matters. But this was something a little different.
The Exeter Philharmonic Choir has been singing for some 160 years, although none of the original members now remain (sorry, had to pop that in). I’ve lived in East Devon for nearly 20 years, and I had never heard of them. To be fair, this might be because I’ve never had a relationship with choral music; theatre, comedy, pop music, films, those are more my line.
The choir, it transpires, perform in three major concerts a year, plus Christmas Carols at Exeter Cathedral. So what did they want from me? I may have Grade 3 in singing, but I’m not sure I’m the soprano I once was. Of course, it transpired the choir needed to let more people know about their concerts, in particular the March concert at the Cathedral. They had taken a decision to try PR, and my name had come up to provide PR support.
Exeter Philharmonic Choir Concert PosterThe concert was intriguing – a sea-themed extravaganza featuring pieces by Mendelssohn and Vaughan Williams and the debut of The Seafarer, written by Andrew Millington. Andrew was Director of Music for Exeter Cathedral until last year, and is the choir’s conductor. His piece was written around the Exeter Book, an Anglo Saxon book kept at the Cathedral.
I knew this was going to be a challenge, as performance PR is uncharted territory for me. But I found it really inspiring – the members of the choir are so committed, the choir is, of course, non-profit, and the story behind Andrew’s new piece was intriguing – and a good hook.
So I’ve spent the past two months writing and distributing press releases, speaking to magazine and editors, talking to radio and TV and supplementing the choir’s social media output. I was very fortunate to receive support from all the lovely local media, with the event receiving coverage in Exeter Living, Exeter Life, Western Morning News, BBC Radio Devon and more. Thank you all. And with a bit of forward planning, I have secured a feature article with Devon Life, with photographs taken (at the concert rehearsal) by the ever-talented Matt Austin.
Finally, the night of the performance came round, and the choir had kindly invited me to go along. I turned up at the Cathedral with layers (it can be cold in these places!) with a friend who had far more experience of this type of performance, being Welsh and a wonderful singer.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the concert blew my socks off. The choir were amazing, the soloists impressive, the orchestra, the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, just fabulous. They all enjoyed themselves and received a massive amount of applause afterwards, particularly Mr Millington.
From what I could see, there were lots of people in the audience. I’ve yet to find out how numbers compare to previous events, but I do hope my work had a positive effect. If all went well then I’ll be starting to work out a PR strategy for the choir’s concert in October, their very first ‘Lord Mayor’s Charity Concert’. Now that should be fun!
Just for a moment I toyed with the idea of auditioning for the choir myself. Just for a moment. Then I remembered I am so much better with words than music. No-one leaves the room when I start writing.

East Devon PR – THAT Chinese vase

by with 0 Comments

What fun I had recently on my home turf, with East Devon PR for clients, Chilcotts. They really do have the best stories and I genuinely love getting involved in the research as we bring the threads of history together.

This time it was one of those chance finds that ends up being worth rather a lot of money. In this case, a Chinese vase, called a ‘moonflask’. Auctioneer and valuer Duncan Chilcott knew he had something extra special when he saw the object – and how right could he be? The rare puce-enamelled blue and white dragon bianhu moonflask sold for just under £500,000 in an auction held in Hong Kong.

Well, apart from racking my brains to remember if I had any Chinese vases in my own home (negative), I wrote up the story and sent it out to the usual suspects. Roger Malone at the Western Morning News got first dibs, he’s a great supporter of Chilcotts, as is Mike Byrne at the Echo. Then things went a little wild. Requests from South West news agencies came in and suddenly there was the news about the vase popped up on many popular online news sites, the BBC, Mirror, Mail and so on and so forth.

Of course, once in the mainstream press, the story morphed into something other than the truth, as it does. Suddenly, the vendor became a man from Devon who found a dusty old vase in the rattic, with much reference made to an episode of Only Fools and Horses.

Daily Mirror

“The man, who has not been named, had no idea of the value of his Chinese antique when he took it to be valued at an auction house.

But just like in the famous Only Fools and Horses episode, he was stunned to discover the family heirloom that had collected dust for decades was worth a fortune.”

This caused a fair amount of hilarity among those who knew the facts. But there was no damage, and Chilcotts was mentioned in a positive light in every case  – what a result!

So what’s the next story going to be, I wonder? I can’t wait!