PRESS RELEASE

26 October 2009

1,000TH BUSINESS GETS A HELPING HAND

Business Link in Kent is celebrating helping its 1,000th customer through its Business Review service, launched just over a year ago.

Fitzgerald Conservation, a specialist paper preservation and restoration company in Sevenoaks, undertook a Business Review at one of Business Link’s Boost Your Sales and Profits workshops, which take place regularly across the county.

Sole trader paper conservator Julie Fitzgerald founded the business eight years ago and has worked with museums, institutions and individual clients all over the world restoring precious documents and paintings. Registered on the UK Institute of Conservation’s Conservation Register, Julie has a specialist studio where she painstakingly restores paper items which have been damaged by light, insect infestation, damp or sticky tape.

But, she said: “As a sole trader you tend to find yourself so busy with the every day business of getting on with the job that you don’t get the chance to look at the bigger picture. This was the second Business Link workshop I had attended and I find the trained advisers really help me to refocus on what I am doing and look at my business in a fresh light.

“Fitzgerald Conservation has a website which is functional but perhaps a bit dated, so my Business Link adviser offered to put me in touch with a local website designer. During the Business Review it was also suggested I use the European Enterprise Network to make contact with European museums and archives.”

As a result of the Business Review Fitzgerald Conservation is now planning to make use of Business Link’s skills support service and the supplier matching service. Julie will also look at attending local business events and networking as well as investigate website search engine optimisation techniques.

Julie added that she valued the professional support of the Business Link advisers and the chance to share experiences with other sole traders that she met at the workshop.

Tony Buddin, Head of Marketing at Business Link, said: “The Business Reviews have been a great success since their launch last June. They offer small businesses an impartial and professional assessment of how they are faring and how they could grow. We would like to congratulate Fitzgerald Conservation on being our 1,000th customer and look forward to helping many more small businesses in Kent.”

The workshops are designed to help business owners increase their sales and profits and to create a financial plan to work from. Attendance is free for Kent based self-employed and owner managers with no more than two full time employees.
 
To apply for a free workshop place and for more information about the support available, call Business Link on 0845 600 9 006.

ENDS
PICTURE: paper conservationist Julie Fitzgerald
For more media information, please contact:
Rachel Knight or Georgette McCready, Maxim, 01892 513033 or email: first name@maxim-pr.co.uk

Notes to editors
Business Link in Kent provides the information, advice and support businesses need to start, maintain and grow a business. It exists to help anyone thinking of starting a business; to help small and medium-sized businesses to grow and to help businesses deal with problems, challenges and opportunities. Over the last year Business Link in Kent provided support to over 4,000 people considering starting a business and to 1,500 who actually started. Over 20,000 businesses were assisted with general information and advice with more than 2,500 being assisted in depth by a Business Link adviser. 

The Business Link service in Kent and Medway is delivered by Business Support Kent Community Interest Company.