Sponsors

Saffery Champness

Saffery Champness is a national chartered accountancy practice which has been established in Bournemouth for 30 years. We support and work with a significant portfolio of clients in leisure, hospitality and tourism. Our experience has given us an invaluable understanding of the issues and challenges faced by businesses in the sector, which has enabled us to develop a range of successful strategies and solutions.

Our team, based in Bournemouth, provide advice to hotels, restaurants, marinas, holiday parks, clubs, associations and attractions. Having the specialist resource in house allows us to fully support clients on such matters as tax efficient structures and profit extraction, employee remuneration packages, VAT planning, business planning & strategy, funding arrangements and corporate finance transactions. We also provide a comprehensive range of compliance services to ensure that our clients meet their statutory obligations.

Clockwork Marketing

Specialists in the tourism industry, Clockwork Marketing works with independent hotels, restaurants and tourism businesses. They have an impressive portfolio of national and international clients; each is unique, but they all have one thing in common: they want to grow. With 25 years’ experience, the team understand the industry intricately, and apply a common sense approach to marketing, strategy and technology.

Clockwork help hospitality businesses save costs and achieve growth by ensuring that their marketing is effective and their strategy is geared for success. Many of the businesses they work with get in touch because they’ve found themselves:

Playing ‘Marketing Roulette’: Taking chances, unsure what works and to what extent; Suffering ‘Marketing Paralysis’: Not doing any meaningful marketing because they don’t know where to start; or Lacking something: They want to be market leaders and need a strategy to stand out. Over the years, Clockwork Marketing has grown considerably; today, they are a talented team of 22 marketers, strategists, designers and developers. Their services include responsive website design, SEO, social media management, email marketing, marketing management, branding, design services, OTA strategy, direct mail, copywriting, content management, online gift voucher software and business transformation consultancy – all under one roof!

Porter Dodson

Porter Dodson is a Top 200 UK law firm with locations across Somerset and Dorset. We are all about delivering great advice when and where it is most convenient to our clients, whether they are an individual or a company with an international dimension.

The firm has a strategy designed to deliver steady, sustainable but ambitious growth. It focuses on building on two fundamental strengths – our clients and our people.

Our clients say we are getting this right as 96% of clients would recommend us because of our overall service. As a Firm, we were recently awarded the Gold standard by Investors in People – putting us in the top 3% of employers assessed.

At Porter Dodson we work with our clients to understand their needs, support them effectively and deliver the best possible legal outcome. Our strapline is “All about you”, reflecting our focus on clients, employees and professional contacts alike.

Dorset Food & Drink

Dorset Food & Drink is a member-based organisation with a special trademarked brand overseen by the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty team. It represents Dorset's food and drink business community bringing a strong and vibrant sector together under one banner. As well as promoting what Dorset has to offer, it provides excellent networking opportunities for its members and specialist advice on a number of topics, including environmental issues and support to improve your businesses environmental sustainability.

Visit Dorset

Visit Dorset is the Destination Management Partnership for Dorset, helping to support and grow Dorset’s visitor economy. Our partnership is funded by the six councils of West Dorset, Weymouth & Portland, Purbeck, North Dorset, East Dorset and Christchurch and is supported by over 500 paying business members. Our key aims are to promote Dorset as a world class destination to attract visitors year round and support the local economy and tourism industry through marketing, PR and strategic partnerships. The team manage the visit-dorset.com website which is recognised as Dorset’s official visitor website and receives 2 million visits a year. Visit Dorset has a very active social media presence across all platforms and works closely with VisitEngland as well as national and international press and media to ensure that Dorset competes as a leading UK tourism destination.

Taurus Energy

You are wasting money on power; most businesses waste 20p in every pound spent. Energy prices keep rising and are a big part of any business' annual spend. In 2018 alone we have saved over 100 businesses 10-15% off their energy bills by installing our proprietary equipment at no charge to the owner. We guarantee we will save you money and if you don’t we will remove our equipment at no cost; although no one has asked us to do this yet.

Natwest Business Banking

NatWest banks the largest number of businesses, proactively helping them to grow, manage risks and continually improving our customers experience. Alongside a wide range of banking services, we have a  wealth of expertise in the corporate, commercial and business marketplace, working with businesses with scale up opportunities and complex needs.

We know that the Leisure industry is a key sector for the Dorset economy and we are proud to be supporting a year-round programme that recognises Dorset's businesses within this sector.

Dorset LEP

The Dorset LEP’s overarching aim is to create more jobs and drive economic growth in Dorset. There are some really exciting projects that the LEP has, or is, currently helping bring to life, through public, private and cross sector partnership and investment.

For more information visit the Dorset LEP website www.dorsetlep.co.uk or follow us on Twitter @dorsetlep

Bournemouth Water Business Services

The South West has a proud record of being at the forefront of tourism’s need to have a positive impact on the beautiful environment we promote and enjoy. Part of the challenge in ensuring that our region stays special is to manage our precious resources sensitively and effectively.

Bournemouth Water Business Services is the dedicated service to business customers in the Dorset region.

From retailers to hoteliers to holiday park owners, we're here for all Dorset businesses. Our aim is to help you save water and money and to operate more efficiently without any fuss or disruption; after all, you've got your own business to run.

Our Key Account Managers are here to build relationships with you – if you’d like support or help please contact Bryan Adams, our Tourism specialist, at Bryan.Adams@bournemouthwater.co.uk

Goadsby

Established in 1958, and having celebrated 60 successful years in the industry in 2018, Goadsby has grown to become an influential property practice covering both residential and commercial disciplines. 

The group comprises a branch network of 24 offices across the South of England with specialist commercial centres in Bournemouth, Southampton and Winchester.  Expert teams cover all aspects of residential and commercial business including sales, lettings, new homes, land, mortgage services, hotels and leisure, business space, retail, investment consultancy, survey & valuation, building consultancy, town planning, property management, CAD services, corporate consultancy and public sector appointments.

The Hotels and Leisure division of Goadsby is one of the longest established nationally. A wide spread of clients range from the dedicated B&B owner to corporate hotel groups. Restaurants, public houses, holiday flat blocks, camping and touring parks, catteries and kennels also fall within the remit of Ian Palmer and Mark Nurse, between them able to call upon a combined 57 years of practise.

Currently ranked in the top 25 of all composite property service providers in the UK, the commercial arm is acknowledged as a major practice in the Central South having won multiple awards throughout the last ten years based on the volume of business transacted.

Tourism is the lifeblood of the South Coast and Goadsby is committed to maintaining an active support role within an industry justifiably recognised as a principal contributor to the local economy.

Resort Dorset

The Resort Dorset magazine has been providing millions of visitors with information about our county since 1992. Distributed through more than 1,200 venues, its 200,000 copy circulation makes it very effective for advertisers.

Resort Marketing was quick to identify the internet as a tourism publishing medium, and, as early as 1996, published one of the first online visitor guides in the south.

Therefore, it is not surprising that whilst still publishing successfully in print, the business today provides its customers with an ‘all inclusive’ approach to their tourism marketing requirements.

All advertisers benefit from being featured on a mobile-responsive website at www.resortdorset.com, which drives both an iPhone and Android app, all of which can bring new business direct to their door. Resort Dorset also operates on Facebook and Twitter for the benefit of advertisers and has a following on Facebook of over 33,000 fans. To find out more please call 01305 770111 or email info@resortmarketing.uk

Ford Farm

We are one of the few remaining traditional farmhouse cheddar makers, producing three quarters of the UK volume. Traditional West Country Farmhouse Cheddar is made to methods and recipes that date back many hundreds of years. We use the highest quality milk, sourced from local, free-range dairy herds that graze the lush pastures of the surrounding countryside and the process is performed almost exclusively by hand.

Our cheddars take on a surface mould which is entirely natural in the ageing process and is integral to the development of the cheddar. The Cheddars are graded regularly to check their progress. Only when they have achieved optimum flavour, as judged by our in-house graders, will we release them for packing. The surface mould is brushed off, and the bandages are removed. They are then cut into various shapes and sizes.

Piddle Brewery

Crafted beside the River Piddle in deepest Dorset, for people who take beer seriously (but not life).

With a name like Piddle, you’d think that we don’t take anything seriously.

But, we do – brewing. Our passion is blending the finest hops, barley and malts to create a wide range of regular & seasonal beers that bring serious pleasure, from delicate thirst-quenchers to thick, velvety stouts. All crafted beside the River Piddle in deepest Dorset.

Under new ownership from late 2014, the new owners retired many of the inherited beers to build a range which now boasts over 16 popular beers available in cask, keg & bottles - including Dorset’s very own Gluten Free beer - & all matched with food!

In 2017, to meet growing demand, Piddle increased capacity by investing in new conditioning tanks & the installation of a new bottling plant.

Twitter    @PiddleBrewery

The Real Cure

We use locally sourced produce to create lovingly handmade & totally delicious british charcuterie. 

We exist to craft, cure and smoke our way onto your table. Our mission is to do as our prehistoric ancestors did all those years ago, eating natural and wild. Keeping It Real.

Conker Spirit

In April 2015 we launched Dorset’s first gin distillery with our Dorset Dry Gin, a bright and refreshing take on a London Dry with the Dorset notes of elderberries, marsh samphire and hand-picked gorse flowers.

In the same spirit of innovation, Conker Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur is an uncompromising tribute to Dorset-roasted espresso. No flavourings, colourings, extracts or thickeners in sight. Conker Cold Brew doesn’t just taste like coffee, it is coffee.

No gimmicks. No fuss. Just top-notch small batch spirits distilled in Dorset from British wheat spirit and New Forest Spring Water.

That's the spirit.

Simpleview

Simpleview is the worldwide leading provider of CRM, CMS, website design, digital marketing, revenue generation, and mobile technologies for destination marketing organizations (DMOs).

The company employs 325+ staff and works with 900+ travel, tourism and convention marketing customers on six continents, from towns of less than 30,000 to world capitals, including Los Angeles, New York and 14 more of the top 20 U.S. meetings destinations, Dubai, East Sweden, Guadalajara, Melbourne, Prague, Reykjavik and the countries of Malaysia, Norway and Scotland. For more information about Simpleview, visit www.simpleviewinc.com

Club Wifi Networks

Providing the South West with Superior Wifi Solutions for Holiday Park and Business owners for over 10 years and the network keeps growing.

By continually bringing more innovation and solutions to park owners, Clubwifi has shown its strength in customer retention year on year.

If you are looking for a Superior Wifi or Network Solution, then we would welcome the opportunity to discuss your needs and requirements.  We work directly with Holiday Park and Business owners across the whole of the south west providing customers with a fully managed supported service using the very latest technology.

Pear Communications

Pear is the leading tourism, arts & events print distributor across the South West of England. Years of hard work, dedication and investment have resulted in their unrivalled networks to ensure their clients leaflets, brochures and posters reach their target markets.

As a result of Pear’s dedication, they work in close partnership with both Visit Bristol and Visit Somerset among other DMOs in the South West.

Pear have invested heavily in key gateway sites, including major Motorway Services which house both their new Digital Screen and Print Stands. In an ever-changing industry, Pear continually evolve to support the market.

Forthglade

Forthglade have made natural dog food in the heart of Devon since 1971, using only the finest ingredients sourced from the UK where ever possible. With both complementary and complete foods, each with exceptionally high meat content, the nourishing recipes are hypo allergenic and free from junk and fillers. Forthglade is proud to make wholesome delicious meals for pets that is tail-waggingly good. For further information visit our website

Yellow Buses

Yellow Buses is back under local ownership after being acquired by its management team for an undisclosed sum. David Squire, who was appointed as Managing Director of Yellow Buses in 2017, said: “This puts the local management team firmly in the driving seat. We are now masters of our own destiny.

“We remain as BTL and there are no changes to the terms and conditions of our employees or pension schemes. We have injected fresh capital into the company and will be looking to invest in our staff, fleet and systems going forward.

“We are over 18 months into the plan that we started in 2018 and are in a strong place with passenger growth, improved income and a booming coach operation.  As an independent company we will be quicker, more agile at decision-making and, therefore, better able to react to opportunities as they arise.”

Yellow Buses operates a fleet of 140 buses and 16 coaches with more than 410 staff.  The company carries just under 15m passengers a year with its vehicles operating nearly five million miles across the Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and East Dorset area.

The Italian Villa

The award-winning Italian Villa, the only venue of its kind in the UK, is set upon 10 acres of manicured gardens at the renowned Compton Acres, and operated by multi award-winning caterers, Beales Gourmet. Under the direction of Managing Director Tony Beales, the company has become synonymous with premier quality events from weddings to corporate dinner banquets, Gourmet BBQs to the ultimate home dinner parties. Their events bring in hundreds of visitors to Dorset each year – something they are hugely passionate about. They are immensely proud to sponsor the Dorset Tourism Award for Small Attraction of the Year.

Beales Gourmet

Beales Gourmet are Dorset’s favourite event caterers. Founded by Tony and Molly Beales in 2005, the company now caters for over 350 events annually, both at their own venue, The Italian Villa at Compton Acres, and at other high profile venues and marquees across the South – proudly flying the flag for local produce. The multi award-winning caterers also cater for corporates in their offices as well as for private events in your own home. Be it a wedding, a gourmet dinner for 10 or a canape reception for 1500, Tony and his team have the experience and exuberance to make your event spectacular!

Welcome to Excellence

Welcome to Excellence is the the leading provider of customer service skills training in the UK.

Why do you need customer service training? In today’s competitive markets, customer service determines the winners and losers.

As the leading deliverer of customer service training in the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors, Welcome to Excellence is also now seen as the way forward by retail businesses, transport providers, local authorities, universities and many other organisations for which quality customer service is critical.  Options include the highly rated 'Welcome Host Gold', 'Welcome All' and 'Exceeding Visitor Expectations' courses, available in-house or through open courses, plus a range of more sector-specific courses.

If entering the Awards, always refer to these and other courses booked by your staff.

Quality in Tourism

Quality in Tourism has been relaunched as an independent accreditation service, offering grading, mystery shopping and specialist tourism and hospitality expertise.

Our experienced team have worked in various tourism and hospitality roles, giving them a true empathy and understanding of the issues within the industry. From mystery customer visits and website reviews to RevPar and marketing analysis, we work with our members to offer practical help and assistance, with the aim of driving additional sales and increasing profit.

Our assessor team can star rate your property without the prescriptive standards of other schemes, recognising your quality and its appeal to customers, without insisting on outdated physical measures irrelevant to your customers. Our entry level scheme gives assurances to your customers, ir is appropriately named Safe Clean & Legal TM. We offer special accolades to help you promote your properties to customers looking for your particular offerings.

Our experience, expertise and insight into the industry allows us to respond to current trends and assist members to deliver what the customer actually wants.

NFU Mutual

Our network of specialist local Agents work extensively with the hospitality and retail industries - everything from local coffee shops to a chain of restaurants or food stores and urban chic hotels.

We understand that your business could be impacted by a number of issues - cyber attacks, damage to your property, the loss of a major supplier or customer, the loss of a key person through illness, or an outbreak of food poisoning. But you’re not alone. Your NFU Mutual Agent can help you plan for the unexpected and get you back on your feet should things go wrong.

The right insurance starts with the right conversation. Contact our local Agent today by visiting nfumutual/branches

Purple Cloud

Purple Cloud Consultancy has considerable experience of delivering high quality training and offers a range of fun, innovative and inspirational training workshops.

• As the South West delivery partner for the highly successful Welcome to Excellence programme we offer a range of flexible customer service workshops that can be tailored to any business, destination or sector
• Providing the biggest opportunity for personal development in the South West through the ‘Art of Being Brilliant’ seminars, we offer the opportunity to boost happiness, performance and business by creating a positive environment
• Working with some of the South West’s top trainers we are able to offer a range of bespoke courses covering topics such as Leadership & Management, Team Building, Communication, Performance Management and Business and Personal Skills Development
• Offering a range of customer research packages to provide valuable insight into how to manage customer expectations, through the use of mystery shopping, staff surveys and customer feedback