blog

New Creative Team Member

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:37:08 +0100

SW1 welcomes Laura French to our team. Laura comes to SW1 to work within the Studio as a graphic designer.

Coming to us with a degree in Graphic Design and working knowledge of typography, film editing and exhibition design, Laura will fit in well within our creative team.

We wish Laura all the best in her new role.

It’s Showtime……

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:21:10 +0100

SW1 continues its show season by assisting two new companies with their exhibitions at Olympia in London.

New clients Green Parking (UK) Ltd and Avon Barrier Company have been working with the SW1 team to produce powerful stands to demonstrate their products and services at Parkex and Counter Terror Expo respectively.

SW1 have been working with clients and event organisers for over 20 years, from simple display panels to big bespoke builds, each as important as the next to deliver clear messages, quickly and effectively.

With a wealth of knowledge of indoor events, outdoor shows and single press days, SW1is the company to talk to – you may be surprised on how far your budget will go!

Talk to David or one of the team at SW1 on 01884 35577

SW1 Ltd Announcement

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 03:41:20 +0100

In line with SW1 development plans to provide our clients with an experienced, youthful team, David Hodson-Whittle is appointed a Director of SW1 effective from 1st July 2011.

I am confident that David’s enthusiasm and proven success in customer marketing related activities will be a beneficial addition to SW1’s own management team.

Graeme Statton
Managing Director

SW1 trip down the Tarka Trail for Kidney Research

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 05:58:30 +0100

Since Easter 2010, Cullompton based SW1 Ltd has been fundraising to support the charity Kidney Research UK. Through a variety of fundraising initiatives the team have raised £1275 for the life-saving efforts of the charity.

The Tarka Trail is a scenic pathway of approximately 30 miles between Braunton and Meeth, North Devon, which throws up all sorts of challenges for the walker and cyclist! Lucky with the weather, the team set off early morning and had completed it by 5pm, even after a brief lunch stop!

The South West Fundraiser for Kidney Research joined the team, together with the company’s two dogs, Monty and Charlie, who both thoroughly enjoyed the walk and looked as if they wanted to carry on at the end.

Joined by staff family members along the route, the team clocked up 226 miles (30 miles each for the cyclists and 15 miles/4 miles for the walkers) respectively.

Other fundraising events during the year have included a variety of ‘dining’ events, which ranged from a Burns Night with a difference in Somerset, a 5 dinner ‘Come Dine With Me’ in Dorset and a dinner party in Devon. A fun charity skittles evening was also held recently at The Redwoods Inn, Uplowman.

SW1 Project Manager Hannah Statton comments, “With our fundraising efforts, SW1 knew that we could make a difference to Kidney Research, a relatively small charity, which was part of the reason they were chosen for 2011. Kidney Research UK funds life-saving research into kidney disease, to improve the quality of life of those with kidney disorders and to increase public awareness of kidney health and as a family business we have been touched by the cause so we understood immediately the effects of the disease and the importance of research.”

SW1 have selected the MS Society to support through the 2011/ 2012 period and hope to raise as much, if not more, for this worthy cause through a variety of challenges / events.

Come dine with me - Take 4

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 10:45:35 +0000

Well, leave to last minute and wing it Keating didn't disappoint, although the excuse of having the lurgy must allow for some handicap surely!

Choosing a Saturday to give myself plenty of prep time definitely helped, although those of you with crème brulees like milkshake might not have agreed! Given that I had the lurgy I was in true comfort food mood and I was delighted to hear that it was the first time ever that Hannah had had toad in the hole - I said it "woz coz she woz posh, innit!"

I did my best to ply everyone with booze to keep the scoring generous, but a mixture of driving and being on drugs (Helen for bad back) alas put this plan to bed… That said, welcome gatecrashers turned up for pudding and they loved their crème brulee - just a shame the unset ones went to those that were scoring - doh!

On the whole it was a very enjoyable evening and I look forward to doing it again soon - let's just scrap the scoring ;-)

MENU 
Starter:   Spicy parsnip soup with red chilies 
Main Course:   Toad in the hole with greens and red cabbage  
Dessert:   Homemade crème brulee   
Drinks:   Wine and plenty of it - well medicinal for me anyway!

Come dine with me – Take 3

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 04:22:24 +0000

3 dinners down… is there really still 2 to go?!!

Having signed up to the “Come Dine With Me” experience as a visitor only, not holding my own evening due to my husband doing most of the cooking in our house, I started to feel guilty about eating everyone else’s lovely food and not hosting them at mine, therefore offered to do so on Saturday 22^nd January.

Having spent more than a week worrying, stressing and practicing what I was going to cook, my night finally arrived… and I think it was a success, plates were emptied, seconds were had, nothing was burnt and the fire brigade didn’t show up (although that might have been fun).

On the menu was mussels for starters, these were served in one half of the shell and filled with a cream, leek and white wine sauce with toasted breadcrumbs on top. This was accompanied by a glass of bubbles.

The main (which took a while to get out, sorry) was a Mediterranean sausage casserole with a little kick of paprika, served with sauté potatoes, garden peas and crusty bread. This was accompanies by countless bottles of both white and red wine.

And to finish was a Nigella inspired chocolate cake served in individual pots with chocolate sauce and honeycomb on top and ice cream and raspberries on the side.

After eating and drinking our own weight in food and wine, the night was finished by burning off a few calories on the Kinect which created much laughter and personal bests.

Thank you all for a great night, I look forward to the next one where I can sit back and relax.

Come dine with me – Take 2 “The Philpotts Residence -White Lodge”

Fri, 24 Dec 2010 07:19:27 +0000

So How did I do… Of course I don’t know this yet, I will have to wait for the official scores. However, I do know that there were no reported cases of food poisoning and each course was finished with 5 empty plates (no they didn’t start that way!). A brave choice of fish for main could have easily met objection although instead I think I converted a few people over to the world of fish by tantalizing their taste buds.

Finishing work at 5.30pm and having guests turn up at 7.30pm did present a challenge, but disaster was averted by pre-baking my lemon meringue pie the night before and when in doubt taking a quick swig of wine!!

I also left my inner scrooge behind and purchased a Christmas tree and decs especially for the occasion to make us all feel festive and to try and gain some sneaky points!

I thoroughly enjoyed the night and hope everyone else did too, That being said I’m looking forward to sitting down and relaxing at the next one though…

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!

MENU

Starter:                 Stuffed mushrooms (1 stuffed Pepper changed when about to put in the oven and I realized Kelli didn’t like mushrooms!)
Main Course:     Baked Trout, rice and green beans with a Thai green curry sauce.
Dessert:                Homemade Lemon Meringue Pie, ice cream and cream.

Drinks:                  Festive Mulled Wine, Vino del Plonko and Water

‘Come dine with me’ goes live in Dorset

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 11:18:42 +0000

In aid of Kidney Research, SW1’s charity for this year, Hannah has gathered some friends who have all agreed to participate in a Come Dine With Me experience. The idea being that each guests hosts a party which gets marked by the other contestants and at the end of all the parties the winner receives a small prize. In addition to this each guest also donates money at each dinner which will go towards Kidney Research.

The first party kicked off at the beginning of November and was really well received. Guests were welcomed into the dining room decorated with balloons and flags branded with the Kidney Research logo and favours were purple ball-balls ready for the Christmas season. Guests were treated to a 3 course meal of homemade salmon moose, stuffed pork and apple strudel. Wine flowed through the evening and the guests seemed content! With the first party being such a great success the competition between competitors is high! The next party is being held in early December so watch this space for the low-down on that one!

All donations and marks are being kept secret until the final party in early February.

SW1 Follow the otter for Kidney Research!

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 09:12:28 +0100

Passing through the largely unspoilt countryside of North Devon as it was described by Henry Williamson in his classic novel ‘Tarka the Otter’, SW1 raised over £700 by cycling and walking the Tarka Trail, all finishing together in Ilfracombe for a well-earned drink and rest.

Joined by staff family members along the route, the team clocked up 226 miles (30 miles each for the cyclists and 15 miles/4 miles for the walkers) respectively.

Our South West Fundraiser for Kidney Research joined the team for the walk, together with the company’s two dogs, Monty and Charlie, who both thoroughly enjoyed the walk and looked as if they wanted to carry on at the end.

“We would like to thank The Lower House public house in Georgeham for the supply of water and use of their facilities, as well as our sponsors and supporters” said David Hodson-Whittle, Operations Manager at SW1, “and especially to those generous people who donated on route. Thank you”.

SW1 plan to continue to raise funds for Kidney Research for the remainder of the year and hope to raise as much, if not more, that the sum raised for MIND the year before.

To go to our charity of 2010 page click here

SW1 Walk for MIND

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:01:32 +0100

Staff from Cullompton based international advertising agency SW1 Ltd. enjoyed the autumn sun last Sunday walking the Grand Western Canal whilst raising funds for mental health charity MIND.

A ‘full house’ of staff, directors, friends
and canine supporters walked a total of 130 miles in 7 hours and raised in excess of £500. Several members weren’t satisfied with walking the whole 11-mile length of the canal and completed one and half-lengths!

The Merriemead public house at Sampford Peverell provided a wonderful and well-needed welcoming buffet at lunchtime.

Each year staff at SW1 select a different main charity to support and in 2009 it was decided to fundraise for MIND, who work to create a better life for those experiencing mental distress. Staff are now concentrating on plans to run a stall for MIND at a Christmas Fayre
in December. Previously SW1 have also raised much-needed funds for RNLI, the Salvation Army and Masonic charities.

“We are very proud of all the staff at SW1” Hannah Statton, SW1 Charity Co-ordinator said, “with an age range of 21 to 62, we all completed the distance planned and we would like to thank everyone who sponsored us and gave donations along the route”.

Further donations for MIND can be forwarded to Hannah Statton at SW1 Ltd.

Multi-national’s exhibition challenge met by Devon marketing agency

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 16:07:49 +0100

A mid-Devon marketing agency has successfully met an ‘impossible’ challenge from massive international infrastructure group Hill & Smith Holdings plc.

Cullompton-based SW1 Ltd. started the year planning one exhibition stand for the multinational company, which is a leading manufacturer for the global rail, road, utility and security markets. But the development of a new marketing concept led Hill & Smith to require a presence at three additional major exhibitions with virtually no time to plan and prepare.

SW1 successfully rose to the challenge and ran the four major exhibition stands from concept to clear up over a three month period, including the development and production of promotional literature and advertising.

“This has probably been the biggest challenge we’ve ever been presented with,” says SW1 operations manager David Hodson-Whittle. “Our team is not as large as most marketing agencies, which goes to show it’s efficiency rather than size that matters when it comes to delivering results for clients.

“We have a passion for designing and building high quality exhibition stands that are original and effective in displaying our clients’ products. Having met such a challenging brief from Hill & Smith we now know nothing’s impossible.”

The four Hill & Smith stands varied in size from 45.4m² to 588m². A range of specialist products were displayed to attract people on to the stands including a 2m section of the world’s largest plastic pipe with an internal diameter of 3.5m; a full size 6m high road gantry complete with traffic display screens, and a section of a decked car park.

Hill & Smith Holdings Plc is an international group of companies with sales of more than £420 million worldwide. This year it has launched four ‘umbrella’ banners each providing a direct route to a full range of leading products – HS Roads, HS Rail, HS Utilities and HS Security.

“Our requirements for the first five months of 2009 were always going to be difficult to satisfy,” says Steve Catley of Hill & Smith Holdings Plc. “But SW1’s resourcefulness, professionalism and sheer determination meant we were successful and achieved a very high standard. We want to say thank you to them and their supply chain and look forward to many more successful marketing adventures.”

SW1 used local printer Maslands in Tiverton to produce the exhibition literature for all four events to ensure a quick turn around and high quality finish.

SW1’s exhibition team is overseen by Hannah Statton. She can be contacted by calling 01884 35577 or emailing hannah@sw1.co.uk.

Coverge:

Be canny, keen and lean for a successful New Year

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:13:19 +0100

There aren’t many businesses looking forward to the New Year with their usual optimism. Traditionally it’s a time to review, refresh and renew. Put those new ideas into play and approach everything with a New Year spring in your step.

But this year there’s a big black cloud called the ‘credit crunch’, which means everyone’s feeling the pressure of economic slow down as cash and credit become more and more limited. Instead of optimism, the New Year is being looked forward to with apprehension and caution.

We’ve noticed that some businesses are already responding to the current situation by cutting back on their marketing activities such as advertising, PR and exhibitions, viewing them as ‘peripheral’ to their core business. This is an understandable but, in my view, grave mistake.

Tougher times bring tougher competition, and if you’re not out there promoting yourself and your services you may find business dropping off organically or being poached by others who are still marketing themselves. A basic rule of business is that you can only sell something if people know about you.

Businesses of all sizes are having to cut back on spending, but the ones still selling themselves are likely to have maintained or even seen an increase in their return as they fill the gaps left by those no longer doing marketing.

The trick is to be targeted and strategic. This will enable a business to make its marketing budget go further and reap more return for the core business. Smart marketing is all about knowing your customers, knowing what they want and, particularly in the current climate, knowing what represents good value to them.

Then you have to find the most effective route to reach those customers – what achieves the highest conversion. So rather than throwing your marketing net wide and doing advertising, PR, some e-marketing, a couple of exhibitions and the odd bit of direct mail, figure out which single or combination of marketing approaches works best and focus on that. This should help bring you the best returns for your marketing pound in today’s market.

Whilst you’re doing this it’s worth looking inwards at the rest of your operation to see how efficiencies can be made.

In our experience, having just been awarded Investors in People status for a second time, one of the most valuable marketing assets a business has is its staff.

Motivating and developing your staff can help you expand your business portfolio, as they’ll be able to meet client’s needs with increasing flexibility and efficiency. This in itself should be seen as part and parcel of how you market yourself. Your staff are your ambassadors. If they are focused, effective and motivated they will consistently exceed customer expectations and help win loyalty and those all important onward recommendations.

Another key survival strategy is to market your way into new sectors. You might be amazed at the mobility of your product or services, and decreasing your reliance on a single sector will help make your business recession proof. A previous employer once said to me, ‘I want you to increase business with this customer but make it a smaller percentage of our overall sales.’ This has always stayed with me and remains the basis of how I run SW1’s sales and business planning which, I’m pleased to say, are growing despite the credit crunch.

Marketing firm expands into Bounemouth

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 16:26:03 +0000

A leading south west marketing firm has opened an office in Bournemouth as part of its plan to expand the business through staff development and motivation.

SW1, which has a head office in Cullompton, Devon, has just been awarded the Investors in People (IIP) standard for the second time. It has already expanded its business portfolio by 62 per cent since it first achieved the standard in 2005, and now plans on doubling current turn over in the next three years by meeting clients needs with increasing flexibility and efficiency, thanks to the IIP framework that SW1 now works within.

SW1’s new Bournemouth office is a crucial factor in the company’s growth plans, and is being headed up by Hannah Statton, whose father Graeme Statton founded the company 17 years ago.

“Our staff are definitely the key to our success,” says Hannah Statton of SW1, which delivers a suite of design and marketing services to clients throughout the UK. “The Investors in People framework has helped us cultivate our most valuable asset and demonstrates to our clients that we have a ‘best practice’ approach. We consistently exceed expectations because our staff are focused, effective and motivated.

“Ongoing staff training and the constant re-evaluation of internal systems form the backbone of our investment in our people. The business success we enjoy as a result means job security and satisfaction for everyone as we share the rewards of both individual and company achievements.”

SW1 is now keen to grow the proportion of business it does with organisations in the Bournemouth area which equally recognise the value and benefits of the IIP standard.

SW1 currently employs nine full and part time staff in its offices in Cullompton and Bournemouth. The firm works with a varied range of clients who are UK and European market leaders in sectors such as perfume, road crash barriers and agriculture.

The company’s flexibility and motivated workforce has enabled it to respond to changing marketing needs in recent years, particularly the rise in demand for electronic marketing services. It is also successfully expanding its exhibitions, event management and business development services portfolio, which regularly takes staff out of the region and abroad.

The Investors in People standard was established in 1990, with 30,000 organisations covering 27 per cent of the UK work force now recognised as IIP employers. The aim of the standard is to provide a framework that helps organisations improve performance and realise objectives through the effective management and development of their people.

Press release. Design firm recognised for putting its people first

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:20:56 +0000

A leading mid-Devon design firm which has been growing its business through staff development and motivation has been awarded the Investors In People (IIP) standard for the second consecutive time.

Cullompton-based SW1’s ongoing focus on motivating and developing it staff has enabled it to expand its business portfolio by 62 per cent already since it first achieved the standard in 2005, by meeting client needs with increasing flexibility and efficiency thanks to the IIP framework that SW1 now works within.

The agency, which delivers a suite of design and marketing services to clients throughout the UK, aims to double its turnover in the next three years and has just recently opened a satellite office in Bournemouth.

“Our staff are definitely the key to our success,” says Graeme Statton, founder and managing director of SW1 which was set up 17 years ago in 1991. “The Investors in People framework has helped us cultivate our most valuable asset – our people. It demonstrates to our clients that we have a ‘best practice’ approach and enables us to consistently exceed expectations, because our staff are focused, effective and motivated.

“Ongoing staff training and the constant re-evaluation of internal systems form the backbone of our investment in our people. The business success we enjoy as a result means job security and satisfaction for everyone as we share the rewards of both individual and company achievements.”

The Investors in People standard was established in 1990, with 30,000 organisations covering 27 per cent of the UK work force now recognised as IIP employers. The aim of the standard is to provide a framework that helps organisations improve performance and realise objectives through the effective management and development of their people.

SW1 currently employs nine full and part time staff in its offices just outside Cullompton. The firm works with a range of clients who are UK and European market leaders in sectors such as perfume, road crash barriers and agriculture.

The company’s flexibility and motivated workforce has enabled it to respond to changing marketing needs in recent years, particularly the rise in demand for electronic marketing services. It is also successfully expanding its exhibitions, event management and business development services portfolio, which regularly take staff out of the region and abroad.

SW1 is now keen to grow the proportion of business it does with organisations in the South West region which equally recognise the value and benefits of the IIP standard.