2. This year Cheshire was a tourism force to
be reckoned with. Tatton Park was voted
best large attraction in the Visit England
Awards, Chester Zoo continues to be the
largest paid for attraction outside London
according to ALVA, Jodrell Bank continues
its mission to turn us into a nation of star
gazers, Chester Cathedral opened its
Cathedral at Height experience and
millions of people kept on coming from far
and wide to shop at Cheshire Oaks. Overall
our visitor economy has grown an
impressive 14% in the past two years.
Here at Marketing Cheshire we have been
very busy launching two new websites
www.visitchester.com and
www.discovercheshire.com and
significantly increasing our following and
authority on social media. Don’t forget to
follow us on Twitter @MktgCheshire.
Continuing on our theme of doing new things
and doing things differently, we launched
Amazed by Science our first pan-Cheshire
science festival where, with the help of some
equally amazing top science company
sponsors, we managed to hold a week of
events for families to learn real science and
have some half term fun. In the baking heat of
August we were in Las Vegas at Virtuoso for
the first time to sell Chester and Cheshire to
400 US travel agents.
In November the Deputy Prime Minister
announced an exciting new fund for
Northern Tourism. I hope that in 2015 some
of these funds will help us spread the word
about Cheshire even further.
Enjoy our Annual Review and let me
have any thoughts
k.michel@marketingcheshire.co.uk
A word from the Chief Exec...
Katrina Michel
32
Marketing Cheshire is a predominantly private sector
led Destination Management Organisation,
promoting Cheshire and Warrington nationally and
internationally to investors and visitors. Cheshire and
Warrington has one of the strongest and most diverse
economies in England for existing businesses and
potential investors, a stunning array of places to stay
and visit and a quality of life that is really special.
We offer core marketing services such as PR, Event
Management, Web design, Social Media Support and
Brand Consultancy to both public and private sector
clients.
My 10 favourite Cheshireexperiences in 2014
1. Hundreds of children enjoying theAir Products show at the CreweLyceum during Amazed by Science2. The cream tea at Crewe Hall3. The view across the roof tops fromthe Cathedral at Height tour atChester Cathedral
4. Aural Looms at the Barnaby Festivalin Macclesfield
5. The Christmas tree at Cheshire Oaks6. The deer herd at Tatton Park on amisty morning
7. Watching the show jumping in thesun at Bolesworth
8. Great Budworth, rapidly becoming afavourite location for film crews9. The Bollington Walking Festival10. The Malteser ice cream at theCheshire Ice Cream Farm
3. 5
International Festival
of Business
2014 Highlights
New Websites Launched
2014 Highlights
A new destination app was also developed
for smartphones enabling people to access
up to date visitor information on the go.
Discovercheshire.com receives on average
60,000 visits per month.
To coincide with the development of the
new Discovercheshire.com website a new
Visitchester.com website was also launched
in April 2014 including businesses within the
city and it's outskirts.
Visitchester.com receives on average 143,000
visits per month.
Visits to both sites combined are up 14% on
last year.
4
Marketing Cheshire was successful in
obtaining a grant from Defra to develop a
new responsive website for Cheshire.
The new discovercheshire.com website
went live in April 2014 incorporating
content from existing thematic sites for
Cheshire’s Gardens of Distinction, Cheshire's
Peak District, Favourite Days Out and Taste
Cheshire, making it the one stop shop for
information about places to visit, stay, eat
and events in Cheshire and Warrington.
increase in
traffic
compared to
2013
14% IFB2014 was the largest global
concentration of business events
during the year, running in Liverpool,
across seven weeks in June and July
and attracting business delegates
and trade intermediaries from
around the globe.
We tookpart in 16events over 7weeks
Marketing Cheshire worked with our
partners at Cheshire East Council,
Cheshire West and Chester Council and
Warrington & Co to ensure that Cheshire
was represented across the full seven
weeks. Based at the Place North West hub
'PlaceExpo' we ran a number of events
with partners such as Chester Zoo and a
range of Cheshire organisations to
promote the best of the sub-region to the
international business world.
Delegate:
Ashley Shacklady
4. 7
Marketing Cheshire Awards 2014
2014 Highlights
6
More than 350 guests enjoyed the
glamorous awards evening at Chester
Racecourse, hosted by Andy Bailey, which
celebrated excellence and outstanding
achievement among local businesses.
More than 50 individuals, initiatives and
businesses competed across 14 categories
and the winners of several categories will
go on to represent Cheshire at the
national Visit England Awards for
Excellence in 2015.
Category Winner
Best Newcomer to the Tourism Industry..................Dodleston Manor
Small Hotel of the Year.......................................................Inglewood Manor
Self-Catering Holiday Provider.......................................Kerridge End Holiday Cottages
Excellence in Business Tourism.....................................BEST WESTERN PREMIER Queen Hotel
Best Tourism Marketing Project.....................................The Mere Golf Resort & Spa ‘Summer at The
Mere – Served with Perfection’
Outstanding Customer Service......................................Jessica Barnett, Assistant Restaurant Manager,
The Park Royal Hotel
Small Visitor Attraction ......................................................Robinsons Visitors Centre
Tourism Pub...........................................................................The Fishpool Inn
Tourism Experience or Event of the Year................Chester Zoo, Lantern Magic
Restaurant of the Year.....................................................Piste Wine Bar | Restaurant
Large Visitor Attraction.................................................Tatton Park
Taste of Cheshire ...........................................................The Hollies Farm Shop
Large Hotel of the Year ..............................................Peckforton Castle Hotel
Team of the Year..........................................................Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre
Summer Campaign - TV Ad
2014 Highlights
We delivered the first broadcast TV
advertising campaign for Chester,
reaching over 3 million UK adults to
encourage them to come to the city for a
short break.
Events
This year Marketing Cheshire has
successfully managed over 20 high-
profile events. These include:
- International Association for
Equine Exercise Physiology
conference
- Chester Christmas Market
- Marketing Cheshire Awards 2014
- Amazed by Science
- 871 Square Miles: Inward
Investment event
These events
contributed approx.
to Cheshire'seconomy
£2.3m
5. 9
Virtuoso
2014 Highlights
8
In 2014 Marketing Cheshire attended the
Virtuoso event in Las Vegas and promoted
Cheshire to over 400 travel agents.
Ashley Shacklady, Sales Manager at Marketing
Cheshire, attended the event.
Cheshire on Film
Lights, camera, action
Key Productions
- Our Zoo (BBC)
- Home Fires (ITV)
- Ordinary Lies (BBC)
- The Trials of Jimmy Rose (ITV)
- After Hours (Sky1)
- The Mill- Series 2 (C4)
- Last Tango in Halifax (BBC)
- Foyle’s War (ITV)
- Safe House (ITV)
- Peaky Blinders (BBC)
- Evermoor (Disney)
- The Real Housewives of
Cheshire (ITVBe)
Film hasgeneratedapprox. £4.2mto Cheshire'seconomy
Consultancy
We have been particularly pleased to provide
consultancy services for a range of clients
both in the private and public sectors.
We have delivered marketing services for
clients including: Cheshire’s Gardens of
Distinction, Cheshire FA, Cheshire East
Council, Bolesworth International, Warrington
& Co, Favourite Days Out consortium,
Connecting Cheshire Superfast Business,
Cheshire East Registry Service, Cheshire and
Warrington Colleges Consortium, The Hollies
Farm Shop, Cheshire and Warrington LEP and
Museums of Cheshire.
Inward
Investment
On our investment agenda we have
continued to raise the profile of Cheshire &
Warrington as a great place to invest.
Our annual property review was backed by a
number of high profile companies such as
Bruntwood, County Home Search, Lamont,
The Mersey Forest, Tatton Estate, Wire
Regeneration and the Cheshire and
Warrington LEP, and generated an audience
of 300 senior decision makers from the
commercial property sector.
We worked with Cheshire West and Chester
Council to put together the Ellesmere Port
Investment Brochure.
2014 has proved to be another fantastic
year for Film and TV production in
Cheshire with an impressive 171
production enquiries (up 68% compared
to 2013), 55 productions shot (up 12%
compared to 2013) and 312 filming days
(up 197% compared to 2013). All this
activity has generated approximately
£4.2m of inward investment into the
county economy (a rise of £3m compared
to 2013).
These impressive rises in production data are
down to securing long running
drama/comedy drama series to the county
including; Home Fires (ITV), After Hours
(Jellylegs Productions Ltd for Sky1), The Mill –
Series 2 (Darlow Smithson for C4) and
Ordinary Lies (Red Production Company for
BBC). Marketing Cheshire were instrumental
in putting forward locations to film producers,
for example with Home Fires we worked with
Cheshire East council to suggest potential
villages, met with the producers and facilitated
access to services.
In total the county has played host to a
staggering 18 prime time TV dramas, which
have contributed to 95% (£4m) of the total
inward investment figure and 80% of the
total filming days (252 filming days).
‘The Luxury Travel week hosted over 4,400
- the biggest audience yet.
This event brought together the world’s
leading luxury travel providers and travel
agencies for a weeklong event where
advisors shop for destinations for their
clients.
Over the week I m
et with 80 travel agencies
per day to enlighten them
about Cheshire
as a destination and why their clients should
visit. My m
ain focus was to advise Cheshire's
accessibility, our history and finally the
unique experiences that can be offered to
clients.’
Is your business looking to be on film?
Marketing Cheshire has an in-house videographer.
For more details contact Jake Johnston - j.johnston@marketingcheshire.co.uk
6. 1110
Publications
In 2014 we
continued working
on a number of
guides and
publications for
Cheshire and
Warrington.
What’s On Guide
The monthly magazine has had a new look
for 2014. The guide features all the best
things to do in Chester, Cheshire, Warrington
and North Wales. Over 300,000 guides are
distributed per annum and there are now
16,000 online readers every month! Up 6%
on 2014.
Cheshire East Weddings Guide
Marketing Cheshire produced the Cheshire
East Weddings guide on behalf of Cheshire
East Council in September 2014.
Digital
Likes30,500
Client Services
This year we have managed social media
accounts for partners including Favourite
Days Out, Bolesworth International,
Museums of Cheshire, Cheshire and
Warrington LEP and Cheshire’s Gardens
of Distinction, in addition to our own
core channels.
Weekly bulletin
Our Weekly Bulletin, including good news
stories about Cheshire and Warrington,
continues to grow in popularity and is
now distributed to 2600+ business
contacts in the North West and beyond,
with an above average click through rate
of 35.4%.
Websites
Discovercheshire.com receives on
average 60,000 visits per month.
Visitchester.com receives on average
143,000 visits per month.
In 2014 we created websites for partners
such as Warrington & Co., Amazed by
Science and Nuclear UK.
Consumer e-newsletter
The popular consumer e-shot is sent out
on a monthly basis and themed by
season. The e-newsletter includes events
and news from our partner venues and
attractions. It is distributed to 60,000
recipients and has an average open rate
of 13.76% and average click through of
10.70%.
46,700
followers
(up 46%)
The Graduation Guide
The University of Chester goes from strength
to strength and is surging up The Sunday
Times ranking. We were delighted to create
two guides this year to be used for their
graduation ceremonies in March &
November.
Groups Guide
1,000 copies of the Groups guide were
printed, showcasing the best places for
groups to visit in Cheshire. We distributed
450 guides at the Group Leisure Show in
2014, and spoke to many more people at the
one day event.
The What’s OnOnline
Coming in2015
The What's On Guide has 16,000 monthly
online readers, up 6% from the previous year
www.facebook.com/visitchesterandcheshire
www.facebook.com/ChesterChristmasMarket
@VisitChester @VisitCheshire
@Invest_Cheshire @MktgCheshire
@MeetinCheshire @ChesterXmas
www.pinterest.com/visitchester
www.pinterest.com/visitcheshire
7. 13
2014 Highlights
12
Business Tourism
Testimonials:
“You have been unstintingly helpful
and kind and supportive and, on behalf
of the association, I would like to say
how very much everyone enjoyed
staying in Chester, at such nice hotels,
the supper at the Queen Hotel (despite
the rain!), and the wonderful AGM and
lunch at the Town Hall.
Thank you also for coming to help on
the day and for making yourself so
available to me and colleagues.”
Pamela Mayorcas FITI MScInfSc
DipModLangs from AIACE UK
“The support from Marketing Cheshire
facilitated the introduction process and
helped us to liaise effectively with the
different providers. This was a great
success and judging by feedback very
much enjoyed by our delegates. They
were particularly impressed by the
venue.
It was a real pleasure meeting you and
the team. Please thank them all very
much for their support, it really was
appreciated. I will definitely come back
to you if we are ever asked to stage a
conference again in the future. “
Gill Beckett, CPD Administration
Supervisor, CPD Vets, University of
Liverpool
Christmas
This year Marketing Cheshire promoted
Chester as the perfect Christmas
destination to visit during the festive season
Bringing together all the festive events taking
place in the city on behalf of our partners –
Chester Race Company, Chester Zoo, Chester
Cathedral, CH1 Chester BID Company,
Cheshire West and Chester Council and
Chester Grosvenor Shopping Centre and
Cheshire Oaks. The campaign involved
printing 150,000 ‘There’s nothing like
Christmas in Chester’ guides
showcasing all the Christmas
activities in Chester, and sending them
as a postcode targeted door-drop to
households in Cheshire West and
Chester and North Wales. We further
developed the dedicated
www.christmasinchester.com website,
outdoor advertising such as posters and
wayfinding signs and a four week radio
campaign on regional Capital and Heart
radio stations.
We also organised Chester Christmas Market
for the second year. The market was almost
twice the size compared to 2013 and ran for
25 days on the Town Hall Square, Library
Square and Eastgate Street. Improvements
this year included the extremely popular
Children’s Activity Area, covered Real Ale Bar
and 40ft sparkling Christmas Tree which was
relocated from The Cross.
Business tourism is hugely important for
Cheshire & Warrington. Not just because it
helps to keep venues busy, but because it
attracts key business decision-makers to
our region, showing off our assets and
persuading them that Cheshire could be a
great place to invest in.
In 2014 62 bookings were completed or
confirmed. This has generated £351,800
worth of enquiries (138% more than 2013)
with a destination Economic Value of
£2,343,472.*
A new Business Tourism website
“Conferencing Cheshire” is on the agenda for
January 2015.
International Association for Equine
Exercise Physiology
This conference, attracting 275 delegates
from all over the world, took place at the
BEST WESTERN PREMIER Queen Hotel,
Chester in mid-June. This was a scientific
meeting dealing with Equine Exercise
Physiology attracting eminent keynote
speakers within this field.
*figures correct at time of production.
Campaigns
growth inenquiries
138%
Working with city partners, we
delivered a summer marketing
campaign for Chester with TV
advertising on ITV Yorkshire region
and SKY lifestyle channels, as well as a
Northwest and Yorkshire focused
radio campaign. The campaign was
designed to reach female decision
makers looking for a short break with
friends, family or partner.
The campaign ran from May – June. The
total reach of the TV advertising was
over 3 million and the reach of the radio
campaign was 1.6million. This was
supported by the MBNA Guide to the
Summer in Chester which was inserted
into the What's On guide for May, June
and July as well as distributed separately.
Summer
8. 2014 Highlights
14
Corporate &
Commercial Partnerships
Business Tourism Networking
Events & Exhibitions
Nuclear UK
The world’s nuclear industry experts converged on the Park Royal Hotel, Warrington for
Nuclear UK, a major event in the International Festival for Business (IFB) 2014 calendar.
Nuclear UK was planned as a strategic leadership forum aiming to promote ideas and
innovations that will drive development of the nuclear industry in the future. The event was
staged in Warrington, the birthplace of the UK’s nuclear industry and the location of world-
class nuclear engineering, research, training and project delivery expertise.
We had leading figures from across the industry, including
Lord Hutton, Chairman of NIA, John Clarke, CEO of the
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), and Stuart
Crooks, MD Generation, EDF Energy.
The event was sponsored by EDF Energy, National
Nuclear Laboratory, Westinghouse and AMEC. Other
event supporters include: Warrington and Co.,
Nuclear Industry Association, CBI, the National
Skills Academy for Nuclear, Nuclear AMRC and the
Nuclear Forum.
The Manufacturing
Institute Conference
This was held at The Mere Golf Resort and
Spa in October Celebrating the 20th
anniversary of the UK’s longest established
charity focused on the manufacturing sector.
The event brought together an exciting array
of the world’s best manufacturers.
In 2015 we are looking forward to organising
the Rhino Association conference, British
Association of Animal Science conference,
Members Meeting and the Visitor Economy
Conference held in May.
2014 saw the very first Amazed by Science festival, the first pan
Cheshire science festival. The free science festival was a huge success
welcoming over 5,000 visitors over the opening Bank Holiday
weekend.
The first weekend saw CBeebies’ Jess French discovering the world of
creepy crawlies on the Bug Safari with children and teenagers at Chester
Zoo, a ‘flash-bang’ pop-up Science Lab at Tattenhall Library and an
action packed science activity day at Thornton Science Park.
Excitement continued to build through half term and Crewe Lyceum
saw over 500 people gather to experience a spectacular live Science
Show with Air Products, learning about how sound travels, and getting
the chance to take part in hands-on experiments with exploding
cannons and liquid nitrogen.
Made up from a collaboration between Marketing Cheshire and Jodrell
Bank, the festival attracted sponsorship from several big names from
the science community including headline sponsor Siemens and
science and technology companies such as Urenco, The National
Nuclear Laboratory, Waters Corporation, Sellafield Ltd, Peel
Environmental, Atkins, C-Tech Innovation and the Cheshire and
Warrington LEP.
Here’s some stats!
- Family attendees = 55% female / 45% male
(50% boys, 50% girls for children)
- Most children were aged 6-12 years, with a peak around age 8
- 52% lived within a 30 minute journey (34% within a 30 to 60
minute journey)
- 19% came as a result of Festival marketing
- 73% agreed the Festival raised the profile of Cheshire’s
contribution to STEM subjects, innovation and heritage
- 95% of families rated their activities 7-10/10
- 88% of families learned something new
….and we will be back in 2015!!!
15
The purpose of the membership scheme is to build and strengthen business
networks, and to encourage companies large and small to work together to
promote the Cheshire and Warrington as a great place to visit, invest and live.
Amongst a host of other benefits, partners taking part in the initiative will be
featured on the all new investincheshire.com website, which has been given a
major makeover as part of the new Corporate Scheme and will provide businesses
with their own company profile.
The new site is a huge step forward from the previous version and offers a
much cleaner and more intuitive way of promoting the fantastic organisations
we work with.
We are supported by a range of professional services companies such as Virgin
Trains, FDR Law, SAS Daniels, Encirc360, Regatta, Ellis Whittam, National Nuclear
Laboratory, MBNA, Aaron & Partners, The Design Project, Circle Insurance, Cygnet
and GB Group.
We also worked with Atkins, Astra Zeneca, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, C-Tech
Innovation, Manchester Airport Group, MMU, Peel, Siemens, Sellafield Ltd, Urenco
and Waters Corporation.
Many of our members have also become our clients and have asked us to deliver
work on a commercial basis including branding, website build, event management
and social media training.
senior industry
figures attended
Nuclear UK
140
9. 1716
Research & Insights
Hotel Occupancy
The monthly STR Global Hotel Occupancy
reports for Cheshire have shown Cheshire’s
hotel occupancy increase in 2014 compared
to 2013.
Hotel occupancy reached a record high in
Cheshire East with 81% in June 2014 and
RevPAR has increased by around 10% each
month in comparison to 2013.
Hotel Occupancy increased in Chester by 6%
in July 2014 compared to the previous year,
reaching over 83%. Monthly RevPAR figures
for 2014 have shown a consistent increase
on 2013 in Cheshire East, Cheshire West and
Chester and Warrington.
Visitor Economy
Marketing Cheshire’s annual STEAM report
provided an Economic Impact Evaluation
of the Visitor Economy in Cheshire and
Warrington for 2013. The Scarborough
Tourism Economic Activity Monitor
(STEAM) provides a robust transparent and
demonstrable measure of the Cheshire
and Warrington Visitor Economy in
aggregate and individually for the Unitary
Authority areas of Warrington, Cheshire
West and Chester and Cheshire East.
Chester as a heritage city
In late 2014 VisitEngland released their
research into Inbound Tourism to heritage
cities. The study looked into heritage as a
holiday motivator and found several key
areas which were important to visitors for a
holiday to be personally enjoyed
‘Seeing world famous sites and places’,
‘experiencing activities/places with a wow
factor’ and ‘visiting a place with a lot of
history/historic sites’ were all rated above 5.5
on a scale of 1-7 in terms of importance,
showing that the attributes of heritage cities
are still important to holiday makers.
“Heritage cities and historic sites remain a
key driver for visitors in the UK”
Understanding our Visitors
2009
1.97
2010
1.92
2011Expon. (Economic Impact)
2.30
2012
2.57
2013
2.70
The Visitor Economy consists of retail,
hospitality and attractions.
In 2013 Cheshire and Warrington’s Visitor
Economy was worth £2.7 billion, growing by
5% since 2012 and 36% since 2010.
The economic impact of Cheshire West and
Chester increased by 4.5%, Cheshire East by
7% and Warrington by over 3% on 2012.
Tourist numbers in Cheshire and Warrington,
including staying visitors and day visitors,
reached over 52 million in 2013. Each unitary
area of Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire
East and Warrington increased in visitor
numbers on the previous year.
Visitor Numbers - Total (m)
Economic Impact (Bn)
Tourist Numbers
2009
44.11 40.60 47.00 50.70 52.14
2010 2011 2012 2013
increase inemployment in
the tourism sector
since 2010
29%
Average Hotel
Occupancy for Cheshire
& Warringtonin 2014
75%
10. 19
Cheshire in the News
2014 Highlights
18
January
Cheshire was featured in WM Travel as
‘A visit that will leave you smiling like a
Cheshire cat.’
Other achievements...
It’s been a busy year
December
On the 15th December Chester was
featured as the 6th best city in Britain by
The Telegraph.
July
Chester Amphitheatre featured in the AOL
online article 'Free days out in the UK: Best
summer holiday ideas for families' in July
2014.
May
In May Tatton Park was awarded Gold in
the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year
category of the prestigious VisitEngland
Awards for Excellence 2014 Ceremony.
This national award celebrates the best of
English tourism.
March
Chester and Cheshire received a 6 page
spread in the March edition of
InterContinental Finance Magazine with
Peckforton Castle, The Chester Grosvenor
Hotel and Chester Cathedral making an
appearance.
We welcomed the World Town
Crier competition to Chester.
We worked with Cheshire East to
develop FairerPower.
We managed the European Hybrid
Parks programme with Cheshire
West and Cheshire Council.
Three campaigns were shortlisted
for awards: Amazed by Science
and Christmas in Chester by the
Northern Marketing Awards, and
Bolesworth International by the
Northern Digital Awards.
We have sold over £550,000 of
Chester Performs tickets.
The Cheshire’s Gardens of
Distinction show garden at the
RHS Flower Show Tatton Park
2014 won Best Show Feature.
We worked with English
Heritage Cities to promote our
historic city around the world.
Our Visitor Information Centre
in Chester welcomed over
270,000 people.
We welcomed Familiarisation
Trips from the US, India and
China as well as the UK.
We worked with the Cheshire
and Warrington LEP on the 871
Square Miles: Inward
Investment event in London.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11. 2120
Spotlight on 2015
Why work
with us?
By working in partnership with Marketing
Cheshire and like-minded brands and
businesses, members are able to invest in
a range of proactive marketing activities
that would be more difficult and costly to
do themselves. Tourism members raise
their profile by buying into our channels.
The Visit Chester and Discover
Cheshire websites achieve
250,000 visitors each month
The Visit Chester and Discover Cheshire
websites achieve around 250,000 visitors
each month, providing businesses with an
excellent opportunity to market to a global
audience.
We also manage a comprehensive events
programme which provides members with
plenty of strategic networking opportunities.
Perhaps the most valuable service we offer is
help and advice.
We work with members to help them market
themselves better, and not just by buying
into our channels. We provide support on
branding, strategy, social media and PR in
particular.
Our publications, campaigns, websites and
social media following allow us to reach
millions of people in a far more cost effective
way by working together.
In addition to profile raising there are other
reasons why members are attracted to us:
• Intelligence is important. We have a
wealth of intelligence that members can
tap into. Destination data, performance
reports, customer profiles or business
contacts are often sought by members,
and not just those in the visitor economy.
• Many corporate members value the
research and intelligence that we offer.
Wenow have
partners
282
Amazed by Science
Visitor Economy Conference
Rebranding and rebuilding
Meet in Cheshire
The Corporate Website
will go live
This year English Tourism Week
will be better than ever
Northern Futures Tourism Fund- new
investment in Northern Tourism
12. 23
How we are funded
2014 Highlights
22
Our revenue comes from a number of sources
Meet the team
We undertake commercial projects for
our clients – this can be by selling
them advertising on our website and in
our publications. We also manage
marketing projects for them or involve
them in relevant sponsorship
opportunities.
In 2014 we managed and marketed the
Chester Christmas Market which we
aim to develop over the next three
years into one of the UK’s Top Ten
Christmas experiences.
We are a membership organisation so
we raise money from annual
subscriptions.
We have a contract with Cheshire West
and Chester Council to operate the
Visitor Information Centre in Chester
and our revenue there comes from
sales of tickets, tours, souvenirs and
maps. This contract also covers some
other “welcome” services.
The three local authorities each
allocate us a sum to allow us to
undertake some activities for which
there is no obvious commercial partner
and to work on sub-regional initiatives.
In 2014/15 only about 8% of our
income came from grants, namely our
participation in the Hybrid Parks
programme and a grant from Defra to
improve our website.
In the future more and more of our
income will come from commercial
partnerships so please think of us
when you need advice on PR, social
media, digital or marketing, need to
contact other businesses in Cheshire
or further afield, want to get your
face around, want new marketing
collateral, have an event that needs
managing or marketing or need to
raise brand awareness.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Kate Blythe ..................................Account Executive
Jessica Cavendish.....................Assistant Digital Exec’
Leanne Eaton..............................Marketing & Sales Exec’
Laura Evans..................................Account Manager
Helena Gale-Hasleham..........Account Executive
Sam Martin ...................................Events Executive
Sharon Pond................................PA to CEO
Anna Roberts...............................Account Manager
Rebecca Wainwright................Account Manager
Sue Foster .....................................Account Manager -
Welcome Services
Jake Johnston ............................Assistant Digital Exec’
Stephen Jones............................Finance
Phillippa Meachin......................Digital Marketing Exec’
Visitor Information Centre (VIC)
Andrew Foster ............................Assistant
Welcome Manager
Chris Colclough.........................Welcome Assistant
Mike Hewitt..................................Welcome Assistant
Pat Jones.......................................Visitor Information
Assistant
Martin Webb ................................Visitor Information and
Support Executive
Nicola Said
Head of Campaigns
Nick Brown
Head of Partnerships
Louise Towers
Head of Finance
Ashley Shacklady
Sales Manager
Laura Young
PR
Jill Higson
VIC Manager
Other Staff
Katrina Michel
Chief Executive
