The Developing the Young Workforce Forth Valley team aims to reduce youth unemployment in the region by 40% by 2021 by working with education and businesses. They are hosting an event called "Investing in Youth" at Gean House in Alloa on November 23rd to engage local businesses. Gean House has adapted over the years to stay competitive as a wedding venue. It underwent changes to focus on weddings and events after experiencing a decline in conferences during the recession. They have worked hard on their reputation through word of mouth and social media to secure bookings amid stiff competition. Gean House prides itself on superior customer service, attention to detail, and quality, which was recognized with a recent

1. Wednesday, November 23, 2016
40 www.alloaadvertiser.com
Gean continually adapts to
stay ahead of the competition
Team’s main target is
youth unemployment
THE Developing the Young
Workforce Forth Valley
team are here.
They are a dedicated
resource with an overall
aim to support the Scottish
government’s headline tar-
get of reducing youth un-
employment by 40 per cent
by 2021.
They plan to make that
happen by working with
education and businesses
throughout Forth Valley
OVER recent years the
wedding market has be-
come a highly competitive
business, with so many
diverse venues offering to
host marriages, from the
ceremony to evening re-
ception.
And, while brides and
grooms (and mums and dads)
resign themselves to the cost
of making the wedding day
special, they still expect val-
ue for money in all their ar-
to grow and develop mean-
ingful and sustainable
partnerships to develop
young people and the econ-
omy.
They aim to improve
the work readiness of
young people when leaving
school or further educa-
tion; increase the number
of employers offering ap-
prentice opportunities and
increase the number of
employers directly recruit-
rangements – and none more
so than in their venue.
Gean House has undergone
a number of changes over the
years, mirroring the changes
that have affected the house
itself. Gean has developed
from being an extra special
high quality wedding gift
through to an extra special
high quality wedding venue,
with in between periods as
a family house, Temperance
Society venue, hotel and lat-
terly a conference venue.
ing young people. If you
are a local business and
want to get involved, go
along and meet the team
at their Investing in Youth
event at Gean House in Al-
loa on Wednesday, Novem-
ber 23 at 6pm.
Alternatively, for book-
ing or more information,
please contact Michelle
Carr on 01259 726690 or
email michelle.carr@dyw.
forthvalley.ac.uk
When the recession hit
Scotland at the tail end of
2007, there was an immediate
decline in conferencing and
training business from the
Public Sector, Government
and private sector compa-
nies.
While management had
already taken the decision to
supplement income by build-
ing up the wedding and social
function business, the reces-
sion necessitated a fairly dra-
matic speeding up of those
efforts.
It has been a long hard slog.
With so much competition
from venues all over Central
Scotland, the team have had
to work constantly to ensure
that our reputation spread by
word of mouth.
They found that advertis-
ing would perhaps bring peo-
ple through the door, but it is
customer reviews and word
of mouth recommendations
that help secure the bookings
and now Facebook and other
social media platforms have
become some of the compa-
ny’s key methods of commu-
nication with existing and
potential customers.
Gean has faced all the is-
sues that many businesses
faced during the recession,
including:
N Ever increasing competi-
tion
N Transformation of target
market
N Cost of advertising and re-
turn on investment
N Staff management (Gean
has a great team of casual
staff, but that takes time and
effort)
N Cost of capital investment
N Price consciousness of cus-
tomers, while becoming more
discerning
The company is pleased to
say that while 50 per cent of
the weddings are local peo-
ple, it also has visitors from
all over the globe, including
the United States, Japan, Eu-
rope and the Far East.
Gean will never be a “stock
‘em high sell’ em cheap” type
of business.
Quality of venue and cus-
tomer service is the key to
success and the team prides
itself on attention to detail
and quality of service. This
is borne out by the recent
Clackmannanshire Business
Award for Excellence in Cus-
tomer Service.
Manager Billy Robertson
said: “We do everything we
can to ensure each couple’s
wedding day is that bit more
magical. Our staff main-
tain a superior standard and
every aspect of the wedding
day is delivered to the high-
est quality. We believe that
Gean House retains a rustic
charm, yet is in a great cen-
tral location.”
Margaret Mary Rafferty,
managing director at Ceteris,
added: “The team at Gean do
their utmost to put customer
service top of the list. We
also have a good list of high
quality suppliers within the
wedding market, and we try
to source locally wherever
possible.
“We believe Gean House
brings many benefits to the
local economy, as well as pro-
viding a dream setting for
any social and business func-
tion.”
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