Business Group

If you would like to join the Revive & Thrive Business Group see the benefits on the Join Us page.   

See where the businesses below are on the customer journey from couch to town centre via our new Time 4 Towns programme

Bo-Concepts

Bo-Concepts are one of the leading promotional agencies in the UK – our vision is to be the first choice provider of Promotional Space Management and Event Management within the UK. Bo-Concepts core mission is ‘we bring space to life’ by offering unique indoor and outdoor promotional opportunities through, experiential marketing, brand marketing, in-store promotions, mobile advertising and event management.

We are aware that High Streets are fundamental to our society, they have economic worth and are the social centre’s of many of our communities. We are extremely passionate about the work we undertake with centre’s across the UK and we understand that the revenue that is generated is invested back into our towns and cities, contributing to the long term economic future of that location.  We have an extensive client base, great relationships with centre’s and work naturally to bring those aspects together.

To find out more visit their website

Burrows Little

Burrows Little is a highly innovative and experienced commercial retail and entertainment design house based in London.  Burrows Little is founded on the belief that a commitment to good design is compatible with commercially viable development. An understanding of the underlying economic reality
 allows us to generate new and exciting solutions without endangering the feasibility of schemes.

Owned by the two directors, John Burrows and Ian Little, the practice has enormous experience on projects throughout the world including almost all the European countries, Asia, Amercia, Africa and the MENA region.

The practice provide a full design service, including Master Planning, Architecture, Retail Planning, Interior Design, Graphic and Special Effects Design combined with new media technologies

Find out more visit their website 

City Dressing

City Dressing is about transforming public space. Whether it is a whole town, a street, an event or a shop we create strategies that engage that space with the public.

The company has developed a range of unique solutions for empty retail from the Pop up shop through to the virtual shop. Currently a new set of solutions called Smart Windows are being launched that will connect virtual shops with the internet and thereby open a new range of commercial and social uses for the properties.

As well as working on empty property the company also creates street installations using banners, bunting, flags and graphics that can transform a street for season or an event. They supplied over 20 kms of bunting of for various events around the country in 2012.

City Dressing will provide a fee audit of any town to list empty property and potential outdoor media sites as well as creating a City Dressing proposal with a range of ideas to transform place and raise additional revenue.

Find out more online: City Dressing, Virtual Shop Window, Pop-up Retail

Design JD

Design JD is an established design company, specialising in signage & wayfinding. Working with BIDs, Town Centres and other clients we develop solutions to help people find their way around the built environment and open spaces. As well as delivering shop front improvement  schemes to improve the public realm and promote retail & business.

Projects we work on include; town centres, retail centres, office parks, business improvement districts, industrial estates, healthcare centres, education sites, stadiums and parks. First we understand the challenges of the area, then evolve a strategy, fitting in with the purpose of; the users, the organisation, its buildings, the area and culture. This can encompass, new signage, landscaping, sculptures, and other navigational devices. This is with the purpose of:

Fabulously Creative

Fabulously Creative Media are multi media consultants, helping businesses and individuals to create and maintain their brand visibility both online and offline.

Founded by Margot Boyt and Taryn Johnson the current business is a combination of Taryn’s Web Design business and Margot’s PR and Marketing agency.  The ladies are now able to offer their clients a more cohesive and comprehensive service.  Fabulously Creative Media is just 6 months old, but the client list has quickly grown mostly by word of mouth.

In response to identifying a need for online training so that small business owners can learn to market their businesses more effectively, Fabulously Creative Media added  eTraining to their services.

The current trend and necessity for social media marketing has meant that Fabulously Creative Media now employ a full time Social Media Manager who is a whizz at increasing the clients online visibility and reputation.

Next month FCM Publishing will be launched with its first author’s book being released to the world.  What was a hobby is now an emerging business with two more authors in the pipeline.

Both Taryn and Margot believe that good practice and down to earth strategies will get the job done.  Their advice to clients is always straight to the point and bespoke to the immediate and future needs of the client. website 

Gumwand

Gumwand Ltd was born out of the frustrations of a humble chewing gum removal business. 

The technology in the global market was simply not good enough for the task of removing chewing gum from urban spaces. The old steam cleaning machines were expensive, noisy and terribly unreliable. 

The inspiration for a wireless and truly mobile gum removal machine was born from a large glass of red wine and a frustrated Mr. Martin Whitbread. Martin, Jared Brading (Gumwand Managing Director) and James Dutson (Gumwand Technical Manager) developed the idea into a backpack and hand tool. This solved the problem but the machine had a few fundamental issues that were not satisfactory to us or the market. Our backpack solution was a massive leap in the gum removal business but is was ultimately not the right solution. A backpack based gum removal machine is fundamentally wrong, so we changed direction.

The Gumwand was born when we developed the backpack idea further with some cleaver engineers who loved our idea and had a few of their own about changing the machine to more of a ‘floor based design’. The Gumwand Chewing Gum Removal Machine was now incredibly easy to use, with no heavy backpack or difficult lance to manoeuvre. ‘Ergonomic’ was the buzz word around our offices when we completed the new design. These new innovations also meant that gum is destroyed in only 3 seconds! 

The Gumwand has changed how people view discarded gum in our public places. Now it is not a difficult and expensive job to remove but a quick and low cost operation. The Gumwand has made it possible for gum to be destroyed for less than 1p per piece!!!

Many local authorities, prestigious shopping centres, National Airports, Stadiums and many more places are going gum free, thanks to the Gumwand (cue standing ovation). 

We tell people that its not magic but it does make gum disappear…  To find out more visit Gumwand online

IVTS

IVTS was started in 2008 and provides inventory management systems for any product that needs to be managed.

The company supplies a multitude of machines with varying cost points as they believe one size does not fit all and by combining different machine types they can adapt their products and services to manage all products of a site.

Now working with Revive & Thrive, IVTS are launching a town / city centre ‘click & collect’ service as part of a solution for a 24/7 high street.

IVTS can provide a ‘click and collect’ solution to meet every town centre requirement from unmanned lockers to refrigerated and freezer solutions.

With an excellent track record, IVTS has an impressive client list and a reputation for delivering excellence in their field.

To find out more about IVTS please visit their website

 Littoralis

Littoralis is working with Revive and Thrive to raise awareness of their product, DISC. DISC enables business communities (especially town and city-centre retailers and licensed premises) to share information about local offenders and, by the means of efficient and legally-run exclusion schemes, to reduce low-level crime and Anti-Social Behaviour to the benefit of the businesses involved, of the towns and city-centres, and of the immediate surrounding communities.

We believe local authorities, town centre managers, town council clerks, district and Unitary Council Safer Community Partnerships, smaller chambers of commerce and local economic development teams, working with police through their Safer Community Partnerships should set up district-wide DISC implementations on behalf of multiple smaller towns, and, through DISC, manage exclusions schemes in these towns.  In this way, smaller towns can benefit from efficient and legally-run exclusion schemes, through local police and council support.

Made You Look!

Experts in visual display training, Made You Look! provide retailers and other businesses with the tools to create wow factor window and interior displays. This in turn helps local authorities and town centre management teams to re-energise their high streets and drive local economy. 

Janet and Helen’s work inspires business owners to generate fresh ideas and create their own innovative window and internal displays. This sets them apart from the competition and increases sales. Many of their high street projects have also led to successful window display competitions, giving great PR for the town.

They work with a diverse range of businesses across the service, retail and merchandise industries as well as running a series of master classes.

Made You Look! love to help businesses look their best – and ultimately make the retail experience an experience!

To find out more about their latest projects visit their website.

miconex 

miconex provide a fully managed technology service which connects local businesses with local consumers using a Smartphone Application System. Working in partnership with local councils, Business Improvement Districts and business membership organisations they can deliver a digital infrastructure which allows businesses to communicate efficiently and effectively with local residents and visitors.

Businesses use a central content management system to enter key messages – promotions, events and information – these are then communicated via sophisticated free smartphone apps for iPhone and Android, web, social media and email.

Additional services include; implementation and launch planning, design and print of marketing materials, content set-up, management and ongoing support for participating businesses.

miconex are preferred supplier for BIDs Scotland for smartphone application systems and part of their ‘More for Business’ procurement package. They are currently live in six towns.

Find out more on their website.

MyHigh.St

MyHigh.St marries bricks with clicks to bring consumers back to the High Street. It is shaping the future of our High Streets, inspiring the SME retail sector to change the way it thinks about the internet. Neither towns, nor retailers, have grasped the digital opportunity. Just one in three indie retailers sell online while many High Streets are failing to build online destination brands or offer e-commerce.

Since its launch at the House of Commons in Nov 2013 MyHigh has gained nearly 400 retail members in 115 towns and is working with more than 40 High Streets to take them online.  It is helping retailers and High Streets engage consumers at home and on the go – allowing them to discover, browse and buy independent, online and in-person.

It is creating a world-class e-commerce network showcasing towns and independent retail.   Retailers gain a zero cost e-commerce store profile extending relationships with existing customers and converting social media networks into new paying customers. Every shop has its own URL, profile, stock listings and secure admin and is allocated to a ‘town’ site or to ‘nationwide’.   Towns license a showcase destination website, or a pure embedded e-commerce service, hosted on their own URL. This offers retail alongside leisure and service facility listings and rich copy, video and visual content.

All retailers are linked to www.MyHigh.St. This offers a unique indie retail emporium giving jaded consumers a way to enjoy the expertise and individuality on offer in the independent retail sector whilst knowing that their money is going back into local economies and communities.

MyHigh works with British Independent Retailers Association, Town’s Alive, Revive & Thrive and Association of Town and City Managers and it’s target200 campaign is sponsored by Rakuten’s Play.com.

To find out more about MyHigh.St please visit their website

NSA for retail/People 1st

Retail is the largest private sector employer in the UK with 291,000 businesses, three million employees and an annual turnover of £265 billion. We are here to ensure employees of all ages and experience have the skills and qualifications to progress and succeed within the sector.

At the National Skills Academy for Retail, we provide access to high quality training for businesses, employees and the future workforce, delivered through our network of quality-marked skills shops, approved providers and specialist trainers. Our offer includes everything from delivering gold-standard customer service training used by some of the world’s biggest and best-known brands to advice on how to write a CV and making a positive impression in interviews.

Radio Dart

Radio Dart is a internet radio station that plays a broad base and eclectic music mix 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The station interviews local people
about their lives, loves, concerns and visions for the future. We aim to give an identity to our beautiful town and promote sensitive business development and tourism. We encourage listeners from all over the world to visit us.

Our station team provide training and consultancy to those wishing to do the same and a lot more besides. Some of the countries leading experts in community engagement are involved.

To find out more visit their website 

Red Border

RedBorder Ltd is a full service merchandising and marketing provider.  We are all about retailers putting their best foot forward and maintaining  quality Merchandising, Marketing and general maintenance of the standards within the store environment.

Within our consultancy we provide the following services: VM Design and Installation, VM Training, VM Corporate guidelines and VM Critical path planning.

We love to work with independent retailers as we believe that these companies are truly the backbone of the British economy and should be able to access pivotal visual merchandising techniques and feel confident to implement them on a day to day basis.

In conjunction with our services we have created The Retail Calendar, which is a resource designed to assist retailer plan their annual strategy for: merchandise buying, visual merchandising and marketing campaign In order to maximise the sales potential of the plethora of commercial events which occur annually.

Find out more visit their website 

Reward Your World

Reward Your World offer an online platform that incentivises targeted behaviour-change in local areas by delivering benefits
to all stakeholders – private individuals, community groups, the voluntary sector, local businesses, and the local council. Private financial sponsorship is harnessed to achieve specific behaviour-change goals, including transport, volunteering, and recycling.

Activities are incentivised using bundles of reward points – called BetterPoints™ – which are sponsored by local businesses. The points are then earned by individuals in return for positive behaviour change, and can be used by them for reductions at participating businesses. The points can also be donated back to community groups or charitable organisations in the form of cash if members chose.

Find out more on their website.

The Association of RSLM Practitioners

RSLM is the acronym that stands for Root Solution – Listening Matters.

RSLM is a dialogue methodology which is at the heart of the effective organising of communities and other groups and organisations, which:

• engages local people in dialogue and action
• supports established and independent organisations and service providers to collaborate with communities in meeting their needs and aspirations.
• demonstrates a model of practice that may be utilised by existing and new project partners and communities.

In the case of local communities, RSLM techniques allow community animators and organisers to listen and to explore things that people love about their area that they can build on, things that concern them most – their motivations for action – and their ideas for action, whilst focusing on and drawing out solutions.

RSLM is not just an idea. Is a subject area for study and training, in order that one can then practice it and see results from it – results that can be profound and far-reaching

To find out more please visit their website

Space Qube

Space Qube is a PopUp shop business offering Design and Fit-out services to regular Poppers as well as those looking to pop up for the first time.

Run by Alison John who comes from a Design and Shop-fitting background, Space Qube is planning to open the first Permanent Pop-up shop in 2014 offering a space that will be sub-let on license to PopUp tenants.  This will house a quick change-over shop fitting system making the space flexible and easy to transform, providing a blank canvas for Brand designers to set the stage or if preferred, we can design, fit out and manage the experience for the tenant.

Brands will be able to recycle their content for re-use in the same store or any Space Qube Store, allowing the tenant to go on a kind of PopUp Road show.

To find out more visit their website 

Shopjacket

Shopjacket offers a range of solutions to improve local shopping in order to make local town centres more viable.  This includes:

• High-quality 3-D graphics 
• Design
• Merchandising
• Strategic consultancy
• Engaging with schools and young people promoting retail as a career option
• Other associated issues to include living over the shop, tourism, housing and marketing

We firmly believe that the public will use local shops but in many instances the quality of the local offer is simply not good enough.  Local centres with a diverse range of local shops is an attraction in itself and represents a refreshing change to the multiples which dominate the larger towns and cities.  Other issues such as opening hours and local retailers working together in order to strengthen the local retail offer is critical.

Using 3-D graphics to promote the consultancy and ideas is an effective way of engaging with local people and traders alike.  Other products on offer are as follows

• Sales jackets
• Bepoke 3-D holding systems
• Christmas jackets

Find out more about Shopjacket by visiting their website

Storecheckers

Since 1989 Storecheckers has built a reputation for providing top quality Mystery Shopping,Market Research & Training based on building long term relationships with clients who have increased sales and profits by continually improving customer service.  

Storecheckers carefully tailors all its services to meet your needs and the team is dedicated to ensuring that clients achieve the very best levels of service to improve business performance. The team is particularly proud of its bespoke reports and statistical analysis with 100% reliable and accurate information. The feedback gives clients the answers to questions vital to business improvement.

With an ever increasing portfolio of clients Storecheckers’ 25 years experience in the industry makes it one of the most respected providers of Mystery Shopping, Research & Training in the UK

VocalEyes Digital Democracy 

VocalEyes is a digital tool that provides a transparent, democratic and engaging process for improving your organisation or local community. We can work within any community or stakeholder group, (geographical or of interest) to transform engagement and decision making processes, for example:

• Learner engagement – within student communities, student parliaments/councils & senior management teams
• Community development – with resident communities and local councils
• Workplace participation – within staff & customer communities, management teams & trade unions
• Voluntary & public sector  – with their numerous stakeholder groups

VocalEyes is a digital process which includes an expanding menu of engagement strategies (including face-to-face) designed to support successful implementation.

For more information visit their website

YourStreet Gift Cards

YourStreet Ltd is a new and innovative gift card scheme uniquely for independent retailers developed by Anne-Louise Perez and Imogen McIntosh

The UK gift card industry is currently worth a staggering £4 billion, but all gift cards were for chain stores or shopping malls. The YourStreet gift card is the 1^st UK multi-store gift card only redeemable in independent retailers and services thereby providing that umbrella of opportunity for independents to have a share of this revenue.  Our aim is to bring back footfall to the high street which in turn will help sustain the long term future of the high street and all its independent retailers and services.

The establishment of YourStreet is both entrepreneurial and creative.  It’s yet another great idea to come out of Bristol.’   Bristol Mayor, George Ferguson

The card makes a perfect gift for friends, family, staff and for all occasions. The gift card offers a vast array of choices from a wide network of approx 150 shops & restaurants in Bristol. The YourStreet website acts as a detailed directory pointing people in the direction of the unique and quirky places we are fortunate to have here.

To find out more about Your Street please visit their website

Revive & Thrive is available for your high street and community right now.  Take a look at the Revive & Thrive Partnership, as well as Who’s Who, the Revive & Thrive Business Group and how to join the Business Group.  Also see our testimonials and our free ‘Ask the Partnership’ service.

See how you can promote and defend your town and city centre by using Time 4 Towns our Town Centre Management Outsourcing Service and our unique PR Service

Want to get the best from social media for your community, town or city?  See the results that we achieved on Retweet For Towns Day and how the Revive & Thrive Twitter Service could deliver these outcomes to you today

For further information please contact us direct.