luxury holiday uk outdoors girl guide centenary - Aspire Magazine

Quest For The Best
Be The Best
In The Business
It doesn’t mater whether your business is
a small, regional outfit, a single-person
home-based company or a nationwide
organisation, the road to success is the
same. The credit crunch has hit everyone
hard, so you need to make sure you’re
taking the right steps in order to survive.
Reputation is the key to running a good
business and is vital to its success. It is
important to ensure you can provide your
customers with the best quality and service,
as well as good value. In times of financial
hardship, most customers look only for
the cheapest option, so it is vital you offer
a competitive price. If you’re unable to
push prices down, then service is the best
way to ensure a good reputation; making
sure your staff are customer friendly costs
nothing at all. Many people buy goods from
recommended companies, whether that be
through family members and friends, or just
through word-of-mouth, so you need to
guarantee your staff will make a good and
lasting impression. After all, everyone wants
to be known as the best in the business.
With so many businesses having gone in
to administration in the past weeks and
months, it can be hard for customers to
know who to trust with their hard earned
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“A Room of One’s Own”
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Business At Weston Hall Hotel
Weston Hall Hotel Conference & Banqueting Centre
is a stunning 16th Century, Grade II listed, three-star
accommodation, ideal for those boring but essential
business meetings, staff training and conferences.
Surrounded by tranquil, rural settings, yet just
minutes from the motorway network, Weston Hall
has been functioning as a hotel for the past 15
years, regularly hosting conferences, corporate
events, banquets and weddings.
Weston Hall Hotel Conference & Banquet Centre on
02476 312989 or log onto www.westonhallhotel.co.uk.
Alternatively, email info@westonhallhotel.co.uk
cash. When every penny counts, it can also
be difficult to judge where to go to find
products and services which offer good
value for money. Advertising and marketing
are useful ways of upping your profile to
those you can’t reach by word-of-mouth.
However, you need to make sure you tailor
your advertising towards the right people
and your intended target audience. Ensure
you know where your advertising is going to
attract the maximum number of customers.
Here at Aspire, we know how difficult it can
be to find well-established companies that
can offer good quality products and a high
level of service, so we work hard to tailor
our advertising to our readership.
The credit crunch has affected everyone
differently and many employees may be
feeling a little low and lacking in motivation.
Whether they’re worried about potential
job losses or trying to stretch their income
further than it will go, sometimes it’s best to
give their morale a boost with a corporate
activity day. You can encourage them to put
in extra effort, focus better and even gain
more loyalty by organising a day of team
bonding. There are plenty of activities to
choose from, including paint balling, gokarting,
white water rafting, bowling, clay
pigeon shooting, spa days or casino nights.
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CASTLE
Artist, Illustrator, Bespoke
& Contract Picture Framer
7 Football Close, Baldock,
Herts, SG7 5AH
Tel: 01462 893541
paul.castle1@ntlworld.com
www.paul-castle.co.uk
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Steaming Ahead, Despite The Recession:
David Page Engineering
Founded over ten years ago, and with the engineering
discipline that underpins their designs and production,
Page Engineering are THE specialists in Burrell Road
Locomotives. They consider that the Burrell Road
Locomotive, along with the Burrell Scenic Showman’s
Engine, represents the peak of design and function in the
field of traction engines.
Page Engineering is bucking the current market trends –
they recently moved into a new workshop. David told us
why he’s decided to move away from the place he’s spent
the last 10 years: “Firstly, my workshop space was split
over two sites, meaning production wasn’t as efficient as
it could be. Secondly, the workshop space has become
increasingly cramped over the last few months – I came
to the conclusion that we’d outgrown the Newcastle Emlyn
site so it was time to move. I found a brand new factory
unit at Llandysul Enterprise Park in Ceredigion, that’s
perfect and we’re settled in now after moving in at the end
of March – it was a big operation but we settled in quite
quickly.”
Only buying in the casting, every other aspect of the engine
is built by David: “We build every single piece and even
manufacture the gears. In addition to the individual parts,
we can supply fully assembled and finished units, like
wheels and boilers.”
Offering individually handcrafted, half size versions
of these classic engines (this is six-inch scale), Page
Engineering build to the highest standards and their
services are available across the UK.
David adds: “Customer care is important to us, and we
strive to offer a flexible and supportive service at all times.
I enjoy doing what I do and approach every new job with
the same enthusiasm I had twenty years ago!”
David not only specialises in steam engines, but he also
applies his skills to the restoration of steam engines, as
well as developing a complete single cylinder version of the
engine, which is cheaper and less work. A full
range of six-inch castings is available and they also offer:
• A fully certified boiler construction service
• A full wheel building and assembly service
• Full gear cutting service
• A high quality machining facility to fabricate your
personal requirements
Due to the rapidly changing cost of some of the materials
used, prices do vary. However, Page Engineering guarantee
the best service, with the quality reflected in the price.
To reward David and his team for all their hard work and,
in particular, their specialist services in regards to steam
locomotive engines, Aspire has named David as our
Businessman of the Year 2009.
David said: “Thank you Aspire – it’s so nice to know that
the hard work and extra effort of moving to larger, better
premises is worthwhile, not just for customers, but for the
reputation of the business. I am so pleased to be named
your businessman of the year, especially in these hard
economic times; it makes all the hard work worthwhile.
This certificate will definitely be joining my other Aspire
Certificates on the wall.”
As David said, this isn’t the only accolade he has received
from Aspire; last year he received both a Certificate
of Recognition for Quality and Service, as well as our
prestigious Lifetime Achievement Certificate in recognition
of all his hard work.
Sales Executive, Elaine Ellis, told us why she nominated
David for these particular, prestigious Certificates: “After
getting to know David, I was astounded to learn about
the different aspects of his business. Page Engineering
deals specifically with locomotive engines, and to offer
handcrafted versions of this complex machinery is
absolutely incredible!”
For more information, contact:
Tel: 01239 710888 Mobile: 07791479633
Email: info@davidpageengineering.co.uk
Since building his first
steam engine at school,
David Page has held
a lifelong passion for
engineering and steam
locomotives. So, what
better way to turn his
passion into a business
than by establishing Page
Engineering.
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