Mail’s amazing fund will be such a big help, says Apprentice star
FORMER BBC Apprentice star Frances Bishop has said that many small firms are only just ‘holding it together’ and urges people to use local firms where possible in the coming weeks, writes Neil Craven.
The independent retailer, who has had to temporarily close her four Pud Store childrenswear shops and furlough 12 of her 14 staff, said being a director of a small firm was ‘lonely’, but said firms should look for outside aid where available.
She praised The Mail on Sunday’s £5 million advertising boost for small firms, saying: ‘Something like this is a real help. I think it’s amazing. Being a small company director feels like you are on your own little raft and can be lonely. It sounds dramatic, but there have been times I’ve sat in my car and cried.
‘As a director of a small business, everybody is looking to you for an answer: staff are upset; you are home-schooling; the bank is asking for a six-month forecast; you are negotiating with landlords or building a website to sell online; customers are asking why orders haven’t arrived and I’m explaining the problems Royal Mail is having.
‘There are people across the country holding it together because they have no other option. I’m rolling my sleeves up and battling on.’ The 29-year-old was inspired by wartime analogies, saying: ‘I read that Cadbury’s carried on marketing during the Second World War.
‘After the war its business boomed because it was familiar from the time of crisis. I do a video every day for my customers, telling them what is going on, how many orders we’re dealing with. People are now starting to recognise what value local businesses can bring in a time of crisis.’
Bishop said her online sales – at thepudstore.com – had ‘exploded’ fivefold and she had hired a new warehouse space to fulfil orders more efficiently rather than picking from her four closed stores.