Holdingham Bears
North Kesteven based Holdingham Bears has a new-found focus following the business mentoring received from Innovation Lincolnshire.
Barbara Daughtrey ventured into business in 1999 and runs a small company making high-quality collectable bears.
Holdingham Bears was barely covering its costs last July and it was at this point that she got in touch with Innovation Lincolnshire.
"When I met an Innovation Manager for the first time, I was expecting help with product design and trademark registering. He thought he had come to the wrong place and so did I, but then he asked me lots of questions and said he'd look at other ways he could help."
"My Innovation Manager has been mentoring me to grow the business. We've looked at business plans and strategy, and they've guided me along to the next stage of business."
Innovation Lincolnshire has helped Barbara put financial systems in place and recognise realistic costings and has given advice on how to achieve a higher added value through a newly developed 'priority' product range.
They also identified the need for her to move to larger industrial premises to enable higher product volumes and develop aspects of the business.
Barbara explained: "I'm dividing the company into two sections, as suggested by my Innovation Manager, to keep the prestige of the bears. Hamleys stock our bears, selling at £450 to £500 each, but the bear accessories which we will sell through the Lincoln Bear Company cost around £4.50. It's quite a difference."
However, it doesn't stop there for Barbara as there are several barriers that she has faced.
"Sometimes I'm up against well-known companies like Steiff Bears, a German company that is world famous and already has a name; I'm just building a name."
Barbara added: "Bears are often thought of as a cheap toy, but these are collectables.
"It's a specialist thing and Innovation Lincolnshire has been helping me to get the message across to potential customers."
With a 60% increase in turnover last year, Barbara is looking improve her marketing as well as production capacity and is increasing her outsourced staff from two to eight.
