Do you know any local craft makers, artisan producers or small businesses who might want to get involved in our Local Connections project?
Local Connections aims to create new, mutually beneficial business relationships between accommodation businesses and small, local businesses, makers and producers. For example, a local blacksmith could make bespoke metal work, a tour company could collect guests, a potter could provide beautiful handcrafted tableware, a bike hire company could provide a drop-off service and a local flower grower could provide fresh flowers to enhance the decor of an accommodation provider.
In a recent Cotswolds Tourism sustainable tourism survey to businesses 93.3% of survey respondents said they’d like to use more local suppliers and 66.6% said they would like more help to find local suppliers.
The benefits of creating more ‘local connections’ aren’t only for the businesses themselves, through this project we will be able to enhance the sense of place experienced by visitors and reduce transport mileage of goods, helping to protect the environment.
We’re searching for approximately 60 small local businesses to get involved in the project, so please let us know if you know of any in your community that you think might be interested. Here are a few ideas of the type of businesses we’re looking for, but any suggestions are helpful:
- Flower growers
- Soap/toiletries producers
- Interior decoration producers (wallpaper, cushions, vases etc)
- Tableware
- Artists (painters, printmakers, sculptors etc)
- Blacksmiths
- Service providers (tour operators/guides, bike hire etc)
- Wildlife products (bird boxes, hedgehog homes, bat boxes etc)
- Private chefs
- Hamper/picnic suppliers
- Artisan food producers
Please email cotswoldstourism@cotswold.gov.uk with the following information ideally in a spreadsheet for your town location by the end of next week ideally:
- Name of business/maker
- Website address/social media page, if known
- Contact email or telephone number (if in the public domain or you’ve been given permission to pass this information to us)
