Visit-Clare: Business Plan

Visit Clare, The Old School, Callis Street, Clare, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 8PX business@visit-clare.co.uk

Visit Clare

BUSINESS PLAN 2017

V5 September 2017

Visit Clare: Business Plan p2

Content

1. Summary Page 3

2. What Makes Clare and the other Wool Towns special? Page 4

3. What are the Opportunities? Page 6

4. The Business Plan Page 9

5. The Marketing Plan Page 10

6. Finance and Governance Page 13

7. Potential targets for funding Page 14

8. Conclusion Page 15

Appendices

1. Constituent trustees Page 16

2. Visit Suffolk Market Segmentation data Page 17

A walk along the old railway in Clare Castle Country Park

The assistance of the Wool Towns Association team in the assembly of this Business Plan is

warmly recognised.

Visit Clare: Business Plan p3

1. Summary

This plan has been prepared by members of Tourism Clare, a working party of Clare Town

Council, consisting of councillors and representatives from the accommodation and hospitality

sector, the Clare Business Association, Clare Castle Country Park Trust, the churches, the Clare

Ancient House Museum and the SEBC Borough Councillor. Other interests are also represented by

the same members: the Walks Group (a working party set up by the CCCP Trust) and the

Environment Committee of the Town Council.

The primary purpose of our plan is to publicise the ambitions of the organisation to tourism-

related businesses in the Clare area, to harness their support for the business development aims

of the venture, and to support engagement of the wide variety of other stakeholders who have an

interest in our objectives.

The plan includes several measures that will enhance tourism in our area. These will be the

subject of applications for funding through a number of external resources, of which the principal

may be the Leader programme for the Wool Towns region.

Tourism Clare has renamed itself Visit Clare as this matches the website created for the working

party: http://www.visit-clare.co.uk/ The area, named Clare & Beyond in the logo, is defined on

the website as locations within six miles of Clare, a distinct part of West Suffolk and North Essex,

clustered round the Upper Stour Valley: the parishes are named and the appropriate businesses

listed.

The motte at Clare Castle Country Park

Clare Town Council is a constituent member of the Wool Towns Association, which is

formed from the Town/Parish Councils and Business Associations of Clare, Hadleigh,

Lavenham, Long Melford and Sudbury. This sets out proposals for a tourism strategy to promote

the area known as the Wool Towns. A Community Interest Company has already been formed and

it is hoped that other interested communities within the region will, in time, participate in

driving the project. The long-term aim is to create a tourism destination to rival “the

Cotswolds” and the objective of this plan is to set our how this might be achieved.

Visit Clare: Business Plan p4

2. What makes Clare and the other Wool Towns special?

2.1 First and foremost, the towns and villages within the Wool Towns region share a common

heritage. Wool was by far the most important influence on European trade in the from the late

12th century until the early 15th century

and during this period an industrial

revolution took place which saw the

manufacture and export of woven cloth

from the Wool Towns replace the export of

raw wool. The development of this trade

generated huge wealth for those involved,

which manifests itself today in the legacy of

fine buildings, both ecclesiastical and

vernacular, which abound within the region.

Today four places retain their medieval

centres, streets lined with timber-framed

buildings, elegant churches filled with light:

Hadleigh, Lavenham, Long Melford and

Clare. These are the classic Suffolk Wool

Towns. Across Suffolk & Essex, there are

many wool-weaving locations, from the

greater towns such as Sudbury or Halstead to small villages such as Kersey, Cavendish and

Coggeshall. It is in Clare and in the other key wool towns that the medieval heart still beats most

strongly.

2.2 BBC shows ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ and ‘Horrible Histories’ prove that the past

fascinates. Clare has an extended history with close associations with medieval kings and queens;

a narration of the key players contributes to the physical wealth of its built heritage.

2.3 The inherent attractiveness of Clare and the villages in its hinterland has encouraged the

establishment of a wide range of excellent food and hospitality businesses.

These are predominantly independent and family run and combine to offer a unique experience

for the discerning visitor.

2.4 The gently rolling West Suffolk and North Essex countryside,

interspersed with picturesque villages on generally quiet roads and

footpaths, makes for a relaxed atmosphere. Our area offers a ‘get

away from it all’ opportunity for those wishing to escape the stress

of work and city life for a short break or holiday in the countryside.

Visit Clare: Business Plan p5

2.5 The Wool Towns region offers a wealth of refined experiences from fine art galleries,

concerts, museums, country houses and cultural and rural events. John Constable, Thomas

Gainsborough, Sir Alfred Munnings and the Great Bardfield group all lived and worked within the

area. The Wool Towns region sits between the historic market towns of Bury St Edmunds and

Colchester, and on an East/West axis, between Haverhill and Ipswich. Cambridge is less than an

hour away – a major international tourist destination. The Suffolk Heritage Coast is within an

hour and a half’s drive.

2.6 Clare itself is a historic market town which lies on the Stour between Haverhill & Sudbury, on

the southern edge of West Suffolk. Its country park has the ruins of a castle with a listed railway

station inside it. There’s an elegant church, a priory and numerous timber-framed houses,

including a pargetted Ancient House Museum.

Unlike most locations in the area it has a wide

range of shops and eating places - Suffolk’s

smallest town.

The Clare Business Association has re-published its

Shop Locally leaflet, which maps the shops in the

town centre.

The section on the website: visit-

clare.co.uk/beyond-clare/ makes it clear that

Clare may be seen as a hub for visitors; a wide

range of attractions lie within an hour.

To quote from that web page: “The Romans went by, the Normans built, the English wove and

traded, Will Kemp jigged his journey, the Americans flew bombers – all roads lead to Clare!”

Visit Clare: Business Plan p6

3. What are the Opportunities?

3.1 Awareness

There is substantial scope to increase awareness of the region. A market segmentation report

recently carried out for Visit Suffolk identified the Wool Towns as a specific destination along

with other regions within Suffolk. Some 16% of respondents had not heard of the Wool Towns

whilst 34% were aware of the region and 50% had visited. The research identified that, when

given a description of the Wool Towns’ attributes in comparison with other areas of Suffolk, the

strongest appeal was for mature couples, who wish to visit for a short break and enjoy good food,

culture and walking in the countryside. The research indicates that on average a day visitor

spends £41.26 per trip whereas an overnight visitor spends an average of £172.24. This underlines

the importance of converting day trips into overnight stays.

Clare actively manages Clare Castle Country Park through its appointed trust.

At this time, the Trust is engaged in a complex and far-reaching consultation

exercise as part of achieving a major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. In

part, this envisages making the Park a key destination within the area, with

enhanced offers particularly for families and young people. This may well

change the balance of the kind of visitor to Clare that has been more frequent in the past and

positively increase footfall in any case. There is a clear intention by the Trust to liaise and

embed its work with that of the town, hence its inclusion with the CIO.

3.2 Brand Recognition

Visit Clare

Over recent years, the use of the Clare Chevron has become more common: a flag on the restored

keep, flags in the town, leaflets, websites…… New measures have been adopted by the

Town Council to ‘dress’ the town in the summer months. It is intended that the chevron

becomes recognisable to any visitor as the unique identifier for Clare.

The nature of Clare as a key service centre is recognised by St Edmundsbury Borough

Council. Looking at the retail services in the Clare hinterland, the greatest number lie in Clare

itself. At the same time, there should be a recognition that most of the accommodation and

eating-out facilities lie outside of Clare itself.

The Visit Clare project as exemplified by its website [visit-clare.co.uk] demonstrates the wealth

of historic heritage in our hinterland: Denston, Kedington, Stoke-by-Clare….. There is the

potential to develop a Lovejoy trail; another to create a benefice walk or car route around the

churches of the Stour Valley: Stoke-by-Clare, Wixoe, Kedington, Hundon, Poslingford, Cavendish

and Clare. Once again, it is worth stressing that Clare’s hinterland has much to offer. A careful

look at the companion website, clarewalks.co.uk, reveals the wide range of walks, circular, long

distance and short, available to both the enthusiast or the active family.

The Wool Towns Association initiative

There are some excellent examples of tourism marketing and promotion by individual villages,

towns and businesses within the Wool Towns region. These sometimes refer to other areas of

interest nearby but the approach in the past has been rather parochial. There is plenty of

Visit Clare: Business Plan p7

anecdotal evidence of regular visitors to Lavenham for example being unaware of Long Melford

and vice versa. A marketing approach which seeks to present the attractions of a whole area in a

cohesive fashion is much more likely to appeal as a short break or holiday destination. The ‘Visit

Suffolk’ web site already identifies many Wool Towns:

http://www.visitsuffolk.com/explore/wool-towns.aspx/

While there are towns and villages with a historic connection to the Woollen cloth industry around

the UK, nowhere is there a better concentration of thriving attractive towns and villages with this

common heritage than here. It is an ambition shared between Visit Clare and the Wool Towns

Association that those interested in spending time in rural England increasingly think of “a few

days in the Wool Towns” in the way they might currently consider, say, The Lakes or The

Cotswolds.

3.3 Visitor Data

There is no reliable data for visitor numbers specific to Clare; the recent 1-1 business survey

conducted by Tourism Clare provides some data. Within the latest figures on tourism published

by Visit Suffolk there appears to be a worrying reduction in the recorded number of overnight

stays compared to day visits.

Accommodation websites such as Trip Advisor record an observable reduction in the amount of

B&B serviced accommodation whilst holiday cottage numbers have increased. This trend could be

responsible for a change in recording but, for whatever reason there is no doubt that one of the

main opportunities for the Clare area is to convert a proportion of day visits into overnight stays

or short break.

The origin of visitors is very wide-ranging. A majority may come from London and surrounding

counties, but there are remarkable variations depending on the nature of the business concerned.

One antiques shop recorded 95% of its customers were tourists; others relied more heavily on

local shoppers. The Museum, the Church of St Peter & St Paul and the Country Park all record

tourists from across the world and from more distant parts of the UK.

3.4 Seasonality

The seasonal pattern of

visitors is represented in

this chart. The blue line is

for one of the region’s

attractions which is closed

in the winter months, the

purple line represents

room occupancy for a

group of managed holiday

cottages, the green line

shows room occupancy for

a 4* hotel and restaurant,

whist the red line

represents the pattern of

car park receipts in

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Attraction

Visitors

Hotel

Hol; Cott

Visit Clare: Business Plan p8

Lavenham. Statistics from Clare matches the red line, for accommodation in a major hotel. A

similar finding is found in visitors to a major church in Clare and to the Country Park. All these

statistics show the dramatic difference between summer and winter visitor numbers.

3.5 Business Confidence

Across East Anglia, 39% of businesses perceived a negative impact of raising the minimum wage,

(Tourism & Leisure Business Survey, Larking Gowen 2017, p3), with consequent reduction in

profits or investment. Since last year’s EU referendum, a weak pound has led to a double win –

more people having domestic vacations in the UK and overseas visitors being able to have more

affordable trips. While the long term of impact of Brexit is an unknown, marketing and

promotion of the region must continue.

3.6 Visitor Services

Our community has a specific interest in tourism and the promotion of and support for its tourism

related businesses. There is a range of visitor services, including an online presence, visit-

clare.co.uk, as well as leaflets. The set of six circular walk leaflets

(downloadable from clarewalks.co.uk) represent a significant investment in

attracting visitors. The project to become a ‘Walkers are Welcome’

location, the first in West Suffolk, is another indicator of the community’s

intent, supported by 85% of businesses in our 1-1 survey

[walkersarewelcome.org.uk]. A Community Toilet scheme is now under

active consideration; this might be the first in our area.

Visit Clare has no intention of supplanting or duplicating the excellent service offered to their

visitors by other sources. Our ambition is to add a new layer of marketing to attract visitors to

Clare and the wider area.

3.7 In summary therefore the opportunities are:

o To raise awareness of Clare and its hinterland generally

o To convert a proportion of day visitors into overnight stays

o To encourage longer stays

o To alter the seasonal balance to become busier in the winter

o To strengthen the services offered to visitors, such as maps, walking routes, mobile apps and volunteer guides

Visit Clare: Business Plan p9

4. The Business Plan

4.1 The business Plan is in two main parts:

• Establish Visit Clare as a credible organisation capable of taking on the challenge of meeting the aims set out in the summary 3.7 above. It is anticipated that grant-aided funding will be raised for this.

• Implementation of the necessary Marketing and PR campaign and other activities to promote Clare. This could require substantial funds and will likely require Visit Clare to process a LEADER grant application in the coming months once the conditions can be met.

Registration as a CIO will provide the governance structure and the opportunity for further

participation. A significant launch event takes place in the early summer of 2017. Located at a

major venue in Clare, the event is designed to attract significant media attention and will include

a conference where local businesses can learn more about and offer support to the aims and

activity of the organisation. We will work with partner organisations such as Visit Suffolk and

Bury St Edmunds & Beyond to assist with the development of our marketing programme.

4.2 The budget for the first part of our business plan is £1,000, made possible from a grant from the Borough councillor’s locality fund, allocated as follows:

Pop-up posters £400 Printing £100 Launch event expenses £200 Other Marketing and PR costs £50 4.3 The second phase of the Business Plan is the implementation of the Marketing Plan An

important part of the plan will be the development of partnerships with regional and national

tourism organisations and the Destination Management Organisations which surround us. This

plan will help establish Visit Clare as a credible organisation which will in turn help realise our

aims.

85% of the businesses interviewed in a recent 1-1 survey believed that a Clare-based organisation

was the best body to manage local tourism.

4.4 To further develop future applications for external funding, we intend to establish at an early

stage some more accurate base data specifically for Clare and its hinterland. A great deal of data

on Tourism is available at the county level (see the Tourism and Leisure Business Survey 2017

from Larking Gowen), which needs to be focused down to Clare. Provision will be made within

the budget for the necessary research to discover:

• The value of tourism to our region

• Estimates for the number of day visitors and overnight stays

• The available hotel, B&B and holiday cottage capacity

Data has already been collected in a 1-1 survey of businesses in Clare. If footfall increased by

10%, amongst the 33 businesses interviewed, there was a forecast that a total of 9 full-time

equivalent jobs would be created (out of a total of 94 full-time staff, plus 79 more with variable

hours).

Visit Clare: Business Plan p10

5. The Marketing Plan

Visit Clare’s ambition is to establish a brand for this distinct part of West Suffolk and then

champion the locality to potential visitors, with an emphasis on the average duration of visits and

on increasing footfall outside the “high season”.

There follows an analysis of the various elements of the Marketing Mix that will be used to

promote our aims and help realise the desired outcomes. For each element, we will explain the

actions, identify who does what and how, what the cost will be and timescales involved.

5.1 The Marketing Mix

Visit Clare will use a mix of marketing and public relations activity and tools aimed at achieving

objectives as outlined in section 3.5 of this plan. This will include some or all of the following

activities. The mix employed will depend upon prioritisation, available resources and anticipated

effectiveness.

5.2 Partnership Marketing

Partnerships are crucial to the Visit Clare Marketing Plan. Private sector partners will provide

consultation, and, we hope, time and financial resources. Local business and community

associations with an interest in Tourism development are invited to participate in the operation.

County and Borough Councils will be asked to support, and perhaps invest.

Tourism bodies (usually public/private collaborations) are a primary route to market

5.2.1 Tourism Bodies

The primary partner for the Association will be Bury St Edmunds & Beyond. This new DMO has a

brief that covers much of the geography of West Suffolk, and which will provide over time a

sound, integrated and respected platform for promotion of the attractions and services we have

on offer.

Visit Clare will engage with Visit Suffolk and Visit East Anglia as the regional leads for the East

of England.

Visit Clare will engage and develop partnerships with Visit Essex (www.visitessex.com) , and

with other web based services that cover either overlapping part(s) of our territory, (such as

www.riverstourtrust.org and www.heartofsuffolk.co.uk ) or a wider brief, such as

www.visiteastofengland.com

Visit Clare: Business Plan p11

5.2.2 Partnership Marketing Policy

The importance of such partnership marketing is crucial. Visit Clare will develop a policy

document for this issue, based on a protocol developed by Visit Suffolk.

Partnership Marketing Policy

Public Relations

Where possible, Visit Clare will deal with and respond to PR that relates solely to Clare and its hinterland from a local business perspective.

It is expected that Visit Clare and Bury St Edmunds & Beyond will monitor press coverage and share information.

Communication to businesses

Visit Clare and partners will jointly communicate activity to avoid duplication wherever possible. Partners will be asked to coordinate scheduled trade communications and dates with Visit Clare.

Any relevant promotional opportunities that arise will be communicated directly to tourism businesses and Visit Clare informed.

Consumer facing activity

Visit Clare will provide partners with a list of all its communication channels (web/social) in order that they may be incorporated in marketing promotion wherever relevant, and update content regularly. Visit Clare will collaborate with partners over the creation of new visual assets in order to avoid duplication of content, enable cost-savings and ensure the “share-ability” between the organisations. Visit Clare content will have a clear presence on partner web sites, such as a banner directing consumers to the Visit Clare portal (visit-clare.co.uk) for further information. Visit Clare sees engagement with individual visitors to the area as an important part of spreading the message. Accordingly, Visit Clare will encourage the organisation of such services such as volunteer guides to explain local stories and promote the wider area.

Market Intelligence, Industry Events and Stakeholder Meetings

Visit Clare will maintain positive relationships with relevant tourism promotion organisations and seek a flow of information on such matters as:

• Economic impact reports, both local and regional

• Bury St Edmunds & Beyond and Visit Clare will share their website analytics outputs

• Market Research reports, to provide insights into our current and potential visitor base

• Opportunities to engage at industry events/roadshows

• An opportunity to contribute to the Visit Suffolk Marketing Panel

Visit Clare: Business Plan p12

5.3 Launch Event

Visit Clare has an operational website [visit-clare.co.uk], linked with partners. This enables us to

hold a launch event to publicise Clare and its hinterland to a wider audience. Relevant media,

stakeholders and partners will be invited.

The best chance of attracting media representatives will be a single major launch at a key

establishment within Clare.

5.4 Public Relations Activity

Visit Clare may need to find a professional freelance writer and public relations consultant to

strengthen our ability to put a well-crafted and coherent presentation of our offer to potential

visitors. This gives us strength from a consistent social media presence, relevant and appealing

copy for the website, and an overall communications strategy.

Visit Clare: Business Plan p13

6. Finance and Governance

6.1 Governance

6.1.1 Visit Clare will be established as a not-for-profit incorporated body. A formal constitution

will be adopted, trustees appointed and a bank account opened, requiring 2 signatories to all

payments. This confirms the commitment of participants to operate the business of promoting

Clare and its hinterland in a business-like manner and publicly asserts the intention to carry out

the work solely for the benefit of the designated area and its tourism-related businesses.

6.1.2 The constituent trustees are listed in Appendix A. Once the initial group has met, the

constitution will be ratified before the application is sent to the Charity Commission. The

trustees may invite others to join and decide to adjust the balance to better reflect the needs of

the area, such as the accommodation and hospitality sector.

6.1.3 CIO status makes the rules and finances of the organisation a public matter and invokes

regulatory compliance for the association and its trustees. It facilitates procurement and

contracting, and making it easier for public bodies and grant giving organisations to support the

organisation.

6.2 Sources of Finance

6.2.1 A major source of potential finance remains the funding for Rural Development under the

LEADER programme. We have been assured that the funding for the programme remains

committed despite the intention of the UK to leave the EU. It remains our ambition to access this

funding for up to £30,000. Following talks with a LEADER facilitator, a preliminary application

will be prepared by autumn 2017 for expenditure over a two-to-three year period encompassing:

• a research activity to determine base tourism data for the region

• employment of a professional PR agency

• an advertising and promotional programme

• a series of events to generate publicity for the region

• development of a signage programme to promote the brand

• elements from the potential targets list (see 7 below)

6.2.2 Provided Visit Clare’s activities can be seen to be effective it is envisaged that a continuing

membership base of the community and businesses may provide an income as a base to pay for

the routine administration activities of the WTA which will include such things as:

• management of the web site: visit-clare.co.uk

• social media programme/news blog

• liaison with Visit Suffolk, Visit East Anglia & Bury St Edmunds and Beyond

• Updating events programme

• Responding to contact requests from the web site and the media

• Book-keeping and accounts

6.3 The activities of Visit Clare will rely heavily on the volunteers who will form the CIO, and the

many others whose expertise and efforts will be sought. It will be an ongoing task to motivate

Visit Clare: Business Plan p14

such people and assist them to manage a workload that will rise and fall with the demands placed

on it. This will be an abiding concern with respect to the sustainability of the project.

6.4 Social Responsibility

Our core objective is reputation and publicity – which will deliver our ambition for increased

visitor numbers. Local people are already concerned about visitor economy related issues such as

traffic flow and parking, so we take very seriously the need to bear these concerns in mind while

working with each of the communities supporting our plans to attract more people to Clare, and

have them stay longer.

1813 cast iron bridge on the New Cut in Clare

7. Potential targets for funding

This is not an exhaustive list as issues and priorities may change over time. In virtually all cases,

there must be some evidence of legacy once a grant has been awarded, either in terms of

longevity or in terms of sustainability (the ability to support any on-going project beyond the

time-period of any grant). Maintenance is generally excluded from most awarding bodies. Every

target must demonstrate its relationship to the key aims of Visit Clare with clear evidence of

need. Matched funding may be required by some bodies; the time of volunteers is commonly

costed as part of this.

• marketing of Clare, brand, professional design, website delivery (SEO), professional

communications, apps and/or mobile-friendly websites

• design for merchandising, photography for new guide book

• new signage in town, re-painting of direction signs, new town map, new entry welcome

points (castellated white barriers) + brown signs

• LED illuminations on key locations

• badged flower planters

Visit Clare: Business Plan p15

• re-siting of telephone boxes as Tourist Information Points, wi-fi installation, repainting,

self-locking

• open wi-fi across town, wi-fi shelter

• launch event + annual re-appearances at local & county events

• pull-up posters

• lamppost banners/flags

• folding wheelchair ramps

• support for local & area events of any nature (vintage cars, music, arts, sport…….)

8. Conclusion

The potential exists to give tourism in Clare and its hinterland a substantial boost. The

competition for the tourism £ is ever increasing with DMO's being established in Bury, Ipswich and

the Heritage Coast. We must do what we can to support our rural ``economy and the many

excellent independent businesses within our local area. We believe that the team leading Visit

Clare has the experience and motivation to make a success of this project. By co-operating

together, we will present a more attractive short break and holiday opportunity and provide an

appropriate structure to widen the base of support.

Clare offers a unique experience for the discerning traveller. With some pump priming to get

the project started we have a wonderful opportunity to put Clare, its hinterland and the

associated Wool Towns on the world-wide tourism map.

Maltings Lane, Clare

Visit Clare: Business Plan p16

Appendix 1

Constituent trustees of proposed CIO Visit Clare

Clare Town Council (2)

Clare Business Association

Clare Castle Country Park Trust

Clare Ancient House Museum

Clare Churches

St Edmundsbury Borough Council

Clare Borough Councillor

Clare County Councillor

Visit Clare: Business Plan p17

Appendix 2