Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire

A 12th Century Norman Castle and surrounding 6,000 acre historic Estate originally built by and still owned by the Berkeley Family.

Responsible for all marketing & PR, brand development, advertising, websites, events, media work, business development venue hire and retail outlets.

One of my main projects was to successfully rebrand Berkeley Castle as a venue for events, functions and filming. We worked with the BBC and Halo Films to produce fly on the wall documentaries that increased awareness and visitor numbers.

A great deal of work was carried out in promoting the venue to the Group Travel industry and pushing the Castle hard as a wedding venue.

Other initiatives included revamping the website, introducing Ghost Tourism, establishing partnerships with The Edward Jenner Museum, Cattle Country, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge and several consortia covering the Cotswolds and Gloucestershire.

Spetchley Park Gardens, Worcestershire

The famous Gardens are on the historic Spetchley Estate owned by the Berkeley Family since 1606.

Responsible for all marketing & PR, brand development, advertising, websites, events, media work, business development venue hire and retail outlets.

The profile of Spetchley was raised considerably through strong partnerships with the local district councils, local businesses and various local consortia, as well as establishing links with the Battle of Worcester Society and The Elgar Birthplace Museum, where a joint marketing initiative was started for Groups.

Established Spetchley as a wedding and marquee venue, as well as a introducing a new mobile retail outlet. 

The Edward Jenner Museum, Gloucestershire

In conjunction with the Museum, we improved joint marketing for Groups with local attractions and consortia, increased the online presence, improved Joint Ticketing strategies with specific print materials and a media campaign promoting the Museum.

The latest contract was fundraising for the museum and garden, plus rebranding and promoting the Old Cyder House conference centre.

Ffestiniog Railway & Welsh Highland Railway, North Wales

This is the world famous preserved narrow gauge railway running through Snowdonia and the Welsh Highland Railway from Caernarfon to Porthmadog.

My work involved community liaison, business to business, media, marketing, PR, product development, product diversification and brand building.

The railway had a pub, three shops and two cafes to promote plus the largest engineering works in North Wales which carried out non railway contract work for external bodies.

I developed strategic alliances with local businesses and created sponsorship deals, one resulted in the repainting and branding of a steam locomotive.

I created and introduced new events to widen the organisation's appeal and was credited with changing the perception of the railway, from being a "train spotter's toy" to being accepted as an integral and necessary part of the region's economic development.

Welsh Highland Railway Construction Ltd, North Wales

This was the construction company rebuilding the Welsh Highland Railway.

I assisted in a £10 million grant bid (achieved), did community liaison work, PR and marketing/business advice.

During my time there, I represented the company in a large number of meetings with both private and public stakeholders, as well as handling the press over construction issues.

100% Caernarfon Ltd, North Wales

A regeneration company that was created to improve the Royal Town of Caernarfon and the surrounding area through high profile events and grant funding. A number of events were put on through successful grant application, designed to boost the economy and create awareness.

Gloucestershire & Warwickshire Steam Railway

Copper Phoenix was asked to conduct a mystery shopper investigation and write a report on the findings, providing recommendations and suggested improvements to the visitor experience.

Court Barn Museum, Chipping Campden

The Arts and Crafts Museum, Court Barn, asked Copper Phoenix for advice on marketing, publicity and PR. Court Barn was provided with an outline Marketing and PR Plan for the Museum to use.