A very belated Happy New Year! We spent the holidays with family and had a much needed break so that we could come back to work in the new year refreshed. We hope you did too.

Reflecting on 2017 has been very rewarding. It was a year of unprecedented growth for us and ALS Marketing is bigger and better than ever! We took on several new clients and many projects. We work with so many wonderful businesses and have received some lovely feedback and testimonials from them recently, continuing to build on our reputation for quality and attention to detail. 

In 2017 we also joined the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean Tourism Association and are thrilled to be a part of the promotion of this beautiful area in which we live and work. Many of our clients are based in this area, and our knowledge and passion for it really benefits us in promoting them. We really do love what we do!

2018 is already looking like being an excellent year for us. We started the year off with a bang and the launch of our new website for Way2Go Adventures. We are currently building 4 websites, managing over 30 social media accounts, writing 8 blog posts, creating 3 newsletters, planning 2 events and doing so much more than ever before, and we are loving it!

We hope that 2018 is a productive year for you and your business. One of our favourite mottos of the moment is 'You get out of life what you put in' and we wholeheartedly agree. We hope that our love for what we do comes across in our work.

Our new website for Way2Go Adventures is now live! See it here.

Way2Go Adventures are an outdoor adventure company who run activities across the Forest of Dean, Wye Valley, Brecon Beacons and beyond. They wanted a site which was easy for customers to navigate, worked properly on all devices and which promoted their wide range of services without looking cluttered.

The new site has a modern, full-width design, is mobile optimised and fully responsive and features brand new copy optimised for search engines including information on all of their new activities, retreats and excursions. It is also built on a Content Management System which makes it easy for them to manage.

We're sure 2018 is going to be a fantastic year for them and we look forward to going kayaking with them in the summer too! 🛶

Thanks to our great team at ALS Marketing for working so hard on this in the lead up to Christmas. We hope you agree that they did an excellent job!

Our new website for Edale House B&B is now live!

With a fully responsive, modern design optimised for tablets and mobiles, brand new photography and detailed copy, we're sure this website will serve them well and bring them many new customers.

Edale House B&B provides elegant 4 star accommodation in the heart of the stunning Forest of Dean. A stylish Georgian style house, it has been comfortably restored to provide six bedrooms, a large guest lounge, breakfast room, welcoming entrance hall and well kept gardens.

With the Forest of Dean on their doorstep, all major attractions are within easy reach. If you're looking for a holiday in the Forest of Dean, Edale House B&B is an ideal location to relax and enjoy exploring this stunning area.

See the website at: ​http://www.edalehouse.co.uk/

Did you know that you can now post to Instagram from outside of the mobile app? This is big news! This function was originally intended only to be used through the mobile site, without having to download the app, but through a clever trick you can now do the same via desktop. This makes things so much easier. We hope eventually Instagram makes this a permanent function of the site, as uploading via desktop, just as you can do with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and many other platforms makes the whole process a lot simpler for those who manage multiple accounts like us!

Instructions to upload to Instagram via desktop:

How this works depends on the browser you use, but for Google Chrome: go to www.instagram.com and press F12 to bring up the developer tools. This shows you the site's code either at the bottom of your screen or on the right hand side. There's an icon to the top left which looks like a mobile in front of a tablet, which says 'Toggle Device Toolbar' when you hover over it - click on that and you'll see the mobile version of the website, as shown in the image below. You will then be able to click on the camera icon and upload directly to your Instagram account from your desktop. Brilliant. Unfortunately this does not work for all browsers, but Google Chrome is by far the most popular browser out there so at least this work around works there.

You can follow us on Instagram and see our recent photos and videos here: https://www.instagram.com/alsmarketingglos/

We have just been announced as finalists in the 2017 Gloucestershire Women of the Year Awards!

Absolutely chuffed to bits...

Where has the time gone! This time last year we were looking forward to seeing what the new year brought us. Little could we have known that 2016 was going to be such a wonderful year.

Winning Young Business of the Year was the defining moment of course. It was a huge achievement and one we are very proud of. It gave us recognition for our work and allowed us to take stock of our achievements, look back at what led to that moment, but also to look forward with a new focus and drive.

We've taken on many new clients throughout 2016, but also held on to all of our original clients, which is wonderful. We carry out such a variety of work that every day is different at ALS Marketing HQ, and 2016 has been incredibly varied. Some of the highlights include creating the new website for Hidden Valley Yurts, the launch of the Vale Community Hospital Allotment Scheme and the 30th anniversary celebrations at the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail which included Rainbow Forest. We love what we do and love working for all our clients and seeing their businesses grow.

Given what an incredible year 2016 was for us, we can only wonder what 2017 will bring!

A very Happy New Year to you all. Make it a good one.

This month has been all about next year! We've been producing 2017 marketing tools such as this wall planner which will provide our client with a great gift for their customers whilst also serving as a great advertisement for their services.

Wall planners, calendars, diaries and stationery are all marketing items which stay in front of people for much longer than a single advert. Branded with your logo, name and any other content required, your business will stay in your customer's mind with personalised products which they can use year-round. Plus other people will see them too!
​
Practical, useful and attractive, whether it be a calendar, pen, torch, bag, bookmark, placemat, notepad or anything else, any item can be personalised with your company's branding at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising.

We've especially loved creating personalised Christmas cards for our clients this year. The cards are unique, personal and memorable, in comparison to the tired bulk bought cards most people send out. Plus they are such fun to create!

Wishing all our clients a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year :)

We've worked on hundreds of books over the years, it's something we especially love doing. We've worked with publishers and authors on all genres, and generated coverage in all media.

A recent title we've worked on is "The Wordsmith’s Guide to English Song: Poetry, Music and Imagination" written by Nicola Harrison and published by Compton. We've achieved some fantastic press coverage for them with some lovely big articles and great reviews. A few are attached below for you to see.

The full list of the press coverage so far achieved is*:

'The Beauty of the Verse, Celebrating Ivor Gurney's 126th Birthday'
West Country Life Magazine: 27-28th August 2016

'The Healing Notes of Nature: The Songs of Ivor Gurney, a Composer Scarred by War'
Resurgence and Ecologist Magazine: Issue 298, September/October 2016

'Song Cannot Live Without Words' (online article here).
"In all, The Wordsmith’s Guide is an invitation to think differently about the way we approach the singing of English song, to offer a widening understanding of the repertoire and a deeper exploration of the text."
Classical Music Magazine: September 2016

Review: "Worthy appraisal of true Cotswold cultural genius."
Cotswold Life Magazine: September 2016

'A Master of His Craft: The Life of Roger Quilter'
The Sussex Argus, 5th October 2016

'Go Lovely Rose: the Songs of Roger Quilter'.
"The last verse closes with a fading echo of the first, both poetically and musically, underpinning the poet’s fine argument about love, beauty, and the passage of time."
The British Music Society Journal: Volume 38, October 2016

Review by Roddy Dunnett: "A highly perceptive, thoughtful book... discerning in the way it explores the background to each author and poem text Gurney sets... [The author] leads us through well-sculpted biography, and often excellent and insightful analysis of the poetry."
The Ivor Gurney Society Newsletter, Volume 60, October 2016

'From the Severn to the Somme: Exploring the Poetry and Music of Ivor Gurney'.
"Gurney adored the hills and plains of Gloucestershire: its trees, its stretching fields on the slant, twisting hedgerows, huge skies and scurrying clouds. When in France it was this glorious English landscape that he held brightly in his imagination: it was his refuge and his salvation."
Cotswold Life Magazine: 3-page article, November 2016

Feature and review
British Association for Victorian Studies, November 2016

'A Brief History of the English Rose' (online article here).
BBC History Magazine, December 2016

Review: "Gives us an insight into the life and working practice of Quilter, as well as the meaning of the lyrics and their symbolism."
Caring for Sussex Magazine, December 2016

Review: "Harrison's minute annotation of the poems selected by Quilter adds greatly to our appreciation. This is a worthwhile tribute to a talent not sung nearly enough."
Sussex Life Magazine, February 2017

Review: "These two volumes represent a real labour of love, and one can only thank Nicola for sharing her enthusiasm and expert knowledge in this accessible and interesting form."
Singing Magazine, the magazine of The Association of Teachers of Singing, issue 71, 2017.
​
Review pending
Musical Opinion Magazine, Spring 2017

*Updated to reflect new coverage.

We loved being involved with this fantastic event on the Sculpture Trail this summer. It was a very unique, special and every enjoyable event! Here is the blog post we created for them which you will find on their website here.

​On Wednesday 24th August 2016, we held a one-off pop up art event on the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail. Rainbow Forest was commissioned as part of the Trail’s 30th anniversary celebrations this year. We used an eco-friendly, natural paint to cover hundreds of branches and sticks in bright colours and then invited the public to demonstrate their creative skills.

People of all ages joined in to create a colourful new landscape together. There was great team work and sharing, friends were made, skills were learnt and it was a lot of fun.

There was a huge mix of wonderful, inventive structures made, with big dens and miniature dens, hideouts, tipis and even one giant den with its own bed and kitchen! The final results were vivid and striking, contrasting wonderfully with the natural woodland landscape and the forest was thoroughly transformed into a multi-coloured pop up playground.

Rainbow Forest was inspired by the many dens which have appeared along the Sculpture Trail over the years. Children and families love building improvised dens and structures using debris and tree branches that sit around the forest, and you can’t go far without seeing one.

Rather than ignore all this guerrilla sculpture making, we were inspired by it and decided to create this special one-off event based on the inventive and striking den-making we saw around us.

Rainbow Forest was also influenced by new sculpture “Yaşasin” by Pomona Zipser which was installed on the Trail in July.

The eco-paint was from Earthborn Paints and was clay based. Claypaint provided a completely safe, eco-friendly paint suitable for families and children to handle. Find out more about why we chose this paint here: www.earthbornpaints.co.uk/blog/rainbow-den-making-at-the-forest-of-dean-sculpture-trail

Watch our lovely video of the day here:

​We were delighted to be nominated and chuffed to be finalists but completely thrilled to be winners!

At a ceremony held at The Old Lodge in Minchinhampton on 14th July 2016 we were named Young Business of the Year 2016 at the Stroud Life Business Awards.

We would like to thank everyone involved, the panel who chose us out of all the finalists, all of the Stroud Life team, SGS who sponsored this award and all our wonderful clients without whom we would be nowhere. It's been an incredible 2016 already and we feel very positive about the future. How great to be able to call ourselves an award-winning marketing company now!!

We found out today that we are finalists in the Stroud Life Business Awards 2016!

The list has just been announced and we are in the running for Young Business of the Year. What a wonderful surprise to find that out today. We are absolutely chuffed to bits. The awards ceremony is in July and we can't wait!

Here's the complete list of finalists:
www.digital-thisis.co.uk/stroudlife/businessawards/finalists/

We've been so busy recently we've neglected our own blog. So here is a very short post to announce the new Google tool which allows users to check their site's optimisation and usability. Search Engines penalise sites which are not optimised and have errors, so it is imperative that your website is up to scratch.

Not only do you get a result, with the new tool you now get a score out of 100 where before you simply got a yes/no.

This makes it incredibly useful for anyone looking to improve their site and any designers wondering where to start.

​Are you on Twitter? Do you want to improve your Twitter profile? Or do you want to get started but don't know how?

Here's some simple advice to get you started:

Every author needs a publicist. That is, if you actually want to sell any copies of your book. Publishing is 10% writing and 90% marketing (or it should be). With a professional publishing company who publish your book for free you will get their marketing services included (which could mean in house or outsourced to the likes of us). The quality and quantity varies, but at least you will get some (it's always worth asking how much, since many indie publishers will spend little time marketing each book). With self-publishing you get zero. So you need to figure out how your book is going to get into people's hands yourself.

People self-publish for many reasons, and many are satisfied with seeing their book in print and having their own copies. But the majority publish to sell, and that is where marketing comes in. We've worked with lots of publishers and authors over the years, and cannot overemphasise the importance of professional book marketing. No matter your budget, if you want your book to sell, you need to factor in the cost of at least a bit of marketing. Some authors are happy to do the work themselves, they learn as they go. But it will take years to do what a professional can do straight away.

Marketing gets your book noticed, builds awareness, creates opportunities, builds your brand, allows you to develop your sales pitch, and defines you as an expert in your field, giving you credibility and authority. Of course, marketing begins with the product. A professional cover design, title, book description and blurb are all vital to the success of the book, and yet unfortunately are often overlooked (especially by self-publishers). Having a good product to begin with is crucial too!

Some of the key services we provide for authors, which together form a comprehensive marketing campaign for any book, are:
An author website
Social Media accounts
Publicity/press coverage
Reviews
Online listings
Newsletters
Author blog
Book launch/signings/events
Author profile on Amazon
Blog tours
Editorial
Promotions
Videos

Each of these is effective in their own way. Often we are asked which are more important, given that most people cannot afford to do everything. The problem is that each book marketing tool is independent and will reach different people. A website would be a good starting point, and publicity has the potential to reach a huge number of people. Those are usually the basics of any book marketing campaign, but even they are still really only scratching the surface.

Key factors to remember:

Start early: 
Build interest, collect email addresses and contacts, talk about your experiences on your blog and on social media, and most importantly contact magazines as early as possible. Most magazines (and many other publications and reviewers) have long lead times and want their information to be relevant and up-to-date. Telling them your book has just been published is too late! To give your book the biggest advantage you need to have a proofed manuscript with all bibliographic data confirmed six months ahead of publication, and printed copies four months ahead.

Get to know your market:
What are the relevant media outlets for your book? Of course, this used to mean only magazines and newspapers, radio programmes and the like. These days, it means anyone with an audience. Blogs, podcasts, YouTube, review sites, online news sites, Facebook pages, Facebook groups, Facebook videos... the possibilities are endless. A breakdown of the types of media outlets available (all of which we have excellent relationships with) include:
Press Agencies
Newspapers
Magazines
Specialist publications
Society newsletters/Journals
Websites
Review sites
Blogs
Social Media
Radio
TV

Put yourself in the journalist's shoes:
Why would their readers want to hear about you/your book? What key points can you make to attract their attention? Can you find a particular journalist with an interest in your book's subject matter? Media relations take time to build, and this is often where a professional publicist makes the most ground. Most journalists don't put their contact information online, so a professional will build a strong media contacts list and build a relationship with each contact.

Don't be a salesperson online:
Social Media is for conversations, not sales. Blogs are for information and commentary. People will soon get tired of you if all you do is advertise your book. This is one thing many new authors make the mistake of doing. You need to build relationships, produce engaging content for your followers, be interesting, informative and entertaining without being pushy or arrogant.

Get yourself out there:
A proactive author is a wonderful thing. If you're doing your own marketing, it helps if you actually enjoy the process. Get out there and meet your readers, give talks and signings, attend events and festivals. Speak to your local shops about stocking your book. The local connection is powerful. The more you can do, the better, even if you also take on the services of a marketing professional.

If you want your book to have a real chance of selling, you need to focus your attention on marketing early and remember those figures - publishing is 90% marketing, 10% writing! Get in contact if you would like to speak with us about what we can do for your book/publishing company.

Hidden Valley Yurts wanted a new website. Their old one was looking tired and cluttered, it was difficult to navigate and was generally uninviting. They wanted a site which was modern, attractive, customer-friendly and which better represented their business - a stunning glamping site in a peaceful valley in South Wales (and it really is stunning!).

We designed them a website which can now take online bookings, shows the availability for the entire site, and which showcases everything that their wonderful 80 acres of land and 5 unique yurts in their idyllic valley hold. It is easy to navigate, well laid out and the booking system couldn't be simpler. The site has been search engine optimised, it is responsive and mobile-friendly, functional and beautiful. We hope that they will be taking lots of bookings on their new site and that this year is better than ever for them.

Here it is: www.hiddenvalleyyurts.co.uk

They were so happy with their website from us that they even wrote us this lovely testimonial:

'Thanks to all at ALS Marketing for your enthusiasm and focus (and patience!) during the redevelopment of our website. The final site was way beyond our expectations, finished on time and at a very reasonable price. I would highly recommend the service you offer.'
~ Hidden Valley Yurts

We often get asked about advertising, not just whether we can organise some for our clients, but what we think about the various options available these days. It used to be a lot simpler: magazine or newspaper, maybe radio, posters, that was it. These days there's Pay Per Click (PPC), Pay Per View (PPV), Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Banner, YouTube, Google AdWords...

It's a bit of a minefield if you don't know what you're doing, and you could end up wasting a hell of a lot of money with no return on investment (ROI). There are risks involved with spending money on any advertising of course. Are people going to see the ad? Are the right people going to see it? Are they going to do anything about it once they've seen it? Targeting your marketing is essential, especially since we are all so bombarded with adverts these days. Reach the right people in the right place at the right time, and your advertising campaign could pay off spectacularly.

Facebook advertising used to be simple and generated great results. These days it has come under fire with accusations of false follows and fake clicks. One client had spent several hundred pounds on Facebook advertising, and had many thousands of followers (yay! you might say, how wonderful), but most of the time had little interaction, zero post likes, shares or comments. Then he had a look at his Insights, that oh so informative and useful tool which Facebook provides for page owners, and found out that most of his followers were from Asia! Mostly India and Pakistan, even though his company was in the UK and only served the UK market. It was at that point that he contacted us and asked for help, because his investment had left with him zero return and he didn't know why or where to go from there.

A successful advertising campaign must have a target market. That should be your first consideration when you are thinking about spending money to get your business in front of people. There is no point advertising in the wrong place, and generally speaking advertising to the masses is a waste unless you have unlimited funds. Focus on your niche, get to know your current customers. If you understand your customers well then you will know where to advertise, but it's surprising how little many businesses actually know. What do your customers read, where do they shop, where do they spend their time, what are their ages, gender etc.  If you're stumped, get to know your competitors. What are they doing which is making them so successful? 

If you have a small budget, a great place to start is Google AdWords. Just take a look at these figures:

• 1.17 billion people use the Google search engine every month (source).
• There are over 100 billion searches carried out on Google every month (source).
• More than half of Google searches are now mobile (source).
• 65% of all online searches are on Google (source).
• 80% of search results now contain AdWords ad placements (source).
• Google is believed to have more than 4 million active advertisers (though they don’t openly discuss this figure).

In comparison:

• Facebook has 3 million active advertisers.
• Twitter has 130,000 active advertisers.
• Instagram recently announced they’ve hit 200,000 advertisers (owned by Facebook, it was only ever going to get bigger!) (source).

Google AdWords is simple to set up, can be tailored to your target market and you can easily manage your budget so that you don't spend more than you want. So what are you waiting for? If you don't know where to begin, drop us a message and we can set this up for you, manage your advertising campaign and give you comprehensive data which will better serve you in the future.

Facebook has been the undisputed 'king of social' ever since it launched in 2004. Take a look at last year's growth figures and you'll be astounded at just how big its reach really is.

Daily active users (DAUs) reached 1.04 billion on average for December 2015, an increase of 17% year-over-year. An even bigger increase was seen in active mobile users. Mobile DAUs were 934 million on average for December 2015, an increase of 25% year-over-year. That's over 90% of all Facebook users!

Similarly, Monthly active users (MAUs) reached 1.59 billion in December 2015, an increase of 14% year-over-year. Again a huge percentage of those were mobile users - 1.44 billion, an increase of 21% year-over-year.

'2015 was a great year for Facebook. Our community continued to grow and our business is thriving,' said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. 'We continue to invest in better serving our community, building our business, and connecting the world.' Take a look at their report here.

While those figures are pretty incredible, the real jaw-dropping happens when you look at Facebook's annual turnover. Revenue for 2015 was $17.93 billion... yes you read that correctly, that's $17,928,000,000 (or approximately £12,400,000,000). Phew, that's a lot of zeros! Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 80% of that, up from 69% in 2014. 

Zuckerberg also announced recently that Facebook users are now watching over 100 million hours of video per day. Should YouTube be worried? Unlikely, since most of the videos are links to YouTube videos in any case!

Is there any end to Facebook's dominance of the social media market? Many new networks have come and gone, but some have stood the test of time (and some like Google+ still haven't even started!). Yet even the likes of Twitter, which has 320 million MAUs, isn't happy with its own platform. Recent changes have included dropping the 'favourite' in favour of the Facebook-aligned 'like' button. Rumours abound that it will soon be dropping its 140-character limit too. Everyone it seems wants in on the Facebook magic.

The conclusion? Facebook isn't going anywhere! Last week Mark Zuckerberg announced his objective to reach 5 billion Facebook users by 2030. Will it happen? If he says he can do it, we certainly believe he can!

Do you start each year thinking 'this year will be different', 'this year I will turn my life around' only to revert back to your old habits and feel guilty? Make 2016 the year you make those changes for good. Motivational speaker and life coach Odille Rault is holding a special one-day course in Cheltenham this January.

​Learn how to take control of all areas of your life, and make 2016 the year you want it to be. Rather than hoping 2016 will be better than 2015, you can develop the skills that will give you the power to make it exactly what you want it to be. No more living in reaction to the world around you; no more being at the mercy of physical ailments, unhealthy habits, difficult people, limiting circumstances, and restrictive fears and phobias; no more fighting lack of motivation or creativity; no more New Year's resolutions you can't keep - on Sunday the 24th January you will be given the keys to get into the driver's seat of your own life! 

Odille Rault is an empowerment coach specialising in Emotional State Management and self-love. She is also the author of "Beyond the Magic Pill" and "You Have a Superpower". Her latest course has combined the best of several techniques to train her clients in simple skills that put them firmly in control of their own lives. Odille's clear explanations include analogies that make the material very easy to understand; and her compassion, ability to connect with her clients, and sense of humour combine to help her clients feel safe, supported and empowered - with a good dose of laughter and fun thrown in.

Held at the Isbourne Holistic Centre in Cheltenham on Sunday 24th January, you can buy tickets here.

Read Odille's recent blog post entitled 'Why You Keep Breaking Your New Year’s Resolutions' here.

If you run a small business, you’re probably busy enough without having to think about setting yourself up on social media. But understanding the benefits you can gain should make you realise how important social media is.

Getting your business and your message into the public domain is essential, and social media is the perfect platform to do this. Having active social media accounts provides a unique opportunity to connect with your customers on a familiar level. They also allow you to:

• Spread the word about your business and enhance your brand awareness.
• Engage with your customers in a way no other platforms allow.
• Have a public presence which is easily accessible and readily seen by millions.
• Update and inform your customers on news, changes, events and promotions. Repeat custom is big business too!
• Send potential and existing customers to your website.
• Lead trends, show authority and knowledge in your field and endorse your company.
• Monitor and control public opinion: you can manage your online presence and your reputation.
• Become part of a social media community: support and be supported by other businesses.
• Run advertising campaigns targeting key users with relevant interests.
• Run promotions and competitions which require sharing, thus ensuring you are seen by even more people.
• Show up more in search engine results – not only for your company but for targeted searches. 
• Learn from your customers, see what works, and what information is of most interest.
• Use the data from your social media accounts to analyse your business and improve it.

Your competitors could already be on social media, and since brand awareness and identity has never been more crucial, you need to be on there too, otherwise you are losing out. Many customers will judge you based on your online presence. Having an outdated website, poor social media accounts or having none at all, will leave them wondering whether you are a good business to invest their money in.

With instant internet access on smart phones and tablets, never has it been more important to have an active online presence. To really succeed at social media, you need to use your accounts regularly and update them continuously to build strong customer relationships. Social media relies on regular activity and interaction to survive. With Facebook, interaction is essential or it will stop letting your followers see your posts!

Businesses which invest time in building their online presence will secure a sustainable competitive advantage. In our fast-moving, cross-channel world, it’s essential to be proactive and resourceful. Having active social media accounts with informative, professional profiles and posts shows your customers that you are a conscientious, forward-thinking, popular business.

The internet is a huge collective knowledge base, an interactive world of possibilities, and whether you choose to be a part of it or not is up to you.

Need assistance with setting up or managing your social media presence? Get in contact!

Autumn is a beautiful season. It was a warm, dry September and the autumn colours were stunning here in Gloucestershire.

October saw the sculpture Place felled and removed from the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail. According to the artist Magdalena Jetelova’s wishes a charcoal clamp was made and the wood turned into charcoal which was given out to children, students and artists who then created further artworks from it.

Affectionately known as the Giant’s Chair, Place was installed in 1986 and was originally only intended to last a short time before being set on fire. Instead the artwork remained on its hilltop position for 29 years and captivated millions of visitors from all over the world. It was quite a moving day seeing it go up in flames!

This is the video which we have been working on with The Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail. Place, a sculpture which was commissioned and installed in 1986, was deemed unsafe and in need of removal. It was only ever intended to stay in the forest for one year, but it was so loved that the Trust who run the Trail and the Forestry Commission have battled to let it stay. It was finally felled today, Tuesday 20th October 2015, 29 years after it was installed. 

This film features stunning aerial photography of the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail as you’ve never seen it before, interviews, the history of the piece and the plans for its future.

Please connect with the The Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail on Facebook and Twitter to follow updates.

​A collection of photos from recent months celebrating autumn in Gloucestershire. The cygnets are almost fully grown, the leaves are changing colour and the nights are getting shorter. 

Ruskin Mill College near Nailsworth is looking colourful, a great place for a relaxing walk. Rodborough Fort is quite stunning, both the building itself and the views over Stroud. I really love this county, there are so many spectacular things to see and places to go. 

This blog has ended up being half about marketing and half about me sharing my love of Gloucestershire!

I love going back to Wyndcliffe. I was lucky enough to be a part of the team who launched this business. Now in its third year, it's still as beautiful as ever and the cake just as delicious!