Franchise in Focus: Janine from Northumberland

Introduce yourself, name, age, which region/ venues you cover... 

My Name is Janine Robinson, I am 29 years old and cover North Northumberland. This includes Doxford Hall, Eshott Hall, Ellingham Hall, Longhirst Hall, Linden Hall, Woodhill Hall, The Alnwick Garden and Castle, Guyzance Hall, Newton Hall and many more….

What is your background?

My background is in Renewable Energy events, where as PA to David Still CBE, I organised and attended exhibitions and high profile events as well as managing the National Renewable Energy Centre’s conference centre prior to that.

Why did you take a franchise with Simply Bows?

I worked with Simply Bows and Chair Covers on a part time basis dressing weddings and events in my spare time. When the opportunity came up to become a franchisee I jumped at the chance of becoming part of this excellent team and well-known brand.

Why do you love working for yourself?

The main reason I love working for myself is it gives me the flexibility to spend time with my 2 year old daughter Halle.

Why do you love being a Simply Bows franchisee?

Being part of someone’s wedding is very special and helping them create the look they want for their day is very rewarding. It’s great to walk away from a venue knowing you have made such a difference.

Which "look" that you can create is your favourite and why?

I love using the ruffles and chair veils, they create something totally different and unique.

If you could dress a celebrity wedding - whose would you choose and why? 

Jared Leto – he’s my dream man!

Any really memorable weddings that you have dressed? 

The first wedding I dressed in the ivory ruffles because they looked so lovely!

How would your friends describe you in three words?

Thoughtful, Funny, Caring – From the horses mouths, honestly I asked them! ;)

Are you married?  How did you dress your own wedding?

I am married. My husband Lee and I were married at Matfen Hall on 22^nd August 2009. We had a burnt orange and chocolate brown colour scheme with Orange organza bows.

Why choose SImply Bows over another linen provider?

Our quality speaks for itself and our customer service is second to none, regardless as to the area you are in. Our business is multi award winning, and I bet there aren’t many others that can say that.

How can Simply Bows blog readers get in touch with you?

Email me on janine@simplybowsandchaircovers.co.uk or telephone 07581 707539

Simply Celebrate: Simply Bows and Chair Covers celebrate 3 years of fabulous event dressing!

We cannot believe that Simply Bows and Chair Covers is celebrating it's 3rd birthday.... so much has happened in these three years and so much is yet still to come we're sure! Lets take a little look back over this exciting three year journey......

In January 2009 Sarah Pittnedrigh, MD of Simply Bows and Chair Covers set up the business from her home in Durham after organising her brothers wedding and being incredibly disappointed with the level of quality and service given when arranging the Chair Covers. Sarah quickly realised that with her previous experience and skills combined with sourcing great quality fabrics and colour ranges and providing the utmost in reliability and professionalism she could indeed fill a gap in the market for brides who simply wanted more from their Chair Cover supplier.

Sarah Pittendrigh

Within the early months of trading we were thrilled to be asked to supply many of the premier wedding venues and given preferred supplier status in the North east of England.


Through continued growth and interest in the brand nationally Sarah decided to franchise the company as this was an ideal way to supply demand, maintaining quality and consistency as only individuals with vast wedding and event experience were considered in order to ensure only industry professionals joined the brand enhancing the company's experience and expertise further and breathing new life and ideas in to our exciting company. In November 2009 Simply Bows and Chair Covers became Simply Bows and Chair Covers Franchised Ltd. and the first franchisee joined the company; Lucinda Thompson, Sunderland and Teeside Area Director. Offices that followed were West Northumberland and Cumbria, South Northumberland and County Durham, North Northumberland, Newcastle, North Yorkshire, Harrogate, Lancashire.  We now have 10 offices stretching from Aberdeen to Devon with plans to open in London Mayfair within the next month.

Over the last three years we are honoured to have been nominated and shortlisted for some fabulous awards. Some we have been finalists for and some we have won, both regionally and nationally. It is a privalidge to be nominated for these awards as they are largely voted for by our wedding industry peers and our brides.

We are thrilled with our achievements over the past three years and have gained some amazing testimonials from our clients (which can be viewed on our website). Our website and blog are nationally renowned (our website came 2nd to McDonalds in the Franchise Marketing Awards) and attract visitors and therefore enquiries from all over the world. So after an exciting three years, who knows what the next three years will bring. All we can say is.... watch.. this...space!

Simply Pleased to Meet you: Claire Smith

Simply Bows ands Chair Covers are delighted to welcome Claire Smith to the team!

Claire Smith: Area Director of Aberdeen

Claire is 31 and will be managing the Aberdeen office of Simply Bows and Chair Covers. Claire orginally studied Land Economy at the University of Aberdeen and has been working as a Planning Consultant for the past 6 years. The planning of Claires own wedding coming up this November made Claire realise that her true passion is events so when the opportunity arose for her to join the Simply Bows and Chair Covers team it was a dream come true!

Claire is looking forward to joining us next month and cant wait to get started. "This opportunity will allow me to be in control of my own business and work in such a happy industry, which is great.  Simply Bows and Chair Covers is such a great product, which speaks for itself when brides are looking for those finishing touches for their big day" explained Claire.

Visit our blog in a few weeks time to see how Claire is getting on and have a unique insight into her first few events to see what fabulous ideas and inspiration Claire can bring to brides in Aberdeen.

Simply Weddings: Weekly Round Up

This week Simply Bows and Chair Covers will be heading out to dress more fabulous events and we can't wait to share all the photos with you next week. Don't forget to check back here each Wednesday for all the photo's of weddings and events dressed the previous week!

This week events include weddings at the breathtaking Rockliffe Hall, Redworth Hall, Castle Hill Doxford Hall, Woodhill Hall, Eshott Hall, Matfen Hall and Alnwick Gardens and a few dazzling Marquee Weddings and lets not forget that we are dressing Plate Day this week at Newcastle Racecourse in an array of colours and designs!

Not only are we dressing some great events this week but we are also interviewing for a number of new Franchisee's including Bath, Aberdeen and Manchester. To download our franchise brochure please click here.

For more information on any of the above venues or if you would like photographs of our range of work in these venues before the event pictures go live next Wednesday please do not hesitate to contact us via the Simply Bows and Chair Covers Contacts page.

Simply Pleased to Meet You, Charlotte Harris, Franchisee

Hello!

My name is Charlotte and I run the Newcastle office of Simply Bows and Chair Covers from my flat on the River Tyne.  My Mum, Jo Harris, also has a franchise being North Northumberland and we run both of these offices together as part of the family business.

I cover the Newcastle & North Tyneside area of the North East working with all the top venues from As You Like it, Jesmond Dene House and Newcastle Racecourse to name but a few.

I graduated from Loughborough University in 2006 having studied there for three years for my degree in Multi Media Textile Design.  After graduating I moved back to the North East working for Audi and then The Prince’s Trust as Event Manager.

My mum & I had used Simply Bows and Chair Covers for events that we had separately organized in our previous roles. The opportunity came up to buy the North Northumberland franchise and shortly after so did the Newcastle franchise. So we grabbed the opportunity to do something different incorporating our experience in the events industry as well as my design experience.

Loving it...

Being self-employed is fantastic and I have never looked back. It gives you the freedom to set your own goals & challenges and also the flexibility to choose your working pattern.

I also love how I can experiment with new fabrics and designs choosing what I think will sell to my clients. Simply Bows and Chair Covers has allowed me to go back to my creative side, which I love deeply but didn’t seem to have time to explore before. 

With the nature of our clients being predominately brides, I only ever get to deal with happy excited people who are a pleasure to work with.  Each client has a different idea and it is an honour to put all of these ideas together for them creating what a lot of brides have been dreaming about since they were a little girl!

Being part of a franchise means each Area Director has a support network around them and we all use each other’s strengths to build our businesses into a success.

My favourite!

I really love the flock-patterned fabric at the moment, I knew as soon as Mum & I saw the fabric in a warehouse, full of amazing designs that this was going to be popular. We have just increased our flock range so that we now have 5 different styles to choose from.

My favourite is the duck egg blue & antique gold flock runners, teamed up with a gold pin tuck taffeta runner underneath and the buttermilk linen. The textures work really well and give such an opulent look to any room.

 I wish...

This is going back many years but I would have loved to style the wedding reception of the marriage of Grace Kelly to Prince Rainer of Monaco. They met when she was the same age as me, but with the slight difference that she was and a movie star.  Their wedding took place on two ceremonies one on the 18^th April 1956 & the other more religious ceremony-taking place the day after, as is tradition in Monaco.  Her wedding dress was a gift from the MGM Studio designed by Helen Rose. The chef hair stylist at MGM Studios, Sydney Guilaroff, also styled her hair for her wedding.  St Nicholas Cathedral was decorated in white lilacs, hydrangeas, lilies and snapdragons and was called the wedding of the century. The wedding literally sounds like a fairy tale from a movie, which in some respects it was! With vintage being a key trend at the moment it would be fabulous to go back in time and work with the look that we now class as ‘vintage’, when it wasn’t so ‘vintage’! I wonder if she ever thought about chair covers?!

Memories...

All weddings are memorable in their own way, but often when you have had a lot to do with the look you feel very proud of how the bride’s ideas have become a reality and make already fabulous venues breath taking. 

One wedding that will stay in my memory was last summer and not long after I started with Simply Bows and Chair Covers. It was at the Grand Hotel in Tynemouth and the theme was orange which looked stunning.  When the bride stepped back into the  room she burst into tears over how amazing the room looked and because she didn’t realize it was going to be so perfect.  Moments like that really make you proud and show the hard work and attention to details really does pay off.

Party time!

We have dressed many charity balls such as the Evening Chronicle Sunshine Fund’s Sunflower Ball, and well established NE events such as Newcastle Racecourse’s Ladies Day & Northumberland Plate Day.  These are always fun and different to weddings. Often the clients want to theme the event around their corporate colours, which we have great fun in doing, making sure it matches just right and fits in with the company.

Simply the Best!

Simply Bows and Chair Covers provide a high quality service & products at affordable prices. We all dedicate our time and knowledge to ensure our clients always have the best & different products to choose from. We design and manufacture all of our linen in house so the client gets the best quality we can offer.

Although we are a franchise company, each area is lovingly run & owned by like-minded individuals, meaning you get the personal service as expected from a small business but the vast amount of choice expected from a large company.

Get in touch...

I am always contactable by either email charlotte@simplybowsandchaircovers.co.uk or phone 07595034990.

If you are getting married, organizing a party or corporate event in the Newcastle area & would like to make an appointment please do get in touch.