Largs and Millport Weekly News - Geraldo's
Jacqueline McArther - Economic Development Officer
To Whom It May Concern
John Cowan
As an employee of Falkirk Council’s Strategic Projects team, I have worked closely with John Cowan fairly regularly since 2009 on our Retailer Support Programme in his capacity as Retail Consultant and recently as an integral member of our partnership with West Lothian Skillsmart.
John has proved to be a vital member of this support team and has provided invaluable expertise and knowledge of the retail sector in the form of trading advice and training to many of our SME’s across the Falkirk area. This work has involved John visiting local towns to establish and resolve barriers to trading in the wider town centre context and directly with local businesses.
John has proved to be highly professional in his area of work and has shown outstanding commitment to local businesses throughout his employment. He is a highly respected and valued individual with outstanding drive and enthusiasm – all the qualities required for this very challenging area of work.
He has established, designed and delivered a comprehensive Retailer Toolkit and training which has proved invaluable to hundreds of retailers in the area. His current work with us is on delivery of the Mary Portas guide to successful retailing which is an ongoing activity across the area.
I would have no hesitation in recommending John.
Sheena hinks & Graham Monaghan - Tolbooth Miniatures Ltd
We have been meaning to contact you for a number of weeks, only we have been extremely busy after our success from our Scottish Miniatures press and TV coverage. Orders have been amazing, giving us a number of different platforms to take our business forward. Our latest venture has been exhibiting in the departures lounge at Glasgow Airport as part of their Best of Scotland Event.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for letting us take part in your Guide to Successful Retailing workshops hosted by John Cowan. The course was inspiring and well presented keeping our interest at all times. It’s easy to think that you have all the answers after being in retailing for several years, but when you get inspiration from someone like John it is amazing the results that you can achieve in such a short space of time. It has made us revaluate our business and our way forward. This does however mean a whole lot of work for us over the coming months. We have found ourselves in the position that we have out grown our current premises, due to our increased work load and the need for workshop space as well as retail.
Opportunities come along, however when you have the correct mind set what a difference came be achieved going that little bit further. John has most definitely had an influence in our recent success with the way that we now embrace our opportunities. All we have to do now is work on our growth plans. We are looking at extending our Scottish miniatures into the tourism market after the success we have had internationally. A lot of work ahead, setting up, moving shop and marketing. Is there any funding available which could help us with our future plans?
We had a catch up with John at the end of last week. He mentioned your interest in doing an article on our business in your magazine. We would be delighted to help in any way we can.
Look forward to hearing from you
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