InLoco streamlined and eyeing growth following SSG programme
"The programme not only allowed us in-depth business advice but also access to grant support which will form a huge part of our strategy planning and gives real optimism..."
An events company in Nuneaton is poised to bounce back from a devastating year for the hospitality sector thank to guidance from experts from Warwickshire County Council's Survive, Sustain and Grow programme.
InLoco Events Ltd, a venue-finding service based at Eliot Park Innovation Centre in Nuneaton, was founded seven years ago to cater for the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) sector. The company has since evolved to look after associations, host awards dinners and more recently incorporate InLoco Golf Events, catering for the corporate market and group golf travel.
Then came Covid-19 with its decimation of the hospitality, meetings and events industries. While golf has seen a relative rise in trade since the end of the first lockdown, this was mainly in club membership and visitor numbers. Group golf travel has been limited with many restrictions on travel and group size and the advent of the tier system.
Instead of 2020 being InLoco's most successful year, as forecast, it has turned out to be extremely difficult with much time spent rearranging or cancelling business - but, at the same time, planning for the future has also never been more important.
With larger meetings, conferences and trade shows hopefully able to resume next year and domestic golf travel market due to see growth from March 2021, a strategy to maximise those opportunities is vital. So InLoco engaged with the Survive, Sustain and Grow programme.
InLoco director David Tremmill said: "The programme not only allowed us in-depth business advice but also access to grant support which will form a huge part of our strategy planning and gives real optimism that 2021 will get us back on an even keel with growth forecast in the next three years.
"The grant will be utilised to update both our websites, transforming them from flat-level information pages to modern and interactive websites. This will mean we fully engage with existing and potential customers and provide the level of online support expected, in addition to what we provide as a team. Following the launch of these websites we will implement a new brand awareness and marketing campaign.
“The advice, help and support received from the team at Warwickshire County Council has been invaluable and made the process of applying for the grant a lot more manageable. The guidance and knowledge provided by lead consultant Jagdish Soor and sector specialist Steph Winter really allowed us to focus on what would help our business most to grow into the future."
Steph Winter, WCC specialist consultant said: “It was a pleasure to work with Inloco. They were very keen to re-evaluate how the business traditionally engaged with their customers. Together we came up with a new digital strategy to create online user experience and sales processes and generally streamline the business.”
Duncan Haldane, Business Centres Strategic Manager for Warwickshire County Council, said: "The intervention of the Warwickshire County Council's Survive, Sustain and Grow programme was very timely in assisting InLoco Events plan through the COVID-19 crisis and has been an enabler to allow the business to remain as one of our valued tenants at Eliot Park Innovation Centre in Nuneaton."