Cotswold Collaborates 2014

The winning business will receive mentoring from Cotswold Fayre’s managing director, Paul Hargreaves, £1000 to help fund the company’s development, and the chance to strengthen their branding and packaging by working alongside a Cotswold Fayre designer.

The winner of last year’s inaugural initiative was Ben Nichols, founder of fruit smoothie company So Smoothies. Ben said, “Winning Cotswold Collaborates has been significant in taking my business to the next level. The advice and mentoring support from Paul Hargreaves at Cotswold Fayre, has been incredibly helpful and in the past few months I have learnt a lot from his expertise in the industry.

“When I applied for the scheme last year distribution was a huge problem for us due to the nature of the product, however Paul has helped me to improve this significantly in just a short period of time. Additionally, the cash award has been invested directly into new equipment for the business premises, helping to improve the efficiency of the manufacturing process.”

Paul Hargreaves said, “It has been incredibly rewarding to work with Ben since he won the Cotswold Collaborates initiative in September. His dedication to the business is a true testament to the high standard of young fine food entrepreneurs coming into the industry.

“We are very excited to run Cotswold Collaborates for a second year. The launch of the scheme saw a fantastic response from young fine food entrepreneurs and I am confident that the calibre of entries this year will be just as high.”

Applications will be accepted from 1st March to 30th June. The application form can be found at www.cotswoldfayre.co.uk