Croots Farm Shop in Derbyshire expands to open seven days a week

Award-winning Derbyshire farm shop Croots is expanding to open seven days a week as a result of customer demand.

The move has created three new jobs at the farm shop, which is based at Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road, near Duffield.

From May 5^th the farm shop will be opening its doors on Mondays, as well as the rest of the week. At the same time, the shop will be extending its Sunday opening hours and will be open from 9am to 5pm – giving customers extra time to shop at the store and visit Shires Eatery.

A BBQ will be held at Croots Farm Shop on May 5^th to mark the expansion, with special offers available in the store.

“Traditionally, since opening in June 2008, we have closed Croots on Mondays, but due to customer demand we’ve decided to open on Mondays in the future and to open longer on Sundays,” said owner Steve Croot.

“This is really good news for us, as it reflects our growing popularity, which is in turn a reflection of the increasing interest in good quality food with provenance. I’m also delighted that we’ve been able to provide more jobs for local people.”

The expansion has created one chef’s position, plus two additional shop assistant roles, which have now been filled. It will boost the Croots team to 24.

Croots Farm Shop sells products from more than 40 producers from within a 50-mile radius, as well as items from further afield. It is renowned for its high quality sausages and meat products which are made in house.

It has won a number of Great Taste Awards, which are regarded as the ‘Oscars’ of the fine food industry, and was a runner-up in the Best UK Independent Food Retailer 2010 category of the Observer Food Monthly Awards and named in The Independent’s top 50 best food shops the year before.

Earlier this year, owner Steve Croot was given the accolade of Derbyshire Local Food Hero 2014 at the Derbyshire Food and Drink Awards.

“Just as we launched Croots Farm Shop the recession started, but we’ve had amazing support from customers, staff and our suppliers, and Croots has gone from strength to strength – so much so that we’ve expanded our butchers’ department and last year we extended our Shires Eatery to cater for demand,” said Steve.

“I’m very pleased that we are now in a position to expand our opening hours too, and I’d like to thank our customers and staff for their loyalty.”

From May 5^th, Croots Farm Shop will be open every day from 9am to 5pm (Shires Eatery until 4.30pm).

For more information visit www.croots.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Key internal promotions at Focus Consultants

 

Focus Consultants has made two senior internal promotions as the company continues to expand.

Jason Redfearn has been appointed as a Partner of the business, while senior surveyor Craig Gould has been promoted to an Associate.

Jason, who leads the Energy Team at Focus, is based in the firm’s Leicester office in Princess Road East.
Craig Gould, who is deputy business manager for the building surveying unit, works out of the Nottingham headquarters of the company at Phoenix Business Park.

Focus Partner Karl Marriott said: “Both Jason and Craig have been with us for several years and epitomise the Focus spirit and culture. They are loyal, creative, hard working, commercially aware and enthusiastic.

“I am very pleased to announce their new positions within the company.”

Focus, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary during 2014, offers a range of services in the construction and development sector, including funding and economic development, regeneration expertise, energy consultancy and chartered surveying services.

Since its creation in 1994, Focus has helped to secure more than £925m of grant assistance for a range of projects and businesses across the UK and delivered more than £1.0 billion worth of projects and programmes – making it one of the most successful businesses of its kind in the country.

It has worked on a range of high-profile projects in the arts, heritage and tourism sector, including some of the major museums across the UK, and important historical and ecclesiastical sites.

Focus is also a key player in the sustainability sector and, over the past ten years alone, the firm has completed more than 600 projects across the country.   

Jason joined Focus in January 2003, having graduated in Building Surveying. He gained practical experience in project delivery within the social housing sector whilst developing the Focus energy and sustainability services, originally based in Nottingham he moved to the Leicester office in 2006.

“Under his leadership, the Energy Team has grown impressively in tough market conditions to become a significant part of the business,” added Karl.

Craig began his career at Focus in 2003, while still undertaking an HNC in construction at West Nottinghamshire College in Mansfield. He was taken on full time shortly after in April 2003 by Focus as a trainee building surveyor and CAD technician, and he went on to achieve a Building Surveying degree at Sheffield Hallam University, while being sponsored by Focus.

Both Craig and Jason have benefited from the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence training delivered by Focus, and both went on to pass at the first attempt to both become Chartered Building Surveyors.

Outside of work, Craig, who grew up in Sutton-in-Ashfield and now lives in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, is a keen sportsman. He plays cricket for Mansfield Hosiery Mills Cricket Club and is a member of the Nottingham Forest FC Directors Club. As a youngster, he played football for the Nottingham Forest Academy. He has also played cricket for the Midlands and Nottinghamshire CCC at Academy level.

Focus has offices in Nottingham, Leicester, Boston, Aubourn in Lincolnshire and Holborn in London.

For more information visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Focus Consultants helps on the delivery of the V&A Wedding Dresses 1775-2014 exhibition

Nottingham-based Focus Consultants has been instrumental in helping to deliver the upcoming Wedding Dresses 1775-2014 exhibition at the prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum in London (V&A).

Focus was appointed project manager, cost consultant and CDM co-ordinator for the temporary exhibition which will explore the changes in wedding fashions over the past 200 years. The exhibition will open from May 3^rd 2014 until March 15^th 2015.

The contract marked the first commission for Focus since the company won a place on a framework agreement to help deliver temporary exhibitions at the V&A.

The commission has been handled by Focus London office in Holborn. Focus has its head office base at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, and also has offices in Leicester, Boston, and at Aubourn near Lincoln.

Senior consultant Eleanor Clarke said: “It was a high profile appointment for Focus to be on the framework for temporary exhibition work at the V&A – one which reflected our expertise in working with some of the largest museums around the country. We are very proud that the exhibition that marked our first commission is soon to be opened.”

Wedding Dresses 1775-2014 will feature more than 80 of the most romantic, glamorous and extravagant wedding outfits from the V&A’s collection. It will also include important new acquisitions as well as loans such as the embroidered silk coat design by Anna Valentine and worn by The Duchess of Cornwall for the blessing after her marriage to HRH The Prince of Wales (2005), the purple Vivienne Westwood dress chosen by Dita Von Teese (2005) and the Dior outfits worn by Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale on their wedding day (2002).

Focus Consultants previously worked for the V&A on a multi-million pound redevelopment of the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, which houses the V&A's national collection of childhood-related objects, including dolls' houses, toys and games, furniture and clothing. As well as overseeing the redevelopment, Focus also helped secure funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), which both made significant contributions to the successful opening of the project in late 2006.

Focus Consultants specialises in creative approaches to securing funding packages and delivering high quality projects across the UK. Since its creation in 1994, Focus has helped to secure more than £925m of grant assistance for a range of projects and businesses across the UK and delivered more than £1 billion of projects and programmes.

The firm works across a range of sectors including heritage, museums, arts and culture, education and tourism.

For more information visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk