Visitors can eat, drink and shop until they drop in Cockermouth this weekend when the Taste Cumbria Christmas market comes to the town.

Taking place on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 December - there'll be mince pies and mulled wine, colourful gifts and crafts, all served with a hefty helping of sparkle and glitz amid some of the prettiest Christmas lights in the county.

The two-day festival will include everything fans of the festive food festival have come to expect. There will be a packed producers’ market, a hot food court with meals and snacks, and live music on the festival stage with some great local bands.

There will also be plenty of family activities with a fairground and children’s arty workshops. All around the town, the shops will be offering a fabulous array of gifts, food and drink, with everything visitors need for the Christmas season.

This year’s Taste Cumbria Christmas is supported by Allerdale Borough Council, Cockermouth Chamber of Trade, Cockermouth Town Council, The Coffee Kitchen Bakery, and Cartmell Shepherd solicitors.

Find out more

Download the government face covering poster

If you run a business whose customers are now required to wear face coverings you can download a poster to display in your premises from our Allerdale Business website.

Please download, print and display prominently in your premises.

Download poster

Have your say...

We'd like to say a big THANK YOU to all those who have taken part in the Keswick Leisure consultation process with Strategic Leisure Limited (SLL) either in person on via the online survey so far.

SLL are continuing to get feedback from stakeholders this week so the online survey will stay open until Friday 10 December.

Keswick residents and business owners can still have their say on the future of leisure provision in the town. Go to our online at survey Have your say

Advice from Accounting Senior Manager at Armstrong Watson Matthew Hutton

Hospitality business owners are so busy with the day to day running of their venues they might not always have the time to take a step back and review each part of their business.

This is so important as you need to ensure you are doing the right things to make your inputs and costs as efficient as possible, whilst also driving custom and income up. This has been particularly pertinent during Covid with all the additional requirements and red tape enforced by the various restrictions imposed throughout the period. 

With a lot of noise in the media about potential supply shortages over Christmas industry advisor Martyn Vevers and I have put together some tips to help hospitality businesses prepare themselves for the festive period and beyond. 

The supply chain may cause significant headaches over the next few weeks so business owners must be prepared and calculated with their procurement processes

Prepare for the Christmas period 

• Good supplier relations – keep in regular contact and place orders in plenty of time and have your customer representative numbers handy, making calls early morning or late at night to receive a quicker response.  
• Back-up plan – have backup suppliers in place in case you have any issues with your main suppliers and remember wholesalers, cash and carries and supermarkets as emergency options should you have any immediate gaps in your stock.  
• Stock up – if cash will allow, it is better to have too much beer, wine and spirits – items with long shelf lives – for the festive period than it is to run out at your busiest time. Stock sufficiently on your best sellers, along with glassware, beer mats and bar runners during busy periods.  
• Offers – take full advantage of special offers available from suppliers. If a supplier is offering ‘buy four get one free’, make sure you purchase in multiples of five to obtain the lowest unit cost. 
• Be flexible – Now that the Government has made face coverings mandatory in shops and on public transport in response to the new Omicron variant, it is worth being prepared in case restrictions – whatever they might be – change again.

Maximise your turnover 

• Price promotions – be sure the increased footfall and unit sales it generates outweigh the loss in profit margin.  
• Customer service – ensure well-trained staff give the best customer service possible so customers want to stay for longer, driving up the average spend per head. 
• Cleanliness – make sure everything is spotless to encourage customers to spend more time with you. 
• Quality – too much on a menu can result in a drop in quality and therefore customer satisfaction. A streamlined food offering also reduces waste.  
• Bar variety – have the right mix of drinks available, with different strengths of beer and cider and a good range of non-alcoholic options 
• Know your customers – what would draw more people in? A quiz night, pool table or Sky Sports?

Find out more

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is looking for feedback to inform a review of their travel and tourism statistics.

Travel and tourism statistics are used by businesses, policy-makers, tourism boards and many others to understand patterns and behaviours of people who travel both internationally and domestically. However, there is now need to review how well these statistics are meeting the needs of the people and organisations using them. Similarly, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted some weaknesses in the current approach to data collection.

The review, of which this consultation is a part, provides the opportunity to gather a comprehensive understanding of user needs, and to explore how best they can be met in a changing environment.

As part of the review, ONS have worked with our stakeholders to develop a proposed approach for how they will measure travel and tourism statistics in future. The proposed approach represents a move away from how the formerly collected data (relying heavily on the International Passenger Survey) and towards a system that maximises the use of alternative data sources alongside survey data.

ONS are asking organisations and people who use travel and tourism statistics to provide feedback on this proposed approach. Your feedback will be used to guide future development of this work and inform the final recommendations of the review, which will be published in Spring 2022. ONS Consultation.  Closes 21 Dec 2021. 

Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) Survey now open!

Work is now gathering pace on the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) for Cumbria. This is being produced by the Chamber, working with a range of partners – and, crucially, you as businesses.

An important part of this is the skills survey which has just been launched.

We’re all aware of skills shortages and of the need to constantly refresh and renew the skills and training needs of our workforce as the economy changes and develops. New industries and opportunities are arising and many require technical skills that are not yet available in the county.

The survey starts to explore the current state of learning and skills provision in the county, how this measures up against what employers are being offered, and the main strengths and weaknesses identified. The research is also looking at the new and emerging skills provision that will be needed, especially in areas such as carbon reduction, net zero, greening and retrofit of the built economy. This will be combined with information from other research and data sources, as well as focus groups and 1-2-1 interviews that the chamber will be rolling out around the county.

So, as a first stage, the chamber is asking for your help in completing a short survey that should take no longer than 10-15 minutes of your time. Your views as an employer are essential in helping build a picture of skills and training provision and needs in Cumbria, and the chamber hopes that you will be keen to help.

You can complete the survey using this link:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/LSIPCumbriaChamber

At the end of the survey you’ll also get the opportunity to highlight if you’d be up for participating in a focus group and/or 1-2-1 interview.

Peer Networks Eligibility Criteria update – 2nd December 2021:

Thanks to flexibilities received from funders BEIS, the chamber can now recruit businesses with 2-4 employees giving them much more scope and flexibility to support a wider range of businesses.

To qualify you need to fit into one of the below*:

1. a) under-represented groups eg women-led, ethnic minority-led
2. b) sectors particularly impacted by Covid ie retail and hospitality
3. c) businesses with turnover over £200,000.

*local discretion can be used so please still get in touch if you don’t fall into one of the above.

If you don’t meet the above criteria do still get in touch – the chamber can link you into other Peer support programmes offered through Cumbria Business Growth Hub. 

Register your interest here

Cumbria Tourism triumphed at the Prolific North Marketing Awards, after being ‘highly commended’ for #ThePerfectPlaceToBe marketing campaign.

The results were revealed at a ceremony in Leeds on Thursday 25 November, when finalists from across the North of England gathered to celebrate stand-out marketing campaigns chosen by a panel of industry leaders.

Cumbria Tourism’s summer marketing campaign was developed to help encourage visitors to rediscover lesser-known corners of the county following the national lockdown earlier this year.

It focused on ‘attract and disperse’ activity to expand awareness of destinations including the Cumbrian coastline, Carlisle and Hadrian’s Wall country, and the east of the county, where Cumbria meets the North Pennines and the Yorkshire Dales.

Cumbria Tourism’s Marketing Manager, Sue Clarke, says, “We are thrilled by this result!  #ThePerfectPlaceToBe summer campaign was all about encouraging potential visitors to explore further, spreading them more evenly across the country this summer and helping increase economic benefits for traditionally less-visited parts of Cumbria.

“It was developed to help support Cumbria’s tourism and hospitality sector as it emerged from the pandemic, and this award is dedicated to all those businesses who have faced such a challenging time over the last 20 months.”

 She adds, “It’s also a fantastic public acknowledgement for the Cumbria Tourism team. We are all very proud of the campaign and the positive impact it has had. To be recognised for our industry expertise – alongside creative marketing and communications specialists from across the North of England – is an added boost for everyone involved.”

Business Allerdale 

Did you know we have a jobs page?  If you have any vacancies or apprenticeships in  the Allerdale area, you can upload them to our website. Fill out the short form along with a job description FOR FREE – To take the opportunity to promote your vacancies, simply add your vacancies here

We have an events and training calendar showcasing upcoming events, ranging from  digital and social media support, HR support, import and export advice, and much more.  You can also add your own events and training courses. Keep an eye on this page for any courses which may help with recruitment or upskilling your staff. Click here to see upcoming events.

McMenon Engineering take two awards at the Energy Industries Council Awards

What an acheivement!  The News & Star reported that the Workington-based company was victorious in two categories of the Energy Industries Council Awards.

Caldbeck cafe raises money for children in need this Christmas

Well done the Muddy Duck Cafe. The cafe has raised hundreds of pounds to help children this Christmas through festive events.

The Muddy Duck Cafe & Tea Room in Caldbeck organised an elf hunt and will have a Santa's grotto with money going to CFM Cash for Kids Mission Christmas.

Cockermouth estate agent Grisdales delighted to make top 10

Great to read in In-Cumbria that an estate agency which has offices in West Cumbria was delighted to recently scoop a top title.

Grisdales has branches on Cockermouth Main Street and King Street, Whitehaven.

Digital Tech Cumbria: An overview of alternative social media channels