Norfolk Tourism Quality Training ‘One2One’ service offers mentoring to both accommodation businesses and to attractions to help you raise your quality standards. Our mentors run their own top quality B&B, holiday cottage or hotel accommodation and can offer you excellent quality guidance, based on hands-on experience. Our attraction mentor has worked for 16 years providing project management and administrative support to the Norfolk Tourist Attractions Association as well as advising attractions on all aspects of development and marketing their businesses. We also offer green business mentoring. In addition, our specialist advisers cover financial and general/legal/regulatory matters, either at cost or free of charge.
Just ring or e-mail your choice of mentor for a confidential review and to arrange for a visit to your premises during the quieter months of January to March. There is currently a fixed fee of £150 per mentoring visit, plus a £30 charge to cover travel expenses for any round trip that exceeds 80 miles. Remember, just one or more tips from our mentors will make this investment more than worthwhile.
Bed & Breakfast
Mike Bishop Bed & Breakfast, Wroxham |  |
After spending most of my working life in the Automotive Industry my introduction to the Tourism Industry came relatively late in my life.
After 15 years at Lotus Cars in Norfolk where I was International Sales Director I found myself living in Italy where I was Sales Director at Automobili Lamborghini. Four years later I was on the move again; this time to France where I was the CEO of Venturi (Paris)SA.
Venturi, a high-performance French sports car manufacturer was owned by a wealthy Thai Group who eventually sold the company and at which point I returned to Norfolk, I was 58 years of age and not quite ready to retire but ready to give up my globe-trotting lifestyle.
My wife and I decided to sell our family home, which was south of Norwich and now far too big for us and downsize to something more manageable whilst we waited for pensions to kick in. By chance we came upon our current house together with what was previously the carriage house and stables and which was now a three-bedroom house in its own right. The conversion had been very thoughtfully carried out with a view to creating Guest House accommodation.
We both fell in love with the house and I immediately decided that my lifetime experiences of staying in hotels all over the World, coupled with an interest in cooking had been the perfect training ground to become a Guest House proprietor. I had a good idea of guests needs as I had been a guest myself, hundreds of times. My business skills also included marketing the finer things of life and being able to run a business.
Eight years later we are well established and have made many friends of guests who return time and time again. We have four stars and a silver award. It is the latter which means more as it is probably more personal to me rather than to the facilities. It is for going that "extra mile" which for me really means doing the job properly and putting a little extra thought and effort into it.
Telephone: 01603 784376
Email: bishop@worldonline.co.uk
Website: http://www.coachhousewroxham.co.uk/
Angela Morrish Bed & Breakfast, Diss |  |
Angela is a Bed & Breakfast owner who has amassed 17 years experience within the hotel and catering industries. Her Grove Thorpe B&B has been rated 5 Star Gold Status by Quality In Tourism for VisitBritain, and has also won the Best Bed & Breakfast for East of England in the England For Excellence awards, as well as runner-up in Best Bed & Breakfast in England category. Angela over the years has been involved with many organisations: including three years with the English Tourist Board advisory team in London; three years with the NATA advisory team in Norwich; fifteen years as an active committee member of "A Break With Tradition" and twelve years as an one of their property inspectors; plus for two years worked in an advisory capacity for a complex of self-catering barns and conducted their staff training, to acheive 5 star gradings. Angela has also been featured on Ruth Watson's "The Hotel Inspector" (Channel 4) as an inspirational example of a 5 Star Gold Bed & Breakfast.
Telephone: 01986 788636 or 07787 180521
Email: grovethorpe@btinternet.com
Website: http://www.grovethorpe.co.uk/
Hannah Deane Bed & Breakfast, Hickling |  |
Hannah runs the Dairy Barns at Hickling in Norfolk. The barns are based on a working family farm and comprise of 6 Bed and Breakfast rooms and a functions and events barn which is licensed for civil wedding ceremonies. We have 4 stars and a gold award, have been finalists in Norfolk Tourism and Norfolk Food Heroes awards, and are recognised by Visit Britain as “working towards green tourism”.
My career prior to running my own business has included working Front of House in hotels and restaurants both in UK and abroad and most recently as Regional HR & Training Manager for the National Trust, which gave me a varied insight into the Tourism industry.
The Dairy Barns concept began in 2003 and following the planning process and managing the building project we opened in 2005. The aim being to allow me to work alongside having a young family and to ensure that with the Farm, run by my husband Ian, and the Barns together we would have a profitable business going forward into the future.
We now employ a team of part time and seasonal staff to help with the day to day running of the barns. However I still cook breakfast most days and like to meet all my guests personally during there stay and can often be found with a duster and mop in my hands!
Telephone: 01692 598243
Email: enquiries@dairybarns.co.uk
Website: http://www.dairybarns.co.uk/
Jeanette Hirschfield Bed & Breakfast, Hunstanton |  |
In 2007 Jeanette sought a complete career change when faced with redundancy after working for nearly 20 years in the NHS in Worcester. As a carer for her elderly mother she thought buying a B & B would give her the opportunity to work for herself, take care of her mother and create an income. She searched the country for a suitable property to fulfil her wish list and was lucky to find one that ticked every box in Hunstanton. Within six weeks she had left her job moved to Norfolk, had the builders in, redecorated and fitted out the house to open the B & B to her first guest, who turned out to be the Visit Britain Inspector. She received a Four Star Silver Award on day one of business. After one hectic year of running the business single handed she recently received a Four Star Gold Award grading. Jeanette had no experience within the tourist industry but believes her success is down to her endless enthusiasm, her flair for attention to detail and by ensuring that each guest is made to feel cared for. She loves welcoming people into her home and aims to provide a top quality service which has resulted in her achieving a high percentage of repeat business and recommendations.
Telephone: 01485 533366
Email: enquiries@burlingtonhouse.info
Website: http://www.burlingtonhouse.info/
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Hotels
Philip Search Broad House Wroxham |  |
I started work in this industry washing dishes at 16 and have never looked back. It began in a small 20 bedroom hotel on the banks of the river Dee in a small Scottish village called Banchory and since then I have spent most of my working life in the corporate world of hotels, moving 17 times around the UK. I have worked in many cities, from opening a 300 bedroom hotel in Edinburgh to being deputy manager of a conference banqueting and wedding hotel in Southampton. Most of my career was with Whitbread running its branded hotels of Travel Inn, now Premier Inn and Marriott. It is with Marriott I spent the last 7 years of my corporate life running and developing Sprowston Manor into what it is today.
Over my career I have worked in every department and in every size of hotel before my wife and I took the plunge into having and running our own business. It has to be location location location and we feel would could not have a more perfect spot. We have tried to develop a business that feels like you are staying in our home rather than a hotel. Our guests are looking for friendly attentive service as well as clean quality facilities and great food. Quality is the only way - people expect it in their own homes and with them staying away more often they expect it when they're away as well.
We have developed a lifestyle business and would happily pass on our knowledge of how we have developed Broad House from a private home into the Broads Premier Boutique Hotel and Restaurant and Event / Wedding Venue. We'll share with you the ups, the downs, the fun, the rewards, the knowledge and the experience, to help you have the determination you need to succeed.
Telephone: 01603 783567
Email: philip@broadhousehotel.co.uk
Website: http://www.broadhousehotel.co.uk
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Holiday Cottages / Self Catering
Jane Shulver Self Catering, North Walsham
Point House
Jane has 20 years of experience of self catering holiday properties, both as an owner, a site manager and as a lettings agent. From her initial business, Norfolk Country Cousins, she developed training opportunities for both owners and cleaning teams in the self catering sector through friendly sharing of experiences and good practice.
Now working independently you will however find Jane unavailable on Friday – changeover day! She still gets great satisfaction from helping in the preparation of her cliff top holiday homes for each new arrival, from the feedback from her customers, and from the income they generate.
Whether you are a new or a existing business the independent advice from a colleague in the self catering sector could put you on the right track to a rewarding businesses..
Telephone: 01692 650079
Email: pointhouse@hotmail.com
Jane Pond Self Catering, Wroxham |  |
Jane has put the organisational skills she acquired in many years of the television industry to good use in the running of her holiday cottage business. As someone who believes in high standards, she applies this to every area of the multi-skilling abilities you need to run self-catering properties successfully and is totally hands-on. This caring attitude is reflected in her recent Gold Award for 'Plum Tree' at East View Farm.
She believes in caring for the customers - many of whom end up as 'regulars' and friends - is vital. It is a business that is demanding and rewarding and Jane would be only too pleased to use her experience to help guide others to a more successful outcome.
Telephone: 01603 782225
Email: info@eastviewfarm.co.uk
Website: http://www.eastviewfarm.co.uk/
Attractions
Robert Simmons Creative Solutions Consultancy |  |
Robert Simmons provides advice to day visitor attractions through his tourism consultancy activities.
He has provided project management and administrative support to the Norfolk Tourist Attractions Association for 16 years and in this context he is involved in advising its members on all aspects of development and marketing their businesses. He has worked as an independent tourism consultant in Norfolk on diverse projects for organisations such as Norfolk Tourism, VisitNorwich Ltd., the East of England Tourist Board, Norwich Cathedral, the Crossness Engines Trust, RSPB Minsmere, Port Lympne, the Royal Armouries and The Light Box.
Prior to working in the private sector in Norfolk he worked for some 26 years in London in the public sector - in public transport and local government - with varying roles encompassing management; human relations; finance and project management.
Currently he is a member of the Norfolk Tourism Executive and holds responsibility for the Finance portfolio.
Telephone: 01263 862521
Email: robert@creative-solutions.org
Website: http://www.creative-solutions.org/
Specialists
Lynne Finnigan Business Link East Business Adviser, Tourism and Leisure 
Free business support and advice Lynne Finnigan has been recruited as a Specialist Tourism Business Adviser to support small to medium sized tourism businesses in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Lynne is looking forward to working with new and growing businesses to discuss their specific “burning” issues. Business Link East is funded by EEDA and offers a range of services including information, support and guidance - mainly free of charge. Also available are a range of workshops and briefings at venues across the region, including several towns in Norfolk. Prior to joining Business Link, Lynne worked with The Brecks Tourism Partnership where she enjoyed successful and lasting relationships with businesses as all major tourism stakeholders in the East of England. Although her remit spans the region, her Norfolk background and her base in Norwich will be a great asset to tourism businesses across the County.
Mobile: 07717 290307
Email: L.Finnigan@businesslinkeast.org.uk
Website: www.businesslink.gov.uk/east
David Wood theHospitality.biz General business advice 
David has had considerable experience with small and medium sized pubs, restaurants, leisure and hotels, having worked with over 200 in Norfolk alone over the last 3 years. He works sympathetically with business, focusing on profits, staffing and quality issues. David uses Best Practice examples from business he has worked with all over the World and backs this up with his own past experiences as an owner & operator of pubs, restaurants, hotels and leisure operations.
Telephone: 0208 123 9229
Mobile: 0700 520 3311
Email: david.wood@gmx.co.uk
Website: http://www.david-wood.co.nr/ or http://hospitalitybusinesscoach.weebly.com/
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Chris Scargill Larking Gowen Taxation, Accounting & Financial planning |  |
Larking Gowen, as a firm of Chartered Accountants and business advisors, has been established now for more than 120 years. In recent years, recognising some of the specific needs of the tourism and hospitality industry, I was, as a partner in the firm, selected to drive forward our specialism in this area.
The clients that Larking Gowen deal with are typical of those in the industry and are, in the main, small or medium sized owner managed businesses operating anything from traditional bed & breakfast/guesthouses, pubs, hotels or restaurants and caravan parks, etc. All of these businesses have issues specific to them regarding the taxation regimes and Larking Gowen therefore have the skill sets to assist business owners to plan legitimate mitigation within the boundaries of the legislation. We combine this and the accounting services that we provide with a commercial approach which is practical and cost effective.
To contact me and the team at Larking Gowen, please call 0845 4081732 or email tourism@larking-gowen.co.uk.
Telephone: 01263 712017
Email: Chris.Scargill@larking-gowen.co.uk
Website: http://www.larking-gowen.co.uk/
Jason Borthwick Earthly Ideas Green business mentoring |
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Jason offers diversification, environmental and marketing advice. He is particularly helpful to a company that is looking to start a new project or wanting to change direction. His knowledge of environmental systems and technologies, which can save you money and help your business become greener, will help any size business in any industry. If you are considering ways to market your business, Jason’s advice can help your business whether you have a very limited or an unlimited budget.
Telephone: 07776 254019
Email: jason@earthlyideas.co.uk
Website: www.earthlyideas.co.uk
Paul Dickson Isis Communications PR & Marketing |  |
Paul Dickson has 25 years PR and marketing experience and is based near Norwich. He has worked as a PR and marketing consultant, primarily in the tourism industry, trading as Isis Communications for the last 10 years. Before that he was a National Trust Regional Marketing and Communications Manager for 15 years (10 years with responsibility for East Anglia).
He has worked with Alby Crafts, Amazona Zoo Cromer, De Vere Dunston Hall, East of England Tourist Board, Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden, The Links Hotel West Runton, The Maids Head Hotel, National Horseracing Museum, The National Trust, Newmarket Racecourse, Norwich & Norfolk Conference Bureau, Norfolk Tourist Attractions Association, Norfolk Tourism, Norfolk Shire Horse Centre, Pensthorpe Nature Reserve, The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens, VisitNorwich, Where to Go in North Norfolk and Wroxham Barns.
Paul Dickson is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and is an Accredited Practitioner.
Telephone: 01603 666011
Mobile: 0780 1103737
Email: isis@globalnet.co.uk
Website: http://www.isis-norfolk.co.uk/