Clft^eroft'Adveftiser&Tlme8;Th(jr8day,'Febnjary-^,'^(H3 Prize heifer makes


James a champion SINGLETON farmer James Roger- son took the championship rosette at Gisbum Auction Mart’s opening Co­ gent Pedigree sale of 2013. Coming from the Avenham Ven­


ice family, 10 days calved and giving 32 litres, Mr Rogerson’s heifer sold to


from Messrs. Booth, this time sired by- Sicy Knowledge and out of an Aliann Texie family, and sold for £2,050 to A. A. & A. E. Critchley & Son, of Hut­ ton, Preston., Regular vendor Colin Singleton, of


prize heifer from the Feizor herd of W. A. & A. Booth, of Austwick. Also 10 days calved and giving 35 litres, she was knocked down at £2,080 to the . samebuyer. The reserve champion also came


g


re-sale show judge Bnan Blezard, of ibchester,'for £2,380. Next highest earlier was the third


%vwwrdithema(ivertl8ef;(».uk'''' -HJ valleyfarming


Robin presents X-Factor hoggs


with a Baroque heifer due at the end of January. Overall, trade continues to be firm with heifers with faults- selling to £1,200 and fourth lactation cows achieving £1,340. Heifer calves soldto£290. Averages were: Pedigree newly-


ant at Gisbum Auction Mart’s sale on January 17th. A nine-year-old British Blue bull from T. Robinson & Sons, of Slaidburn, weighing 916kgs sold for £1,777 (194p/kg). Next best was a seven-year-old Limousin bull, this ■ time weighing 954kgs, from Fran- kland Farms, of Rathmell, which sold for £1,660 or (174p/kg). Of the 203 cattle forward, a total of 115 averaged £762.91 (121.98p/kg).


calved heifers £1,869; in-calf heifers £1,378;, heifer calves £270. Auction­ eers were Richard Turner and Son. • Trade for cull cattle was buoy­


Goosnargh, was also in the money at £2,020 for a Bolivia. Allen heifer sell-', ing to a Carlisle buyer., In-calf heifers topped at £1,700,


WINNER of the “X Factor” prime hogg competition for the best pen of Beltex or Texel sheep at Gis­ bum Auction Mart was Procters Farms Ltd,


also purchased the sec­ ond prize winners, a pen of Beltex hoggs weighing 38kgs, from Long Preston beef and sheep farmer John Mellin at £84 (221p/


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hoggs were sired by a Dutch Texel but of Texel cross ewes. , Perfectly presented by the farm’s shepherd, Mr Robin Towler, they weighed 42kgs and sold for £106 (252p/kg) to the pre-sale show judges Stephen and Luke Swales, on behalf of Knavesmire Butchers, York. Knavesmire Butchers


Slaidbum. The first prize pen of


RESERVE CHAMPION: John Stott with his Blue Faced Leicester re­ serve female champion and pre-sale show Judge Henry CrHchlow, who also bought the fine ewe.


Reserve champipn caught judge’s eye


WINNING PEN: (from left) Stephen Swales, Robin Towler, Luke Swales and Harry Bromwich with the prize winner h o g ^ which sold for £106 (s).


Wigglesworth, Skipton, picked up the third prize rosette with his pen of homebred Beltex hoggs,. which weighed 42kgs and sold for £92 (219p/kg). • • Brian Breaks, of New-


Robert Lambert, of


ton-in-Bowland, was win­ ner of the fourth and fifth


Turner said: “We had a fantastic entry of top


rosettes with his pens of homebred Beltex cross hoggs weighing 43kgs and 42kgs and selling for £97.50 and £85.50 to Riley Bros Abattoir, of Dun- nockshaw. Auctioneer Jonathan'


erage was 150p/kg. Auc­ tioneers were Richard Turner and Son.


end hoggs with a trade to match, much improved compared to the previous week’s trade due to poor weather conditions and tightening supplies.” Overall prime hoggs av­


flock of C.M. & J. Stott & Son was sired by a Mefeoak tup bred by Peter Webster in Kes­ wick and in-lanib to a Welsh-based Richard Thomas Tanhouse sire. She later sold for £400 to show judge


CHIPPING farmer John Stott-took the reserve champion rosette at Craven Cattle Mart’s prestigious annual registered show and sale of Blue Faced Leicester females. The in-lamb, ewe from'the Laund Farm


fixture went to father and son David and Robin Booth, of Old Hall Cottage, Feizor, who retained the title with their first prize gimmer hogg;' The champion made £1,250, top price in


show by some margin, when finding a new home with Robert Tarbatt, of Winterhill Farm, Darwen. .


Henry Critchlow, of Buxton, Derbyshire. The championship at this year’s Skipton


I wvvw^iUiefoeadyor^ser.co.ulc C|l^eroe,Adyer1Jser.&X}me^Jhursd^;/Ffi_b^^^


A look at local industry and commerce


ate by Duncan Smith


■THE onset of each new year sees la surge in entrepreneurial think- ling, with more people considering |starting up their own business. In a sluggish economy and jobs narket, that idea to “go it alone” can be even more compelling - but


| “alone” can be scary too. So what labout a “half-way house” approach, being in business for youreelf, but not byyourself? More and more would-be entre­ preneurs are taking that route and in


[tne recession), with 65,000 employed by franchises m 2012, according to the Batest British Franchise Association |(BFA) statistics.'; • Becoming afrahchisee involves the


payment of an initial and ongoing fee n return for the use of a company’s idel, brand, knowl-


dge and sujiport.


I In a strange twist of fate, it was Jvhile carrying out “tactical research” on the franchise that he suddenly re­ alised he should be working with the brand, not competing agaiiist it. So Charlie left his initial business behind


Bty, bucking national economic trends. JWhen the 35-year-old from Gisburn bet up his own vegetable box delivery Kheme, he initially tried to copy the model used by existing franchised business Riverford Organic. But the effort he put into running his business Rvasn’t matched by the returns.


ban include having a better work/life balance and doing something you are passionate about, and there is now a vast and varied range of businesses using the franchise model in the UK Charlie Bush is a good example of vhy franchising is surging in populaf-


advice and business development ■juidance from their franchisor and vider network. Other advantages


A franchisee can call on training,


Ithe north west the business franchise jsector is booming, with a turnover of some £1.5bn, higher than any other area in the UK outside of London and [the south east. It’s a similar story in terms of job numbers in franchises in the region - up more than 35% since;2007 (before


tJ . f ' Jl


SEEN THE LIGHT: Charlie Bush, from Gisburn, who has set up as the area’s first Riverford Organic franchisee.


|o become south-east Lancashire’s first Riverford franchisee, cover­ ing the towns .and surrounding'ar-. bas of Clithefoe,'Burnley and Nelson amongst others. ;i . /- 7/ V V ; [ Charlie, explained: ‘Tt was an epiphany really, a classic ‘If you can’t beat them, join them’ scenario. When


experiences of franchising with his short-lived independent operation?


and eight months on Charlie is de­ lighted with progress: “I’m seeing the effort paying off I always knew that I’d break even at around 65 or 70 box­ es a week. I now have 130 deliveries a week, a target I reached within six months.” So how does Charlie compare his .


policy, Charlie approached the com­ pany: “When I applied to Riverford for a franchise, I was candid about what I’d tried to do before,” he said. “The fact that it didn’t faze them showed that they were both confident and reasonable, and I went ahead and bought the Clitheroe and Burnley ter- ritoty.” It turned out to be the right move


gling, trying to set up my own scheme from scratch when I could have a ready-made business with a proper infrastructure and plenty of advice and back up, on a plate?”’ Deciding that honesty was the best


chisee pack mainly to gather informa-. tion that might help me with my own venture, but while reading it I realised, that I was trying to compete with d company I should be joining. River­ ford had been in business for 20 years, had gone through the pain I was going through and had proved that it could quite literally survive all weathers. “I thought “why on earth am I strug­


I tried to set up my own veg box scheme with a business partner, Rivr erford was the benchmark company I wanted to emulate. I thought I could copy them, but nine months later I discovered that finding good, reliable suppliers was far more difficult than I could have imagined. “I sent off for Riverford’s fran­


■


■ can provide plenty of marketing ideas, and advice, and you have the experi­ ence of other franchisees, as well as head office, to draw on when you run into problems. “Now I don’t have to worry about


training and support you get. You have a network to turn to, one that


“It’s much easier because of the


reporting profitability annually for more than two decades, Charlie isin good company. For objective advice and informa­


tion oh all aspects of franchising, visit the BFA website: www.thebfa.org


it’s not all plain sailing: “Of course, being a franchisee is still hard work,” he cautions. “I need to get to the hub where the food arrives very early each morning, sort out the boxes and then make my deliveries. When I’ve done that, it’s onto the admin and market­ ing. There’s a lot to do, but when it’s your own business you don’t mind because you’re always adding to your own investment.” With more than 90% of franchisees


brand recognition you benefit from as a franchisee. Riverford markets na­ tionally, and franchisees market local­ ly, so you get to reach consumers on various levels. As a lone operator. I’d never have had the budget for that.” Despite his success, Charlie knows


•the supplier side logistics either, all I have to do is focus on my own delivery routes and strategy. One of the best things about being part of a franchise network is that if somebody comes up with a really good marketing idea, they can share it. Then, if you think it will work for you, you can implement it yourself. “As well as these things, there’s the


RECOGNITION: A total of six awards were presented by Jet2hoii- days trade sales executive Simon Marshall to Eddie Starkie and Sandra McAllister, the Althams Travel managing director and deputy managing director respectively, (s)


Travel agency picks up ahost of awards


.awards for “outstanding long term support” and also for the “best per­ formance by an agency chain”.


INDEPENDENT travel agency Althams Travel which has a branch in Clitheroe scooped six awards in the North West as well as the Yorkshire and Humberside re­ gional categories at the annual Jet2holidays Trade Awards. Althams Travel have picked up


Travel is one of the Uniten King­ dom’s longest established travel agents.


sented by Jet2hoIidays trade sales executive Simon Marshall to Eddie Starkie and Sandra McAllister, the Althams Travel managing director and deputy managing director re­ spectively. Established in 1874,. Althams


A total of six awards were pre­


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Training event, with a twist


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PUGDALES digital solutionshew' T connected smart hbme’t-show- koom has featured in the eiectrical ■ petail associatioh tradeiasfocia-


f>on magazine (RETRA Al e r t ), jwhich boasts the likes of Samsung ;■ tod the John Lewis partnership as members;


.


iMART device and the showroom Shows that when those devices that pre already in the home,'such:as Smart nhones. inads; tablets, smart


Within the next five years eve- {.y^vice in the home, will be a


Dugdales, said: “I came up with the idea after seeing the confusion and frustration with my customers trying to understand how these dif­ ferent devices work and that many people aren’t making the most out of their existing technologies. “The showroom is a place where ive can demonstrate in a simole


televisions, etc are properly con­ nected together, it can make life easier, simpler and more enjoy­ able. Jonathan Dugdale, director at


Retra have asked Jonathan to ini­ tially provide a'full page featurein every edition for the next year as,,, an expert in the area of the “con-"'' nected smart home”.


tion we then connect their exist­ ing technologies together in their homes and provide a series of one- on-one tutorials to make sure they are comfortable using it.” After appearing in the magazine,


manner what the capabilities of this equipment are. “If the customer-wants a solu­


INNOVATIVE: Dugdales digital solutions showroom located on Chatburn Road in Clitheroe. (s)


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