FD Attire is a specialist dress hire business based in St Bees, West Cumbria.

Before they started trading, the two partners, Gabrielle Kane and Susan Broad, recognised that they needed professional guidance on aspects of running a business. They enrolled onto the BSUS start-up programme which gave them access to 12 hours free consultancy each.

“We needed this to help support the business going forward and in particular, to identify any areas of weakness in our business plan.”

As a business that would be heavily reliant on having an online presence to drive sales, they were referred to a specialist adviser for help on social media and web marketing techniques. This provided the basis of a strategy that would enable FD Attire to target its markets more effectively.

We needed this to help support the business going forward and in particular, to identify any areas of weakness in our business plan.

“Our advisor showed us how to set a business Facebook account to help us raise FD Attire’s profile. He also explained how we could use online tools, such as MailChimp and Google Ads to drive traffic to our website. We now have the know how to focus on opening up the dress hire market.”

Looking ahead Gabrielle and Susan will continue to be closely involved with the Growth Hub and will use their remaining BSUS consultancy to ensure FD Attire develops into a sustainable business.

“Our advisor has given us lots of ideas and his understanding of what we want to be as a business is really paying off.”