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| A small business in Worcestershire has launched a marketing drive to promote its new range of innovative garment hangers with help from the Knowledge, Innovation and Technology Transfer scheme (KITTS. M2M GB Ltd has begun to sell its award-winning Made 2 Measure hangers to department stores, boutiques and tailors both in the UK and abroad. Having successfully developed the hangers, which have extending arms that can be adjusted to fit exactly any shape or size of garment, M2M needed help with marketing and identifying potential customers. This assistance was provided by Hazel Gillham, a 24-year-old graduate in Business Management, from University College Worcester (UCW), who spent 20 weeks on a KITTS placement with the company in Worcester. The placement came about after M2M’s owner Nick Lewis approached Business Link Herefordshire and Worcestershire, which referred his enquiry to CONTACT, the team set up to give West Midlands businesses access to the expertise and resources of universities in the Region. CONTACT directed the enquiry to UCW who made Hazel aware of the opportunity. She took up the challenge and joined M2M in September last year to help Nick research the market for the hangers. The range comprises three different styles of hanger – Outerwear (for jackets and heavy garments); Adult Fold (for lighter weight garments); and Children’s. Using various sources, including the reference library at Business Link in Worcester and at the Department of Trade and Industry in London, Hazel compiled a comprehensive database of potential customers, contacts and media, which M2M has now started to exploit. She also got involved in telemarketing and sales prospecting. “Hazel was a great help and did a lot of the work that needs to be done in the early stages of a start-up business,” said Nick. “The marketing exercise is now starting to pay off and we are beginning to sell hangers. The KITTS placement came at just the right time and was at the right price for a small business.” KITTS graduates are paid a training allowance while on their placement and funding towards the cost of this is available to small and medium-sized business employing fewer than 250 people. KITTS is partly funded by Advantage West Midlands, the regional development agency. Hazel completed her placement in January and is hoping her KITTS experience will enhance her career prospects and put her in a strong position to obtain a full-time job in marketing. She said: “It will show prospective employers that I have not only taken the initiative to join a programme such as KITTS but that I am also committed to a career in marketing and have got some practical experience behind me. “KITTS helped me to develop my computer literacy and communication skills, which is something else I can shout about when I apply for marketing positions, and it will increase my chances when competing with other graduates in the job market.” For information on M2M and the project, contact Nick Lewis, M2M GB Ltd, on Tel: 01905 757200 or E-mail: info@m2m.co.uk |
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