Introducing Southend’s Best Festive Businesses

December 22, 2014 by Joanna Harrison

Introducing Southend’s Best Festive Businesses

Friday 19th December 2014

Southend businesses went to town on Small Business Saturday on 6th December– showcasing themselves and their seasonal celebrations to perfection!

Around 90 businesses took part in this annual national event to encourage residents to shop local and support small businesses in their communities on the day and beyond.

Many also went one step further, by entering the Best Festive Business competition with fabulous Christmas decorations and special offers for customers.

This was arranged in partnership with Southend United Football Club, and six worthy winners were chosen from Eastwood, Leigh, Westcliff, Southend, Southchurch, and Thorpe Bay/Shoebury.

Their prizes includes an advert in a Southend United match programme, a feature on the club’s website and a picture with Southend United Manager, Phil Brown.

Executive Councillor for Enterprise, Tourism and Economic Development, Councillor Graham Longley said: “We are very proud of our small firms in Southend and are delighted that so many took part in Small Business Saturday – an excellent national campaign.

“The entries for the Best Festive Business Competition were a terrific boost to the whole event.
“There were some marvellously creative ideas among the decorations and these really added to the momentum of Southend’s Christmas countdown – great fun for all.”
Meet the winners and read below about the ideas behind their festive displays. For more details about the firms themselves, please visit:www.businessonsea.co.uk

Eastwood - Artability

Artability is a day provision committed to creating a working environment and development opportunities for adults with learning difficulties. Service Users were fully involved in all aspects of the window display. The inspiration came from an old chimney sweep in the shop. From this, the trainees drew a sketch of chimneys with Santa and his reindeers travelling in the sky overhead. The display was then made using paper mache and cardboard."

Leigh - Scape Interiors

Our display followed two themes this year, both ran through each side of the shop. Our 'Oliver Twist' window was created to evoke the traditional memories of Christmas. Our other window was inspired by the film 'Frozen'. The Winter Wonderland featured polar bears, white reindeers and penguins lit up with hundreds of lights.

Westcliff - Halo Hair & Beauty

Our festive display was a vintage setting with a modern day twist. We all involved ourselves with the spirit of Christmas by dressing up as Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter's Tea Party. On Small Business Saturday we raised £170 for Cedar Hall School. We’ve also been collecting toys for underprivileged children via ‘THE FAMILY ACTION BLIF PROJECT’ and have been amazed by the generosity of our clients."

Southend - Costa Couture Cakes

We wanted our displays to have a festive WOW factor. We displayed a small gingerbread village in our shop window and it certainly attracted customers. We were given the opportunity to display a grander scale model of this in the Victoria Shopping Centre's Santa's grotto. We decided to donate the display in support of Cancer Research UK, who are running the grotto this year.

Southchurch - Blades Hair Company

We ourselves use a lot of the local businesses because we understand the effects of supporting each other. We got inspiration for our festive displays from the ever popular Disney's Frozen! Everyone loves snow and we wanted the salon to look understated with a dusting of snowflakes."

Thorpe Bay - Quinn's of Thorpe Bay

For my festive display I used glass, white, silver and feathers to create the look of a winter wonderland!

Thank you Lisa Ferne for the photographs!