Month: October 2010

BBC Good Food Show – aftermath

An interesting 3 days indeed. Lots of people wanting to sample our liqueurs and whisky leading to sales, which pays for everything. More importantly, everyone I asked to complete my new Customer Survey did so willingly. Excellent results and I am planning to change the  special offers for mail order and Internet customers  on the back of the Survey results.

So, what does this all mean for you ? Having taken the step of asking our customers what they want, I will continue this by sending a survey to all our mail order customers. I think  I have been doing this type of survey face to face with customers for years in a more casual way, but is is so much more powerful when they actually commit to writing down their responses to a standard set of questions.

Coming soon will be an opportunity for you to make suggestions for a new brand that I am planning to launch. More on this later.

All the best, Roy Lewis

Lost blog

Just returned to my Word-press page to find that my draft blog has evaporated from the drafts section. Does this happen to anyone else? Is this software flaky? If the drafts option is a dud, then it’s back to square one, again.

Anyway, my blog was about having a stand at the BBC Good Food Show – doing these events is something I have wound down from but now miss them, There is something edgy about having to sell your wares direct and answer questions from the public. after a good day a ta big event, it can be very satisfying and without fail some new angle on a brand is unveiled by a customer, just adding to the stock of stories – a bi like a discussion group. More on how I got on next week.

Whisky Galore: ‘lost’ stock rediscovered.

The Whisky Galore real storyfrom the 1940’s and what happened to the whisky rediscovered years later in 1990.

Whisky Galore – brilliant Ealing comedy of the 50’s on the S.S. Politician running aground on the Outer Hebrides with over 9,000 cases of Scotch whisky on board plus thousands of banknotes. By the time the weather had calmed down for the authorities to get there, there were  and little currency was left.

All goes quiet for many years, until a company is set up 20 years ago to excavate the S. S. Politician wreck for more whisky. Money was raised, divers employed, thousands of tons of sand and steel plates moved to discover…..24 bottles! The whisky was partly used to make a blend called Atlantic Gold. These were sold round the world at the time along with another brand, Calvey Mist, which replicated 1940’s whisky. Then the company went bust and the stock disappeared into a warehouse. Luckily, the warehouse owner pointed the goods out to me recently – I was intrigued with the story and as I travel to the Outer Hebrides each year, I was familiar with the story.

I have now purchased some of the stock – the Atlantic Gold has numbered bottles and presentation boxes. there are about 60-70 left out of @ 140 ever bottled. Both the Atlantic Gold and Calvey Mist are packaged in a nineties style card box, typical of the time. The whisky used too is the equivalent taste to the 1940’s to preserve authenticity all round.

Both brands are collector’s times – I am getting pictures of these taken and will post these to this blog and to our site in due course. Just shows that it is worthwhile to look into new ideas from time to time – I wonder what other gems lie forgotten? It’s a bit like finding a Masterpiece in the attic or coming across a valuable sculpture at a craft fair.

Roy Lewis

Retiral vs keep doing something you like

I’ve been thinking a lot about retirement recently as the value and expected pension payouts plummet. Over 50% of millionaires questioned on the subject have no plans to retire.

Why should the rest of us retire anyway? I suspect that many of us approaching the dreaded retirement date, will be dropped into a world of daytime TV, pastimes that become boring with too much time and not enough reasons to get up in the morning.

I cannot imagine retiring. The trips I go on are worthwhile because they are a break from running businesses. It is the anticipation of the trip/holiday that is part of the fun. I can’t really think of a sensible reason to give up what I do now. Why should you either?

If you are wondering what to get involved in, why not have a look at our Show Distributor business? By joining our team, you would be part of a positive, forward looking group of like minded people just like you, you would have to be organised, plan your show schedule and make some money too. If you are interested and you are in an area not already covered, I will send you an information pack to mull over. Just send an e-mail to me at:

roylewis@hebridean-liqueurs.co.uk

More on this subject in later blogs.

Roy Lewis