We hope this trend will continue when we exhibit at the National Home Building & Renovating Show from 18th – 21st March at the NEC in Birmingham. We have free tickets to give away, which can be obtained from the events page of our website.

This time last year we entered the ‘If We Can, You Can’ Challenge 2009, run by the Entrepreneurs Forum.  The competition is aimed at encouraging new or existing entrepreneurs to get in to the limelight and also benefit from the huge range of assistance that the organisation can give.  We were voted Ambassador for Entrepreneurship in the competition and I’ve recently been asked how it has affected our business over the year.  While I know not everybody reading this will live in the North East and be able to enter, I do hope that it may encourage some of you to enter local competitions as the benefits they can bring to your business are huge. Please read about our experiences below:

This last year and being involved in the ‘If We Can You Can Challenge’ has had an extremely positive affect on Restoration & Beyond. The publicity gained through the Hartlepool Mail has been invaluable and really helped our business to become known and even find a new supplier. When we entered, we had no idea just how much being linked to the Entrepreneurs Forum would help us to grow and become established.

When we were first short-listed we were invited to be questioned by a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style panel consisting of local successful entrepreneurs, last year’s finalists and representatives from ONE (One North East) and NECC (North East Chamber of Commerce). At first it seemed a little daunting, but we soon got in to our flow and not only enjoyed the experience, but took a lot away from it too. It gave us the opportunity to have our business idea scrutinised by very experienced people in business and also to confirm to us that the concept and plan did stand up to scrutiny and was definitely worth pursuing. The unexpected outcome was that one of the judges, eventually became our mentor and investor as he was so convinced by us and our business.

Setting up in business is like a roller coaster ride, but having the ‘If We Can You Can’ team and Entrepreneurs Forum behind us offering support, mentoring, introductions and much more, has really helped us to reach the summits. All of the other finalists have become friends too and we all support each other. The Entrepreneurs Forum Annual Conference last year was a fantastic and inspirational experience.

I would like to say to anybody who is either thinking of starting a business, or who is already up and running, to seriously consider entering this year. Why struggle alone when you can have all of the support and experience of seasoned entrepreneurs at your fingertips. Our business emerged from the recession and redundancy. We hope we can show others that it is possible to turn your life and fortunes around by staying positive and turning problems into opportunities. After all, If we can, you certainly can!

We’re really pleased to announce that recycled paint is  now available at Restoration & Beyond.

This is a brilliant new innovation that will save thousands of tonnes of waste paint going in to land fill. It’s created by Newlife Paints and is a high quality product available in matt and vinyl silk emulsion as well as eggshell. The paint comes in a standard range of 16 colours, but special colours can be made to order.  As it cost’s the same price as regular paint and has free delivery, there’s no reason not to buy it. What’s to lose? Green paint that comes in other colours too!  http://wp.me/pLo8U-r 

Sorry to be so evangelical – I just think it’s a brilliant idea and urge people to use it as it can greatly reduce the amount of dangerous waste thrown in to land fill each year.

Tomorrow we will feature our first interior designer on our site and she has quite a pedigree. Not only does she do a lot of work for the National Trust, but one of the holiday homes she designed and refurbished was voted number 5 of 15 best places to stay in a feature by the Sunday Times. Her pages are definitely worth a look.  I’ll post the link as soon as it’s live.

Well there’s more snow forecast for 6pm, it’s all getting a bit boring really isn’t it?  A freak hot and sunny day would be nice now, though I don’t think we have much chance of getting one.  Hopefully it won’t last too long this time.

I’ll bring you more news soon, but why not check us out on Twitter, Facebook and Linked In too?

We look forward to catching up next time.

Best Wishes

Christine

After an extremely busy week, we are pleased to say that in the next 2 weeks, we’ll have some fantastic new products and services on our website. 

We’re also exhibiting at the Listed Property Owners Club Exhibition from 20 – 21st February at Olympia in London and also at the Home Building & Renovationg National Show at the NEC in Birmingham from 18th – 21st March.  We have free tickets to give away for both shows which can be obtained at http://www.restorationandbeyond.co.uk/advice.asp  We’d love to meet you there.

There’s still time to win a beautiful Regency Window Box or Plant Finder CD-Rom. You can enter our great competitions at http://www.restorationandbeyond.co.uk/competitions.asp but hurry – the closing date is 31st January 2010.

We’ve added lots of new pages and information to our site as well as new lamps, tables, Eco- insulation materials and cast stone manufacture and intallation.  Definitely worth a visit.  Don’t forget, you can also ask our experts about any aspect of the projects you are undertaking and also send enquiries to our service providers.  Our single checkout makes purchasing easy - so why not select your favourite products and give it a go.

We look forward to your visit.

Christine

Have you seen our latest newsletter yet?  It went out last night and already we’re having really good feedback.  In this issue we introduce you to some of our wonderful suppliers, a few members of or Experts Panel and an interview with the man behind Snobs Knobs & Posh Knockers !  We also have two fantastic competitions, why not enter soon, they’re open until 31st January.  You can receive a copy of our latest newsletter by contacting us at newsletter@restorationandbeyond.co.uk and including your name, email address and the town you live (used for statistical purposes only).  We promise that we will never pass your details on to any third-party, we hate that too!

Why not let us know about your own projects and share your before and after shots with us by sending a comment? 

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Christine, Restoration & Beyond.

Welcome to our first blog.  Over the coming months I’ll bring you up to date with the world of Period Home Restoration and Self-Build projects.  You’ll be the first to hear about new suppliers and products on our site, new features and what events we’ll be at.  Please feel free to share your own experiences with us.  Check out our site on www.restorationandbeyond.co.uk or contact us on info@restorationandbeyond.co.uk