Freya Rose London: Southsea-based fashion house wins grant help and business support from GetSet Solent
Freya Rose runs an award-winning fashion business, and is passionate about unique and yet classic design, artistry and craftsmanship, creating beautiful shoes, bags, and jewellery.
She’s on her way to becoming one of the UK’s leading show couturiers for her bridal collection – each pair of pearl heels is lovingly handcrafted and can take up to 20 hours by a specialist jeweller for a truly unique finish.
Now, thanks to extra support and help available to businesses in the Solent area, her business plan is moving on to the next level online.
Growing business
Freya launched Freya Rose London 12 years ago and has steadily grown the company. She found out about GetSet Solent and their business grant scheme and decided to investigate. Freya enrolled on the programme and decided to apply for the Revenue Grant to help fund plans for an ambitious ecommerce growth plan.
As part of this, she had to submit a business plan to support her case for more funding.
“Applying for the grant incentivised me to prioritise business planning. It gave me more reason to focus, reflect on our position and decide how we should move forward. As a result, we’re now further along than we would have been. The process has accelerated my business growth as well as help fund aspects of it.
“We took a holistic approach to exploring how we could grow and take our ecommerce activities to the next level. GetSet Solent assisted me with the grant application and have been there every step of the way to help deal with any issues. The Revenue Grant received is 25% of the total funding needed, which is a welcome financial help.
“It enabled us to implement a new CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system to help us improve customer services and better manage our activities.”
Specialist support
GetSet Solent also introduced Freya to a specialist ecommerce business coach who has helped consolidate plans and realise the tactics needed to make her growth plan a reality.
Freya has also injected new life into her e-commerce website and has more plans to improve the product profiles, imagery, and user experience to increase customer conversion. She has also introduced a new customer loyalty programme and affiliate marketing strategy to boost revenue.
“Applying for the Revenue Grant has enabled me to move forward with our ecommerce growth project quicker and given us additional funds to achieve our goals. The expert advice has helped steer us in the right direction. I’m pleased with the results so far and look forward to more success.”
There for businesses in the region
GetSet Solent Grant funding is for firms planning a step change in their operations, production, or engagement with customers, and there are grants worth between £1000 and £25,000 available.
There is also fully funded business and marketing support is also available from the GetSet Solent programme, to assist in business growth, plus workshops available throughout the year covering topics to help all businesses.
GetSet Solent funding applications are now open - register your interest and the finance team will be in touch.