Huddersfield Business Clinic: Holmfirth Forward's Experience
Margaret Dale
Founding Director of Holmfirth Forward
Margaret and Matt Gledhill participated in the Business Clinic Pilot, where our undergraduate students helped them achieve fresh perspectives on the environment of Holmfirth.
Holmfirth Forward was set up in 2019 by a group of local people with a vested interest in the town centre with the intention of promoting it and working with others who shared its objects.
Holmfirth Forward:
- Runs the community market
- Supports the Make It Your Holmfirth team with:
- Marketing through online and digital activities
- The production of the town centre map
- Supports the Tourism Partnership
- Assists with new projects and events such as the Pride Event, application to become the Town of Culture and the creation of a mural.
- Networks and establishes close working relationships with other groups and agencies.
Why we took part in the Business Clinic
We chose to take part in Huddersfield Business Clinic because of my background in Higher Education and longstanding relationship with the University. We recognised the need to better understand the Holmfirth environment from a marketing perspective to ensure our actions, because of our very limited resources, are targeted in the most effective ways. We also believe it is important to create opportunities for students to engage in real life projects as part of the learning and development.
Setting the brief
The project brief we set the students was to gain a greater understanding of the reasons people visit Holmfirth. We asked them to research where the visitors come from, what they seek from their visit, and what they think of the town once they are here.
Working with the students
At the beginning, we gave the students a briefing so they had direct background information about the town and had the opportunity to meet us as their clients. Throughout the project, we supported the students by giving feedback on the design of their research methodology and the component data gathering tools and answering any specific questions.
We have formed a relationship which hopefully will endure, and have a piece of work which is the amalgam of 40 students’ research. This will inform our marketing strategy and decisions about how best to market the town. We are grateful for the students doing helpful work which we did not have the resources to produce.
For any organisation thinking about getting involved in the Business Clinic, my advice is just go for it! The time commitment was not significant and worth it in relation to the value of the outcome from the project.
Margaret Dale - Holmfirth Forward
Working with the University
Working with the University and Janna was great. It feels as if we have developed a strong working relationship where we understand each other’s needs and constraints and together we can provide the students with rich learning experiences.
Key Takeaways
We benefitted from seeing the town through the eyes of others, especially younger people as they always brings fresh insights and perspectives. Going forward, we are planning on improving the visitor information online by improving the website and interactive map. So far, we have incorporated the idea of trails and the promotion of key town centre features in proposals submitted to the Council for funding.