Media releases
Click on a date below to display media releases.
Innovative St Ives business helps mark your special days
28.05.09
St Ives-based photographer Gavan Goulder used to travel the world for media including the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, the Observer and the Independent. But since he and his wife Lis left their London careers behind them in 2002, his work is now much closer to home – even though his pictures are selling right across the world.
For Gavan is the driving force behind My First Day, a web-based business that enables people to buy a beautiful mounted and framed photograph taken at dawn on the day of a new baby’s birth. Today, as he aims to relaunch the company under a new brand to reach a larger market, he is also one of the first clients of Business Link’s new Convergence service – designed to help the most innovative and ambitious businesses in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly achieve their full potential.
My First Day was several years in development. “It was in 2000 that my best friend became the first of our group to have a child,” says Gavan today. “I left home before sunrise, and took a shot of a beautiful Hertfordshire field that I captioned ‘Teddy’s First Day’. Presenting it was a very emotional moment, and I started to do the same for other friends as they became parents. But it didn’t become a business for another four years.”
By this time he was in Cornwall, and the beaches and landscapes around St Ives had replaced Hertfordshire as his inspiration – he still raves about the quality of the light and how the beaches hold water to create wonderful reflections.
It was also around this time that he first contacted Business Link to gain the advice he needed on launching and running his new business. First, he met adviser Keith Hamshire who helped him get to the bottom of some of the technical challenges he faced in harnessing the still emerging potential of digital photography and the web.
He also received the ongoing advice of Business Link’s Brent Treloar, who helped him focus on what needed to be done. As he says today, “I was a photographer, not a businessman, and Brent was brilliant at helping to keep my feet on the ground and not get distracted by some of my wilder ideas.”
Close to four years on, and selling pictures across the world, Gavan is finding Business Link more important than ever as his plans take shape to rebrand the company as The Day That… “The idea is to extend our market by enabling people to buy a photograph taken on any day that’s special to them or to a loved one: a wedding, a graduation, a special birthday, retirement and much, much more.”
In one critical area, he is already finding the new, enhanced Convergence service an important step forward from the Business Link support he’s received for so many years. “The service levels and value I’ve gained have always been fantastic – they’ll be hard to improve on,” he says.
“What’s new, though, is the financial help that Convergence clients can gain through the programme, in the shape of Development Vouchers to spend on the professional services they need for growth. In our case, we need to build a completely new website. Thanks to the voucher, we’ve been able to engage a web agency that we could not otherwise have afforded, and have asked them to create the best, most complete site they can.
“Without Convergence, we would have needed to compromise: with it, we can be at our best from day one.”
The next step for Gavan is to seek guidance on personnel management. “To date, I’ve been sharing most of the workload with fellow photographer Chris Webber, but now we’re just about to employ a fulltime marketing director and part-time financial director as well,” he says. “It feels like we’re becoming a serious business at last.”
And he has tangible plans to make it more serious yet, including co-operative promotion of the company’s services on the websites of high-quality retailers. Now working with Business Link’s Rachel Cresswell, Gavan highlights how she has introduced the company to a specialist ‘brokerage’ business for help with developing retailer relationships.
And Rachel is just as impressed with Gavan’s imagination and commitment to getting things right. “Creative, innovative people can suffer from a lack of discipline,” she says. “Not so Gavan – he’s been great at holding himself in check and applying the advice he’s received to create a strong, sustainable business.”
To find out more about Business Link’s Convergence programme and the aligned services it delivers for small to medium-sized businesses throughout Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, just visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/southwest/convergence, or call 0845 600 9966.
For further information contact:
Media enquiries
Ron Dyson
01308 485707
David Wilford
01672 564529 / 07790 774284
Editor's notes:
Business Link
Business Link is a Government funded service to help people start, run and grow businesses. The service provides free information, advice and support through a combination of a local telephone enquiry service, an extensive regional website, www.businesslink.gov.uk/southwest and experienced business advisers. It is the primary single ‘access point’ to link businesses to the local and national business support network
The Business Link service is delivered by Peninsula Enterprise throughout Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon and Somerset, and has supported well over 43,000 people starting or running businesses in the region over the past year, achieving a satisfaction rating that approaches 90% and is continuing to climb.
For more information, visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/southwest, or call 0845 600 9966
ERDF Convergence Programme in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
With £6 million investment from the South West RDA and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Convergence Programme, Business Link has extended its support for the most innovative and ambitious firms or social enterprises in Cornwall and The Isles of Scilly. This additional enhanced service was introduced at the end of 2008 and fully complements Business Link’s existing support activities for new and established businesses.
For more information, visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/southwest/convergence or call 0845 600 9966.
