Speciality Bites with

Paul Hargreaves

Chief executive of Cotswold Fayre

  • Good PR – Bad PR

    10 February 2014 Speciality Bites
    A comment from Deborah Meaden last night on Dragon’s Den has prompted this week’s blog. “You can’t do anything with £3,000 per month spent on PR”. I think this was in connection with a business, called Rustic Indian, that did get a...

  • Supplier & New Supplier of the Year Announced

    31 January 2014 Speciality Bites
    Apart from continuous rain, the last two weeks have seen me first in Scotland, as you know from the last blog, followed by the annual pilgrimage to ISM in Cologne. The latter event always involves prolonged periods in the evening...

  • New Year, New Products

    20 January 2014 Speciality Bites
    I always love this time of year as it is “show-time”! I am quite often in San Francisco this week at the Fancy Food Show, but not this year. It’s Scotland for me. In particular Scotland’s Speciality Food Show...

  • For Some, Christmas Is Not All Joy

    10 December 2013 Speciality Bites
    A slightly more reflective piece this week, and perhaps good for us all occasionally to step back and think about priorities

  • Retailer Power

    30 October 2013 Speciality Bites
    A subject that isn’t often talked about in the speciality food sector is the balance between supplier and customer. Of course, this is frequently debated with respect to the multiples, where antagonists say that Tesco’s and the like are often said to...

  • Save the date 04.07.2014

    28 October 2013 Speciality Bites
    I am writing this from the Bala Orphanage in Western Kenya. Many of you may know that Cotswold Fayre has been involved with the Children's Centre to give it its proper name for a number of years. With funds raised...

  • Leckford Estate Farm Shop (owned by Waitrose)

    09 October 2013 Speciality Bites
    I was a little surprised to see that the lead story in the “Retail Farmer” magazine Autumn 2013 extolled the virtues of the Leckford Estate Farm Shop (which is, of course, Waitrose’s new farm shop in Hampshire) without offering a critique of...

  • Room for Growth

    08 October 2013 Speciality Bites
    I thought it may be interesting to look at where the speciality food sector may go within the next few years. Clearly this is important as we plan our businesses and ensure we are looking in the right areas for...

  • Silly Season

    25 September 2013 Speciality Bites
    The last week of September marks the beginning of our truly, madly, deeply silly season as it is the first week that much of our Christmas stock is ready to go out. So, welcome to non-stop telephone calls, large bills...

  • Hunting Season

    10 September 2013 Speciality Bites
    September is always the month when we start planning our new ranges with Speciality & Fine Food Fair kicking off the “hunting season”
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