This is an aside to the main journey but wanted to include it as I believe there is more that businesses, across all the sectors, can do to celebrate and attract customers and staff.
Every pair of eyeballs that looks upon from afar or ventures into Dorset so get a sense that Dorset is a great place to live, work, visit and build a business.
I already had an idea behind my use of #whyDorset and then I saw a local digital agency have a section on their web site dedicated to Why Bournemouth.
https://www.appius.com/about#whyBournemouth
Appius are showing potential customers that being based in Bournemouth makes them a great company to work with because of the digital community in place around here, the quality of staff and the fact that people stay around for longer due to what the area has to offer.
When I saw this, it absolutely made my day because they spent time on showing off the area from which they are based as well as their products and services.
The 2020 impact of Covid is changing that conversation a little, but the “working from home” mantra, but I believe there will be a bounce back from that to a newer balance for sure.
How could we connect this with the Foodie industry?
Producers celebrate together as in when you are buying our cheese, it’s great because it is made by us, but it great because it is a Dorset cheese. This can then celebrate the milk producers and it may be the case that we need more milk producers and want to attract new farmers into the area if there no homegrown ones are coming forward.
Same with Dorset sparkling wine. It’s a thing and there must be reasons why the growing conditions are just right and that should be celebrated at the county level and not just the vineyard level.
A fantastic local restaurant serving Instagrammable Michelin style food should not sit alone. The surrounding area can become a draw.
I know a lot of this is already happening, and this is just me capturing my meanderings, but thought it was important to highlight what Appius have done and if you know examples of others, I will be happy to collect and share.