Ringing the Changes at The Wedding Centre
The Wedding Centre in Marlow, Bucks, was founded in 1991 by owner Clive Folley. Its aim was to provide a truly one-stop shopping experience for the bride and groom for their wedding day.

The Wedding Centre’s business growth illustrates the success of the ‘one-stop’ shop experience. Today it holds a collection of over 380 bridal gowns and the men’s wear department carries both wedding and evening attire. The Centre has also established partnerships with many other local suppliers to provide a wide range of other wedding services, from cake makers, entertainment, limousine hire and reception venues to wedding co-ordinators and toastmasters.
Despite having been operating successfully in the market for over ten years, Clive Folley was aware that a review was required. Profit margins were starting to decrease, while overheads and costs seemed to be very high. He also found that that as the business had grown, they did not have the systems in place to get the information that they needed to make the right decisions and run the business effectively.

Reviewing the business
Folley realized that it was time for a review of the business objectives and direction. He had delegated the daily management of the Centre to the two other partners and a formal business review with all three of them had not been carried out for over six years.

According to Clive Folley; “I had originally started the business with an outline plan which had paved the way forward for the Centre. However, when reviewing the business status I realized that while we knew what we wanted from the business we had no written plan to refer to. As such it was hard to identify what the underlying problems were and what to do about them.”

Following a business meeting with Barclays bank, Folley was recommended to meet with John Fairley of JFP Strategic Planning. JFP specializes in working with SMEs, both successful and in trouble, helping them to identify issues and work out and implement action plans - both remedial and future.

Identifying the issues
A first meeting with the three business partners quickly highlighted the issues that faced the business. John Fairley recommended a subsequent planning day, whereby all three partners could review the business formally and a written plan could be produced to take The Wedding Centre forward.

Reviewing objectives in the Strategic Planning Day enabled the three partners to identify what they wanted to achieve personally from the business. It highlighted that there was a need to free up two of the partners from daily administration tasks and to focus and share the managerial issues and planning for the business’ future.

The Planning Day also highlighted changes that the partners wished to make. These included a reduction in business and bank loans and tighter control on stock and overheads. Another outcome of the review was a requirement to update the image of the Centre and create a sales and marketing plan to take the business forward.

“John took a great interest in our business. His experience and insight as an independent provided me with confidence and I felt happy to act on his advice,” said Folley.Implementing the changes
The management team has now implemented many of the actions outlined in the strategic plan. A cash flow forecast is produced regularly to ensure a tighter control on costs and expenditure. In addition, staffing has been reduced in to increase effectiveness. Premium pricing opportunities have also been identified in key areas of the service offerings.

Acting on the plan has also resulted in a clear sales and marketing strategy being set for the company. Targets have been set to covert more visitors to customers, and the one-stop shop is to be marketed more strongly.

Taking the business forward
There have also been some management changes along the way. Reviewing personal objectives highlighted to one of the partners that they could not commit to some of the business plan and so they decided to leave. The remaining two partners now work more closely together on the objectives set out and getting the business back on track.

According to Clive Folley; “We have already made some real positive inroads on the plan. We are managing our cash flow much better, paying bills on time and making a profit, all thanks to following our new working practices.

“I see this as just the start of really starting to take the business forward,” he added.
The Wedding Centre plans to work with JFP to continue the regular management meetings and follow through on the agreed decisions. Other areas that are also planned include a profit improvement exercise to help identify priority areas.