Beth’s guide to Stoke and Staffordshire

Posted on 12th August 2021 by Prof. Jon Fairburn

Staffordshire University is my home university, and, in September, I’ll be heading into my third and final year of BA (Hons) Events Management. Having lived in Staffordshire for almost all my life, I’ve tried and tested the best places for students to eat, drink and visit, and I’m here to tell you all about them!

Let’s start with some on-campus student union run facilities and the two favourite hangouts for my uni friends and I: Ember Lounge and Squeeze Box. Ember Lounge serves classic pub food and drinks and is the perfect place to spend a break from studying or grab some food with friends after a day of lectures. Squeeze Box is my favourite place to head for a bite to eat in the morning, along with either a takeout coffee or one of their infamous freshly squeezed orange juices or smoothies!

Lots of individual shops as well as events and gardens to see at Trentham Gardens

Moving on, we have the lovely Trentham Estate, an important local attraction to mention for many reasons. Firstly, their Event Volunteer programme, if nobody has told you already, it won’t be long before your lecturers and industry pros are emphasising the importance of volunteering to gain experience ready for your placement and graduate job applications, whatever course you’re taking. Trentham have a fantastic volunteer programme and last year I successfully applied and have worked on several events including the Christmas Fairy Lights experience, the summer concerts and market research for Trentham Live 2022!

With so many events, restaurants and attractions on offer, Trentham Estate is a great place to head for a day or evening out with friends and a fantastic place to catch up with family when they come to visit. Who wouldn’t love a trip to the Monkey Forest to get away from assignments for a while!? There’s even a Premier Inn on site you can recommend to your parents so they don’t have to crash in your flat!

A few weeks back, I headed to The Crepe & Waffle House in the Shopping Village for a catchup with my Aunty, which certainly suited both our sweet tastes!

Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent are filled with arts and culture, so what better place to take you to next than the Cultural Quarter in Hanley? Piccadilly and the surrounding area are home to a variety of entertainment venues including The Regent Theatre, showcasing phenomenal touring productions, and The Sugarmill, a great place to head to for local music and small gigs, as well as some great restaurants and cafes like The Slamwich Club and The Quarter.

Just two of many nice places to eat in the city centre
Bring your appetite
Inside the Quarter

Most recently, I visited The Quarter for lunch with my friend. Their menu is split into a Daytime Menu and an Evening Menu and the range of options is HUGE, with traditional classics, all-day breakfast and brunch and even Mediterranean style platters! I ordered the egg and salmon sourdough from the all-day brunch menu and my friend had the battered cod with chunky chips from the selection of main dishes. (My friend said she was still dreaming of the battered cod days later!)

Just a little further along in the Cultural Quarter, you’ll find the Mitchell Arts Centre, a small local theatre with a Café-Bar and even a dance studio and meeting rooms to hire. As someone who’s heavily involved in the local amateur theatre scene, I’ve spent a LOT of time here: watching performances, taking part in performances and volunteering (yes, more volunteering!) as Marketing & Events Officer for Stoke Amateur Theatre Society.

The Mitchell Arts Centre
The Regent Theatre

Last but not least, it would be incredibly remiss of me to not mention the UK’s largest theme park, the Alton Towers Resort. Of course, this is a GREAT place to have right on your doorstep, whether that’s for a thrilliant day out with friends or for some fantastical escapism with the family when they visit. You can find some great student offers on admission here!

It’s also a great place to work as student, with plenty of seasonal opportunities on offer, particularly if you are studying Events Management or Visitor Attraction & Resort Management. I currently work as a Team Leader on the Guest Excellence Team and have gained invaluable experience and loved every minute of working at the Resort!

For Events in Autumn 2021 have a look at Jon Fairburn’s blog by clicking here

University wide clearing – 0800 590 830

Courses available in clearing at the Business School

Call our friendly team of Clearing experts on 0800 590 830 who are on hand to support you through the process, or sign up to one of our free events: www.staffs.ac.uk/clearing

Middleport Pottery – my experience by Simon Hope

Posted on 16th November 2018 by Prof. Jon Fairburn

by Simon Hope on the BA Tourism Management award (top up)

Pots, Plates and plenty of clay. Middleport Pottery is a historical attraction based in Burslem, Stoke on Trent. It consists of a factory tour, history tour, tea rooms and a shop. The site promotes the history and culture behind the potteries industry and transports you back to the past.

It started in 1888, as a working potteries factory and had fallen into despair until it was brought by the United Kingdom Historical Building Preservation Trust and renovated so that the factory can be continued to be worked.

Some of the range of Burleigh Pottery

We were toured round the factory by Tony who was a volunteer (as are all the tour guides) that was very insightful about the factory and all the history surrounding Middleport Pottery. We started on the old cobbled path then followed the path round to the clay dispense room with runners. Then we progressed through the factory tour developing more and more knowledge.

I really enjoyed the tour, it felt personal and connected. I felt like I was being transported back in time and I was surprised at how most of the factory preserved the historical feel whilst still operating. Whilst we were touring we saw the whole process and was able to see an order for Ralph Lauren which was exciting.

Middleport Pottery

It was a completely different process to the World of Wedgwood (WoW) which we have visited previously. WoW was very modern, and the tour was more views from a side line whereas Middleport pottery was much more hands on and interesting.

Bottle Kilns. The most interesting part of the tour brought us to one of the bottles kilns. I stood inside the kiln looking up towards the sky, thinking of how many thousands of pieces of crafts and the people who worked in these conditions. I was astounded, and it has made a lasting impression.

I would recommend the tour to any tourist student that wants an insight to history of the pottery industries. It has helped me to see how the operations of volunteer-based attraction works and I have seen where there is potential for the attraction to develop and maintain its advantage.

Overall, I would like to thank Middleport Pottery and Tony for the time taken to show us around the site. I would also like to promote the attraction to anyone who is interested in Stoke on Trent history and potteries.

Middleport Pottery on facebook

Middleport Pottery on twitter

You may also be interested in our blog on resources for Chinese visitor for Middleport Pottery

My Visit to the Wonderful World of Wedgwood

Posted on 5th November 2018 by Prof. Jon Fairburn

By Sasha Wilson L6 Tourism Management

Wedgwood is an iconic brand within the pottery industry, it was founded by Josiah Wedgwood in 1759 and is valued as part of English History (Visit Stoke, 2018). It is now owned by the Fiskars Group who have ownership over other iconic brands including Gerber, Fiskars, Littala, Waterford and Royal Copenhagen (Wedgwood, 2018).

The World of Wedgwood is located in Stoke-on-Trent, Barlaston and is known for being a cultural attraction suitable for all ages. They attract 100,000 visitors per year with 25% of them being international with Japan and China being the most popular, helping to contribute to their global sales by 40% (Perkins, 2018).

Sasha with some of her fellow students

My fellow colleagues and I arrived at the World of Wedgwood around 9am, where we were greeted by the director (Chris Perkins) and educational contact (Olivia Thackston). Chris has been working for the attraction for 5 years and manages the front of house, catering and museum teams, ensuring that they all run smoothly and all issues are resolves effectively.

The director showed us to the dinning hall where we conducted the interview, he started off by informing us about the Fiskars Group and the World of Wedgwood providing us with in-depth and valuable information. The group had individually prepared some questions to ask him, however many had already been answered through his inspirational talk.

I wanted to find out how the attraction is sustainable so I asked what strategies and procedures have been put into place to help the environment and reduce waste. He informed me that they don’t use plastic and that everything is made from glass so it can be reused, they also manage visitor numbers and order the right amount to cater for their needs to reduce food waste (Perkin, 2018).

An interesting fact I found out was that they recycle their broken casts by smashing them up which is then sold and used to make motorways, helping them to be more sustainable and provide positive impacts on the attraction as they still make money (Perkins, 2018). When I found out this I was very happy as I believe that organisations have a responsibility to the do whatever it takes to be more sustainable, to help preserve the environment and local community.

Once we had finished the interview we walked around the Museum where I saw lots of Wedgwood blue plates, taking me back to my childhood as my nan used to make us stories on the plates and tell them to me which gave me a warm and happy feeling. I then rang up my nan and told her she MUST visit as she would LOVE it! While on the phone we went back in time and remembered the happy and joyful memories that Wedgwood have provided us with, which we are very grateful for.

One of the many displays in the fabulous museum

We then brought tickets for the factory tour which costs us £5 as we were a group of students, this helped to encourage us to go on the tour as it is affordable and value for money. I highly recommend taking part in the factory tour as you are able to gain first-hand experience on how they make their famous potteries and see the fantastic detail that is put into the hand-crafted items.

To finish our visit we visited the gift shop where I brought a keyring as I collect one every time I visit an attraction, as I am able to look back through them and remember my experience.

Overall, I believe that the World of Wedgwood is a fun and interesting way to spend your day and well worth a visit.

You can follow them on social media Facebook , Twitter, Instagram

Reference List

PERKINS, C. (2018) World of Wedgwood Q&A. [Interview]. 11^th October 2018.

VISIT STOKE. (2018) World of Wedgwood. [Online] Available from: https://www.visitstoke.co.uk/see-and-do/world-of-wedgwood-p736491. [Accessed: 18^th October 2018].

WEDGWOOD. (2018) About Fiskars Group. [Online] Available from: https://www.wedgwood.co.uk/wedgwood/about-us/. [Accessed: 18^th October 2018].

Find out more about Tourism and Events Management at Staffordshire University

8 Trends To Keep Your Eyes On In 2018

Posted on 16th March 2018 by richardholland

1. Instagram Stories Drive Upcoming Instagram Trends

Instagram Stories is a big deal and they’re not going away. Daily viewers of Instagram Stories surpassed daily SnapChat viewers just one year after launch, and the growth isn’t stopping.

Instagram Stories was likely the biggest single change in the Instagram UX, and its marketing implications are huge.

A huge deal with Instagram Stories is this: accounts with over 10,000 followers can now add a link within the feature. Considering the fact that the only other place you can put a link on Instagram is just the one buried on your profile page, this is a huge deal, as it multiplies buying or inquiry opportunities by orders of magnitude.

Instagram Stories in particular will be relevant from a marketing perspective because, compared to other transitory video platforms, Instagram metrics are eminently trackable.

A final note on Instagram Stories: Their foundation is social media engagement gold. Video drastically outperforms all other forms of content on every test.

2. Influencer Marketing Makes Major Contributions to Social Media Engagement

Influencer marketing is big business — a billion dollar industry by some counts. There is an exhaustive list of micro-celebrities who earn six figure incomes. And this isn’t a fluke. Influencer marketing is uniquely keyed to exploit certain facts about a growing number of buyers.
As Millennials advance their careers, and Generation Z starts theirs, an enormous population’s purchasing power is increasing swiftly. These two groups — who, combined, literally comprise most of the world’s population — are uniquely influenced by this marketing method.

3. Generation Z to Decide Social Media Trends

We’ve mentioned Generation Z in both of the previous topics for good reason.

RetailDive had this to say about Generation Z and their associated social media trends:

“Gen Z is two- to three times more likely to be influenced by social media than by sales or discounts — the only generation to value social media over price when it comes to making purchase decisions…”

Furthermore, 81% report watching at least one hour of online video per day, or more, according to a study by Fluent, covered by AdWeek. Combine these facts and realize that droves of Generation Z will graduate college and/or start careers next year, and you start to see the powder keg.

4. Messaging Platforms Make Companies Accessible

What do you know about WeChat? They’re a wee little Chinese messaging company . . . errr, one that’s looking to cross 1 billion users this quarter. WeChat and WhatsApp are absolutely ubiquitous across either ocean, reaching across many different functions to dominate social media, direct messaging, and even purchasing and commerce.

Every year more and more buyers are Millennials and Gen Z, and fewer and fewer are older. In case you’re not aware of these people’s overwhelming preferences when it comes to talking to a company, we’ll illustrate in their native language:

5. Live Streaming Explodes

Live streaming isn’t about live streaming. At least not in the way we’re going to be talking about it. You’re going to see a lot more of it in 2018, and the people who do it well will be fully with the times and accelerating. Its prevalence will increase because it works.

But there’s something more at work here.

It’s actually about technology. We get better phones every year. Does that mean that we’re running the same apps better? Sometimes. But once the technological baseline of the average user has clearly moved up a notch, it becomes about making more robust apps that do more and fully take advantage of that new technology.

The smartphones of today are better than what we used to have by orders of magnitude. Furthermore, our data speeds are better, and are poised to make yet another insane leap in the next few years when 5G becomes the standard.

Live streaming is a medium or implementation of social technology that’s uniquely positioned to take advantage of hardware improvements for the next several years. The resolution of an image the size of a phone screen can only get so good before you have to zoom in to see a difference.

But better video processing across the board means all devices involved can handle more streaming at a better quality across more channels at the same time. This is such a huge change that it’s possibly unclear that anyone is even capable of fully understanding the ramifications.

6. Twitter is Going to Change

And they themselves might not even know how just yet.

Twitter has been slowly circling the drain, in some respects, for a long time now. 2017 pulled no punches with the social network, either. Twitter needs to make some big changes to stay relevant, as its growth is the slowest of all the major social media platforms.

7. Online Hangouts Become the Norm

Online hangouts go hand-in-hand with the live streaming trend, and with Generation Z. Consider Houseparty — an app for multiple friends to essentially FaceTime with each other in a group setting.

Houseparty made quite a wave in 2017 with rapid growth, and hit its stride well enough to inspire copycats, including perhaps an effort on the way coming from (no surprise here) Facebook.

The online hangouts trend is also going to intersect with VR. Sure, everyone promised everything this year with VR and AR, and all that ultimately came of it was two weeks of Pokemon GO.

But this year actually has the potential to be different. Many promising programs have another year of beta testing still left under their belts, but the technologies are improving in exciting ways. Once again, Facebook is at the epicentre, with Facebook Spaces.

8. Social Platforms See More Hardcore Moderation

The last year or so has forced the hand of several tech and social media titans to intervene and play a more active role in content moderation. Those manoeuvres, in retrospect, felt more like damage control than any sort of final solution.

We’re likely going to see companies revisit this in a more significant or longer-lasting way, and definitely more proactive than reactive.

As leveraging social media outlets for marketing first took flight, some were dubious of their staying power. The years since have changed sceptic’s into believers, and what’s on the forefront will clearly and easily amplify the channels’ relevance even further.

2018 is here… but were you prepared?

2018 social media trends predict that time on social media platforms will increase. This means you will need to improve your online presence in the year to come.

By Richard Holland – MSc Digital Marketing Student

Contact –

Linkedin- Richard Holland

Instagram – Ricardo J

Brand –

Instagram – Ricco London

Twitter – Ricco London

Facebook – Ricco London

E-mail marketing or Messenger marketing?

Posted on 23rd February 2018 by richardholland

What Email Marketers are saying

When it comes to email marketing software, marketers are spoilt for choice. But how do they feel about the emails they send?

It turns out that relevance is a huge concern for them. DMA reports that 42% of marketers say only some of the emails they send are relevant, and a whopping 10% say their emails aren’t relevant at all. That’s an issue, with consumers trashing irrelevant email.

Another issue people wonder about is the ROI of email marketing. In other words, is it really worth it? Various comparison’s of email marketing vs social media shows that email outperforms social by miles. And Chief Marketer says the ROI of email marketing is 28.5% better than for direct mail.

So what does Messenger do better?

Well, the big problem with email marketing is that you’re talking at your users and potential customers, not with them.

It’s kind of like being on the receiving end of a sales pitch, one where you have no say until the salesman is finished leaving you with only one response, yes or no.

Messenger though, creates a conversation.

It’s the only channel that solicits real time feedback from your users, the only channel where they have a say and shape the conversation which builds interest and engagement.

Check out the below example from 1800-flowers.

What Does the Future Hold?

Email is a mature channel, one which has been extensively developed and includes various advanced features to help you better market to your customers.

Messenger on the other hand is the new kid on the block.

It’s showing great promise and is getting far higher engagement in the areas where they’re going head to head, but it’s not yet at the level of sophistication email has developed.

Messenger is quickly gaining ground on email in terms of features and is already outpacing the platform in the areas where there’s overlap.

So what should a smart store owner like you do?

Well, what you shouldn’t do is abandon email marketing in favour of Messenger. Right now Messenger simply doesn’t have the advanced functionality and tracking of email.

However, if you already haven’t you should be looking at implementing Messenger on your site ASAP.

Right now, Messenger is the perfect complement to your email marketing. And if the last year is any indication, in the near future Messenger will continue to outperform email in other key marketing and communication areas for ecommerce as the platform progresses.

Right now, if I had to advise some specific campaigns your store needs to be running I’d recommend focusing on:

Messenger isn’t just a nice thing to have on your store or a new fad that will die out. The success rate of stores across the globe and the growing user base points to a new channel that might one day overtake email as the chief ROI channel.

In conclusion:

Email marketing and social media are like parallel universes that communicate with each other.

We suggest using email marketing when you’re looking more for reach, traffic and direct conversions. Social media, on the other hand, is a great tool that can help you engage your audience and assist you with making more sales.

There is no reason why you shouldn’t use both. Just be sure to allocate your resources the right way. Thank you for reading this blog and please leave your comments below.