NABAS MEMBER interview: Hayley Allcoat
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Business Name: 1st For Balloons Owner: Hayley Allcoat Location & area covered: Kinross - covering East and Central Scotland for smaller jobs and Scotland/ North East England for larger scale work. What was your career path to where you are today?: Upon leaving school I worked in a bank followed by a couple of other office jobs before I decided to go into floristry and had 2 florist shops in the Midlands. When supermarkets started to sell flowers our trade was badly hit and Interflora (which we were members of) decided to put balloon courses on. Some of the skills were the same, colour harmonies, visual and actual balance etc so balloons became a small part of our business. Eleven years ago I moved to Scotland to be with Richard (my husband) and decided to work with just balloons from a home based business. The business has steadily grown and with my floristry background I am now able to offer many clients the opportunity to have both balloons and flowers.
Name something in the balloon industry that you most like: Conferences and mixing with other balloonies to further my knowledge and product range. I love the buzz this industry creates I am sure that there is nothing else like it. Name something in the balloon industry that you least like: Companies devaluing our trade. Specifically companies where balloons are not there prime product and offer them at reduced rates as an incentive to purchase their other products. There is no need to reduce the price and do they not realise that they will make more money by pricing correctly? Best thing about your job?: The satisfaction I get from transforming a bland venue into something quite stunning, especially when the staff start getting the cameras out and taking picture because they haven't seen anything like it before. What best describes your business? Balloon decorator and florist. How did you decide on your business name?: When I was in floristry there was a flower wholesaler called "First for Flowers" and I decided to use the number 1st to come first in listings. However that doesn't always work! How do you decide what product to buy in?: I only buy in what I need for the jobs that I have but actively try to encourage customers to try something different so I can get to use all kinds of materials. What advertising works for you? : I think word of mouth and website is probably better than all of the printed advertising that I do, but I do advertise in Yellow Pages and on Yell.com