“They know what works and how to achieve results….”
The Federation of Small Businesses is the leading business organisation for nearly 190,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK.
One of our most effective means of directly communicating with our members is our bi-monthly, 36-page magazine, First Voice, which focuses on the key business and political issues facing SMEs, profiling members and sharing achievement and success.
In addition to keeping existing members informed, the publication is used as a marketing and recruitment aid to showcase FSB benefits, and is circulated to senior politicians and business leaders to raise our profile, so it is imperative it is a credible read and stands up to scrutiny.
In 2012 we invited CW to suggest ways to refresh and improve the layout and design, as well as content, to ensure that the magazine remains an effective mouthpiece for the FSB, especially in the light of more online communication channels vying for a greater share of voice.
We were impressed how quickly the CW team grasped what needed to be done and nailed all the key issues. With a grounding in print journalism, backed up with years of practical experience in the corporate world, they know what works and how to achieve results. To cover all bases, they also went out to members for their thoughts and opinions…ranging from a focus group with national councillors to informal conversations with branch members at local networking events.
With several issues, and an award from the Institute of Internal Communication, under our belt, I can safely say the quality of both editorial and design has noticeably improved and feedback from members continues to be positive.
We chose CW based on recommendation, track record and their ideas for developing First Voice. I’m delighted they have delivered on their promises in every respect. I trust them to just get on with it without fuss or bother while I can focus on other priorities and be confident we’ll have another edition to be proud of come publication day.
However, we’re also acutely aware that we are only as good as our last issue and the pressure is relentless – so it’s totally reassuring to know we have a solid partner in CW who understands this and rises to the challenge.
Nigel Duncan
Chairman, FSB Publications