Three new tenants, namely Flip Antiques, Vintage Decor and Florence & Belle, will move into the PopUp shop on Friday 15 February for two weeks (till Thursday 28 February inclusive) and will be offering a complete cross-section of items ranging from 18th century antiques, through Art Deco prints to modern paintings.

Flip Antiques (www.flipantiques.com) is an online business, based in Moreton in Marsh, which trades in decorative vintage and antique objects, as well as furniture. Ali Coggins of Flip Antiques will be selling a wide range of items in the PopUp Moreton shop, from small items that provide the perfect finishing touch to an interior to striking pieces of furniture that will take pride of place in a home.

Vintage Decor is owned by Jerry Freeman, who worked in London in the antiques trade for many years. Now based in Hook Norton, he will be selling a selection of framed prints dating to around 1930, which are part of a set devised by Enid Blyton as a teaching aid for schools. The prints, created by notable artists of the era, such as Raymond Sheppard and Kathleen Nixon, evoke memories of an altogether more innocent age, of idealised childhoods and unspoilt nature.

Florence & Belle is the brainchild of Evesham-based Nikki Moulton, a Fine Arts graduate of Leeds Metropolitan University, who has been selling her unique artworks at local fairs for the past eight years. Having illustrated four children’s books and with a strong following on Facebook (www.facebook.com/florenceandbelle), Nikki was keen to get involved in PopUp Moreton to expand her customer base and to showcase her original paintings, cards, bags and jewellery.

PopUp Moreton is part of the national enterprise campaign StartUp Britain, which ran a series of Pop-Up Shops in London in late 2012, offering young companies an opportunity to trial their products in a cost-effective retail environment. Moreton-in-Marsh is the first location outside the capital to host a pop-up shop as part of this fantastic new initiative.
In return for a fee of just £100 (to include rent, insurance and Wifi access to enable people to carry on working while in situ), each company will be able to spend two weeks trialling a physical retail space, generate marketing buzz and raise the profile of their products and/or company, gain invaluable customer service experience, and test the market through a low-risk and relatively inexpensive method.

Old Market Way (http://www.oldmarketway.com) is a shopping centre off Moreton-in-Marsh’s High Street with a range of shops, including fashion, home wares, gourmet foods, electrical goods, hairdressing and restaurants.

PopUp Britain is the brainchild of national enterprise campaign StartUp Britain with the aim of giving new British brands an opportunity to get their products onto the British High Street while making good use of the growing number retails outlets now standing empty. It is currently running a shop in the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) which it hopes will bring its pop-up shop model to the attention of the 330 Town Teams, part of the DCLG’s plans for high street regeneration. www.popupbritain.com

Key stats and evidence on start-ups in the UK

• 2011 saw a record high for start-ups: over 450,000 people set up a company and became their own boss

• A StartUp Britain poll revealed 82 per cent of start-ups found the pop-up experience was valuable for their business

• In the UK, there are 4.8m private sector companies employing an estimated 23.9m people with a turnover of £3,100bn

• SMEs (especially the small number of high growth SMEs) are key to economic growth

• SMEs also account for almost half the net growth in jobs

• According to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium, 11.3 per cent of shop premises in UK town centres are now vacant

• A survey for Intuit of 1,000 small businesses in the UK found that just 19 per cent of micro-businesses – firms with less than 10 employees – currently accept card payments. Almost half, a total of 47 per cent, said they would accept cards if there was a more affordable way of doing so using their smart phone or tablet.

All press enquiries should be directed to: Sue Heady Director The Mulberry House - High Street - Moreton in Marsh - Gloucestershire - GL56 0AD
T+44 (0)1608 651 692