An
insight into the successful business of Church Hill
Gallery
For the first in our series of articles on
successful framing businesses around the country, we
visited Church Hill Gallery in Knutsford, Cheshire. For
more than twelve years, this gallery has been successful
in a competitive area and we wanted to see how.
Part of the answer is obvious as
soon as you walk into the shop. Downstairs, Church Hill
Gallery sells a stunning array of the most unusual, high
quality cards and wrapping papers. With around seventy
customers per day, the card shop provides excellent
opportunities for cross selling the framing business, and
the gallery makes the most of this by giving out framing
leaflets with every purchase from the card shop.
When you climb the stairs, you come across a picture
gallery and framing business which is so well thought out
that every inch of space earns its keep and customers are
immediately put into the right frame of mind to buy.
Church Hill Gallery publishes Graham Illingworth and a
selection of Graham's work, beautifully framed, adorns
the walls of the gallery. Airy and spacious, the gallery
is used to demonstrate the art of framing at its best -
and, of course, every picture is for sale!
The main reason for the success of this business lies
behind the scenes. We met Church Hill's owner, Andrew
Mount, the Frame Shop Manager, Mark Groom and the
apprentice framer, Laura Elliot, who were completely open
with us about their approach to the business.
Frame Shop manager, Mark, has
worked at Church Hill Gallery for more than six years.
During that time, the systems in place have been finely
tuned so that every penny is accounted for and the profit
on every job can be measured accurately. This is partly
possible since the introduction of the Framer's Assistant
computer system, which was supplied by EMF In Control and
which has paid for itself many times over. The system
prices up each job, keeps records of stock levels, gives
monthly sales and profits analysis and holds a complete
customer and supplier database.
Customer service in the framing shop is managed by Jackie
Tyler-Burke, herself a framer with considerable
experience. It is a policy at Church Hill Gallery that
nobody is allowed to serve customers unless they
understand the art of framing. "How otherwise can
they be qualified to advise?" asks Andrew Mount. At
Church Hill Gallery, the choice of frame is usually
decided by the framers, who will often talk a customer
out of their own choice because it will not present the
subject in the best possible way. As Mark Groom says,
"It is better to sell a customer what is right for
the subject than do as you are asked and supply something
that looks awful. In our experience, customers are happy
to be advised, and we have rarely had a complaint about a
finished job."
