A marketing expert with a \u201cgolden touch\u201d and a fast-growing consultancy firm have joined forces to create a powerhouse agency in North Wales.<\/p>\n
Creative livewire Beth Woodhouse, from Old Colwyn, has been appointed as the lead consultant for marketing after her company, Marketshed, merged with Anglesey-based Lafan.<\/p>\n
Marketshed and Lafan had collaborated ever more closely since 2020 and she described the move as a \u201cnatural evolution\u201d.<\/p>\n
Beth\u2019s clients have transferred to Lafan\u2019s new marketing division, Lafan Creu, which has ambitions to grow its Welsh customer base and venture further afield across the border into England under her leadership.<\/p>\n
According to Beth, having Lafan behind her means they will together be able to offer even more services.<\/p>\n
The company has experts working across a range of sectors, including agri-food, community development, education and sustainability and prides itself on providing a fully bilingual service.<\/p>\n
Born in St Asaph, Beth had a peripatetic childhood due to her father working with HSBC bank, including stints in Dolgellau and Caernarfon.<\/p>\n
After graduating with a degree in marketing and business management from Aberystwyth University, Beth headed to Glasgow where she worked in the marketing department of a major hotel management company.<\/p>\n
It was, she said, a great grounding because she had the opportunity to gain experience with big chains like Holiday Express and Hotel Indigo.<\/p>\n
But the lure of North Wales provided too strong and Beth returned to work for the high profile jewellery brand, Clogau, which specialises in Welsh gold, rising through the ranks to become marketing manager.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI loved working for Clogau and I had some fantastic\u00a0 opportunities and the company grew a great deal during the time I was there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had my daughter just before the Covid lockdown and that changed everything. It turned the world upside down but it also changed my perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, I decided I wanted to strike out and create my own marketing agency with my own brand.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a massive step because, on the face of it, this wasn\u2019t the best time to launch my own business. It was a big risk but I\u2019m glad to say it worked out really well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had envisaged that I would be doing a lot of consultancy work, sharing ideas and strategies, but as it turned out what people really needed was more hands on help because the pandemic accelerated the shift to online marketing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of a sudden everybody needed to move to the digital world overnight and a lot of local companies weren\u2019t ready and needed help with\u00a0 websites, social media and email.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really lucky because clients kept recommending my services to other people so the business grew organically and I started working on projects with Lafan.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I did more and more work with Lafan, the relationship grew ever closer because we were on the same wave length so merging with them was a natural evolution of the partnership because we\u2019re such a good fit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really exciting period and I am looking forward to being part of Lafan\u2019s future growth and development.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll my clients have transferred over to Lafan Creu and we\u2019ve already landed three new clients since we joined forces so we\u2019ve got off to a promising start.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of scope to grow even more because we have more services and support that we can offer customers across Wales and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that we operate bilingually is incredibly important and it is something that we are passionate about because we have clients who want to communicate effectively in Welsh and English. It\u2019s in our DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among Marketshed\u2019s clients who\u2019ve transferred to Lafan Creu is the Anglesey-based HR company, Dolen, which is celebrating its 10th<\/sup> anniversary this year.<\/p>\n Dolen founder Leah Watkins said: \u201cI got in touch with Beth in 2021 because I wanted to start building the brand and I needed work with somebody who understood the business.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I started with Beth I employed one person and we are now a team of four people and I have a stable of associates who also work with us.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are growing year on year and the marketing has been a key part of our success.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t afford to employ somebody full time to do our marketing and certainly not somebody with Beth\u2019s level of expertise. She is an integral member of the team\u00a0 and she is brilliant at what she does.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me personally, it\u2019s lovely to see Beth going through a new stage and it\u2019s really exciting to see her becoming part of Lafan because I can see the added value it\u2019s going to give us as a company.\u201d<\/p>\n Lafan chair Geraint Hughes was delighted that Beth had become a member of the team as a result of the merger.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cBeth is a hugely talented marketeer who is equally comfortable and creative in Cymraeg and English so she is going to be a fantastic asset in her new role leading Lafan Creu.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter honing her skills in the hotel industry, she developed a reputation as something of a marketing Midas with a golden touch during her successful time with Clogau and her stellar achievements after launching Marketshed.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough Lafan Creu, we will continue to empower businesses and public sector bodies across rural Wales with marketing services tailored to their specific needs.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd with Beth at the helm of the new division, we can grow this side of the business and help our clients to increase visibility, extend engagement, or build a lasting brand with a wide range of bilingual marketing and communication services.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our own way, we are also going for gold and Beth will have an important role in helping Lafan to reach the next level and become a powerhouse to develop creative and clever business models for the benefit of the rural economy in Wales and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n