13. How independent shop Prior is leading the charge in driving visitors to the high street

Visitor Elves

The face of retail and the high street is changing and those seeing success are passionate creative businesses that have a truly distinctive personality, like Prior Shop in Bristol.

Our final episode of season one features the inspirational Beck Prior, founder of Prior Shop – 'High Street Shop of the Year' winner in the 2021 Holly & Co Independent Awards.

In 2019, Beck turned her passion for high quality, sustainable design, into a thriving business. She is a craftsperson, maker and visionary leader doing great things for her local communities. And in her pursuit of driving sales of beautiful hand-made products, Beck is bringing to life the stories behind the 150 makers she now works with. Prior has two shops and a visitor experience that combines retail with the local creative culture that customers and visitors can get involved in. This is some of the magic that will bring positive change to the retailers and high streets of the future.
You will love hearing from Beck if you are involved in retail, destination marketing or simply have a love of shopping and hearing people’s stories of turning their passion into a career.

Beck shares how her battle with Leukaemia prompted her to consider and follow her passions. She explains how she got where she is today and some of the tips she has picked up along the way. Beck talks through ideas to drive footfall into Bristol’s large shopping destination Cabot Circus, as well as the smaller out of town high street in Old Market. We also discuss the challenges of digital marketing and increasing online sales alongside a bricks and mortar presence, as well as managing social media accounts as a business evolves.

We hope you are as inspired by Beck as much as we are!

Find out more

• Prior Shop website: https://www.priorshop.uk/
• Prior Made (Beck’s homewares): https://www.priormade.store/

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Thank you!

Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
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