QR Codes

What are they and how will they be used? 

  
You may have seen random signs like a bar code getting onto your breakfast cereal packaging or on a leaflet that comes through your door, this unique symbol is called a QR code (short for Quick Response) and is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background.

QR codes store addresses and URLS and appear in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards, or on just about any object about which users might need information. Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader application can scan the image of the QR Code to display text, contact information, connect to a wireless network or open a web page in the phone's browser. This act of linking from physical world objects is known as a hardlink or physical world hyperlinks

Over the next year we predict that more businesses will be adopting these codes as part of their marketing brand to promote themselves as an ingenious new way to attract a younger digital generation to buy their products.

Try scanning the above QR code and see where it takes you, you will need to download the free app for your phone first, browse your app store under QR readers then scan it, its easy and you will see how useful they will be.

If you want to find out how QR Codes can help your business then give us a call on 01296 489998 or 01442 345088 or email us at hello@freshdps.co.uk or visit us at http://www.freshdps.co.uk/


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Twitter helps investors

predict the stock market

The millions of messages sent daily via Twitter can help predict moves in the Dow Jones by signalling sentiment, researchers at Indiana University and the University of Manchester have found. 




By scouring tweets for key words and analyzing them using an algorithm they developed to define the mood of Twitterers, Johan Bollen, Huina Mao and Xiao-Jun Zeng said they were able to predict the daily up and down movements of the Dow during a period in 2008 with 87 percent accuracy. Now they are testing whether their results can be applied to real-time data.


“So far we have observed that some of the parameters may change over time but that our conclusion that Twitter mood data can predict fluctuations in the stock market will stand,” said Indiana University’s Bollen in an e-mail interview. “We feel that we have merely uncovered the tip of the proverbial iceberg.”


The research suggests that Twitter analysis could provide a cheap way to improve results of other computer models that use news events and other publicly available data to anticipate how investors will act. The data may even predict to some extent the magnitude of stock market moves, Bollen said.

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Our Chosen Charity

Of The Year                                     

                               

We have always liked to help local charities as much as possible and this year is no exception, as designers and  printers we are in an ideal position to help, so when we were asked to help support local charity Wheelpower to help raise awareness and funds we thought this would be a great way to show how we could help and save Wheelpower some money as well.

We are always inundated with appeals but we have always said that we can only support one charity per year and after some careful thought it was Wheelpower that we wanted to support the most.

For our part we will be supporting the Tour De Vale Bike Ride event which will be happening in June, with all the promotional material which includes 50,000 leaflets, vinyl banners, race numbers, route signs, posters and flags.

                                                    

We will have a strong contingent at the event on the day to help support the event, so please help support a great charity and have some fun at the same time as well, click on the link below to find out more about the event.

http://www.wheelpower.org.uk/WPower/index.cfm/featured/mix-96-tour-de-vale-bike-ride/

If you would like to find out how Fresh can help your business then email us at hello@freshdps.co.uk or visit us at www.freshdps.co.uk or call us on 01296 489998 or 01442 345088

Fresh launches its

2 New Radio Adverts






After months of creative input into our new radio adverts they will now be aired starting Wednesday 30th March, if you want a sneak preview then click on the links below.

We are launching a campaign on Mix 96 to drive home our message of 'Design & Print The Way It Should Be'.

Have a listen and see what you think and let us know any feedback.

http://www.freshdps.co.uk/mix_96_adverts/fresh_design_and_print_car_654.mp3

 http://www.freshdps.co.uk/mix_96_adverts/fresh_design_and_print_generic_remake.mp3



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'Licence To Print Money'

Ever wondered where some of the popular sayings come from and what they mean? Well over the next few weeks we thought we would explore some of our industries sayings and meanings and where they come from.

This weeks it is the saying 'Licence To Print Money', read below and learn about its origin and impress your friends next time you go out for a drink.

Roy Herbert Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet GBE

(June 5, 1894 – August 4, 1976) was a Canadian newspaper

proprietor and media entrepreneur.


Roy Herbert Thomson was born in Toronto, Ontario.
           
During World War I, Roy Thomson attended a business college, and owing to bad eyesight he was rejected by the army. He went to Manitoba after the war to become a farmer, but was unsuccessful. Thomson travelled to Toronto again, where he held several jobs at different times; one of which was selling radios.

 In 1934, Thomson acquired his first newspaper. With a down payment of $200 he purchased the Timmins Daily Press, in Timmins, Ontario. He would begin an expansion of both radio stations and newspapers in various Ontario locations in partnership with fellow Canadian, Jack Kent Cooke.By the early 1950s, he owned 19 newspapers and was president of the Canadian Daily Newspaper Publishers Association, and then began his first foray into the British newspaper business by starting up the Canadian Weekly Review to cater to expatriate Canadians living in Britain.


Thomson’s ancestors were small tenant farmers on the estates of the Dukes of Buccleuch at Bo'ness, in the parish of Westerkirk, Dumfriesshire, Scotland.Thomson himself made the decision to move to Edinburgh where in 1952 he purchased The Scotsman newspaper.


In 1957, he launched a successful bid for the commercial television franchise for Central Scotland, named Scottish Television, which he was to describe as a "licence to print money". In 1959 he purchased the Kemsley group of newspapers, the largest in Britain, which included The Sunday Times. Over the years, he would expand his media empire to include more than 200 newspapers in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. His Thomson Organization became a multinational corporation, with interests in publishing, printing, television, and travel. In 1966, Thomson bought The Times newspaper from members of the Astor family.


In 1964 he was made Baron Thomson of Fleet.In order to receive this title, it was necessary for Thomson to acquire British citizenship, as the Canadian government had made it common practice since 1919 to disallow the conference of titular honours from the Canadian Monarch on Canadians. However, the Canadian Citizenship Act between 1947 and 1977 stated that any Canadian who became a citizen of another country through means other than marriage would cease to be a Canadian citizen. Thus, Thomson lost his Canadian citizenship in the process.


In the 1970s, Thomson joined with J. Paul Getty in a consortium that successfully explored for oil in the North Sea.


A modest man, who had little time for pretentious displays of wealth, in Britain he got by virtually unnoticed, riding the London Underground to his office each day. Nonetheless, he made his son Kenneth promise to use the hereditary title that he had received in 1964, if only in the London offices of the firm.


Thomson died in London in 1976. At the time of his death, his son Kenneth Thomson became chair of Thomson Corporation and inherited the baronial title becoming the 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet. With the Thomson operations now principally again in Canada, the younger Thomson did not use his title in Canada though he did so in Britain, and used two sets of stationery reflecting this dichotomy. In any case, as the peerage title he had was inherited, it did not debar him from retaining his Canadian citizenship, and he never bothered to take up his right to a seat in the pre-1999 House of Lords.


Thomson died in London and a plaque was placed in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral.

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Cinram - The Rebrand -
Fast, Effective Solutions

With time running out to get their rebranded marketing material produced, Cinram turned to Fresh for help. With only days to spare before launching their new brand identity at an exhibition, Fresh had to produce Pop Up Banners, Full colour brochures, data sheets, business cards and other literature in 2 days.

With the artwork coming from Canada and timeline difference of 5 hours, proofing wasnt easy but with only minutes to spare Fresh delivered it all into Central London as well.

The point to this story is who else in the area could produce all the these different solutions in-house, ontime and to a high spec.

Andy Gerlack from Fresh stated 'It was a bit hairy at times and the whole team sweated a lot to make it achievable, but we managed it, we co-ordinated it brilliantly but it helps that we can do all of these different print solutions all in-house and that we have total control over the job as there are still a lot of design & print companys out there saying they are producing it in-house when in fact they have not got the equipment or expertise  and sending it out.'

So if your looking for fast effective design & print solutions for your business that are all produced in-house the call Fresh on 01296 489998 or 01442 345088 or email us at hello@freshdps.co.uk or visit us at www.freshdps.co.uk/

                                                          

Is this the Death of a Salesman?

Have you tried
e-marketing?                  

Over the last 2 years we have seen a massive increase in the number of clients that now use us for their e-marketing campaigns, with the economic climate looking like a bumpy road to recovery more and more businesses are looking for better value for money marketing than the usual mediums of press and radio advertising.


What our customers have found by using e-marketing to stay in touch  with their existing clients and to generate new leads is a cost effective sales tool that brings an excellent success rate on their return of investment.


Our clients include some very big names around the Vale and all have had success with us.


Andy Gerlack said ' This is the easiest way of staying in touch with your existing customers and not hassling them at the same time, people dont want to be bombarded with sales calls and this is perfect for letting them know your offers and your news in an easy informal approach, from as little as £100.00 you could send out up to 2000 email addresses and the report you get back can help so much in generating new sales leads.


Gareth Davis for GES said ' We started using Fresh for our e-marketing because we believed that this is the future of keeping your existing clients informed and letting them know what else you could do. Its given us a new dimension to generate very hot leads and convert them quicker by the results who opened and how many times they opened, its been a great sales tool for us.'


So with the increase in e-marketing and the need  for good, cost effective marketing could this be the 'death of the salesman'


If you would like to find out more about how e-marketing can help your business then book into our business surgery on 01296 489998 or 01442 345088 or email us at hello@freshdps.co.uk


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Websites R US

Exactly!! We are the first to admit that we are not renowned for doing websites but just recently since we launched back in the summer we have taken on 7 already, 3 of them are about to launch and we will show you the results.

We have always prided ourselves on being creative and design focused and the websites we have produced thus far endorses this. With this in mind we will be launching our new website early in the spring as its being worked on at the moment. But perhaps this the perfect time for us all to look at our own websites with the increase in social networking and online shopping everyone is spending more time looking at sites.

Try to put your customers shoes on and look for your product or service and see if it is easy to find and then see once on it if it presents itself in its best light and is easy to navigate, websites dont have to be a costly exercise to look good and functional as our team here can talk you through it and make it easy if you have an existing one already or you have to have a new one.

Have a look at a couple that we have already launched.

http://www.momentousmoving.com/


http://www.freshdps.co.uk/pool/


Give us a call for a chat to find out how we can help your existing website or a brand new one on 01296 489998 or 01442 345088 or email us on hello@freshdps.co.uk

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Fresh put their best foot forward

Fresh are now the proud sponsors of Bucks CC U14 FC, with their new kit the team look nice and Fresh!

"We have to say thanks to Fresh for this, it’s great news and hopefully we will be able to have a really successful season" said Steve Short, Team Manager. 

The team always goes out fighting for the win and show great determination to do their best, which makes the partnership so unique. 

To follow the teams success go to http://www.bucksccfconline.co.uk           

"The team are great to watch, and winning a lot of games, they have every chance of winning some trophies this year. Success breeds success and Fresh are proud to be part of the Bucks CC U14." commented Kevin Brook, Director, Fresh.




The proud team, Kevin Brook and team managers

 

If you want to find out how we can help your business to be a success then contact us on 01296 489998 or 01442 345088 or send us an email at hello@freshdps.co.uk

A Momentous Rebrand      

When it comes to challenges this rebrand project has to be the biggest for us to date.

Baxters International Removals wanted to update their identity for the new year and asked Fresh to come up with some ideas with only eight weeks before the official launch.

But this was only the beginning of the challenge - once the logo was decided upon, Fresh also won the business for the marketing programme. This involved the design and production of the exterior signage for all the buldings and the vehicle liveries for the whole fleet of lorries, trailers and cargo containers. It also included producing all the stationery, brochures, folders and forms, a brand new website and an e -marketing campaign! All this had to be ready for the January launch.

Andy Gerlack from Fresh says, " This was an exceptional challenge to meet and where else could one business organise and produce all of these different solutions? This has been one amazing project and I am so pleased with the results."

Simon Osborne, Group Managing Director of Momentous said " Andy and his team at Fresh were exceptional in every department, their attention to detail and their problem solving have been amazing. I would totally recommend them to anybody. They rose to a momentous challenge!"


If you would like to find out more about Momentous then visit them at

www.momentousmoving.com

If you would like to know what Fresh can do for your business then visit us at www.freshdps.co.uk or email us at hello@freshdps.co.uk or call us on 01296 489998 or 01442 345088

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Not B2B but P2P                                      


I went to a breakfast meeting a couple of weeks ago and got talking to some regular clients of mine who were there and they were talking about how their business is now more focused on B2B ( business to business) rather than relying on the public. I argued the point that all sales focus for new clients or business' should be more P2P  ( people to people).

We all know the old saying that people buy from people and this is completely true. Sales & Marketing is about knowing your audience and interacting with them. Knowing what people want to know and encouraging them to interact with your brand is essential to building loyalty and should never be overlooked. As pro-active as we are we accept that our clients will always know more about their product, but it is our job to know the people and build the relationship and loyalty.

Somewhere along the way a lot of us have undervalued good old fashioned values of service and I find this remarkable as the best way to sell your product or service in the best light is the to sell yourself in its best light and then half the battle is won.

So I told my client that not to use these buzzwords but be more personal, be interested and also interesting and then you wont go far wrong.

If you would like to find out how we can help your business then email us at hello@freshdps.co.uk or visit us at www.freshdps.co.uk or call us on 01296 489998 or 01442 345088



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Fresh Hemel is now 1                         

Well how time flies, here we were last year telling you about how we were going to expand and have another branch in Hemel Hempstead and low and behold here we are celebrating our first year there.

It has been an exceptional year for us and we could not have done it without the businesses of Hemel seeing what we have to offer and liking it, so we would just like to say a big thank you for all of our Hemel clients for giving us the opportunity to be your first choice design & print provider.

You can expect more from us in this coming year and some exciting news in the Springtime as well.

If you would like to find out how we can help your business then call us on 01442 345088 or email us at hello@freshdps.co.uk or visit us at http://www.freshdps.co.uk/

We look forward to seeing you all very soon. Thank you once again.

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Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of our customers, thank you for your valued business this year,

it is very much appreciated.

We look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

from all the team at Fresh

Fresh recognised by Dacorum Community Trust & Connect Dacorum


Its always nice to be recognised when helping companys or a charity or a school. Over the past year we have been working with Adeyfield School in Hemel Hempstead and their students for the DENS charity.

We have always strived to help schools, charities and local businesses as much as possible so when Adeyfield School came to us for help we were able to offer our services.

Adeyfield School were so pleased, that they nominated us for recognition at an awards dinner held at Pendley Manor earlier this month where we picked up a certificate of appreciation from Councillor Roger M. Taylor who is Mayor of the Borough of Dacorum.

The event marked an eventful year for us in the Dacorum where our Hemel Hempstead office has been winning customers and friends and awards in its first year.

Andy Gerlack from Fresh said ' Its been a great first year for us in Hemel Hempstead, we have established ourselves over here when nobody knew us and have some exceptional clients here that we are proud to work with, the next year will be even more exciting and I look forward to helping more businesses over here and showing them what Fresh can do, this award for us caps off what has been a great year in Hemel.

The picture is of Andy Gerlack receiving the award from The Mayor of the Borough of Dacorum.

Fresh Invest in New Xerox Digital Press 

Only 2 years old and its out with the old and in with the new! Fresh have said goodbye to their colour and mono digital machines and said hello to their new technology.

Fresh have taken delivery of a new Xerox 700 Digital Colour Press and a hi-speed mono 4127 digital machine. Within a day, the new machines were in, set up and printing to the new high standard.

Their new colour press will do up to 70 colour prints a minute and onto a maximum of 300gsm. With greater colour management they are able to match colours more accurately giving their clients a cost effective solution for short run colour. With the increase in speed and quality Fresh are at the top of their game for digital colour printing.

The new hi-speed mono machine does an impressive 125 mono prints per minute and gives them more control on how jobs are built together and printed, saving time on extra finishing, in turn meaning again Fresh are able to produce their work in a quicker turnaround in this ever demanding world.

Kevin Brook, Director said 'This is a great message to tell our existing and new customers that Fresh are committed to quality and service. I have been in the industry for 15 years and seen the quality of these machines just get better and better, which echoes our strapline 'Design & Print The Way It Should Be.'

If you would like more information on either of these machines or would like a demonstration then please call Fresh on 01296 489998 and ask for Kevin.

Its Nice That                   

Heres a little rant from our designers, so be patient with us, we all know that creative people can have a tendency to be..... well lets say creative in their thoughts and processes.

So I was with a couple of my old college designer friends last week and we were discussing the word 'nice' and how it crops up into any conversation about design. I never knew that as a creative bunch, designers could be so touchy about a word but when asked about it they said that it should be removed from the dictionary or disected and tortured until it was screaming for mercy until it wasnt 'nice'.

Why is a word hated so much by designers? the answer is that it means nothing when a client describes work, all designers need feedback good or bad for some direction but 'nice' is a sit on the fence answer and is guaranteed to enrage. They felt it was a lazy way of describing and a get out used for the english language.

This is also the case in different circumstances, like if you are having a meal cooked for you and you say that it is 'nice' then how does that make the cook feel, neither here nor there I suspect or if you are trying on a new outfit and your partner says 'its nice' then does this really help?

So try it next time and see, perhaps we are living in too much of a PC world where people are too scared to criticise, so next time you hear yourself saying the word, take a minute and think what you would like to really say and lets hope its not 'nice.'


If you want to find out more about Fresh then email us on hello@freshdps.co.uk or call us on 01296 489998 or 01442 345088 or visit us at www.freshdps.co.uk

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GES - The Rebrand                                                                 



Over the last couple of years we seem to have become the rebrand specialists, we have done quite a few now and each time the result of the before and after are spectacular.

Most companies want to sharpen their image a bit after a few years as we all know things go in and out of fashion and a companys image can start to look a bit tired and stagnant.

So a year ago we were called into to pitch our company to start a rebrand campaign for General Environmental Services, we won the pitch and we embarked on a complete rebranding campaign over the year, firstly we had to pitch our creative design and it was this part that impressed. From their on in we came up with a complete brand identity that would work across all mediums. It ranged from simple business cards to vehicle livery to internal and external signage and brand awareness for an e-shot as well and just recently a complete exhibiton stand from scratch

The results were incredible and the clients extremely pleased with the results, so much so that they then asked us to rebrand their sub-divisions GES Technology and GES Air,

Gareth Davis from GES commented, " We wanted to have a consistent, contemporary brand identity that showed our clients what we are about, from the moment we met Fresh we knew we had picked the right company, they have given us an identity that we are all proud of, they managed the whole project from start to finish without fuss and would recommend them to anyone as the service was first class. We had many design companys pitch to us but it was Freshs' creative approach that impressed us the most."


So if your businees needs to have a look at its image again then give us a call on 01296 489998 or 01442 345088 or email us at hello@freshdps.co.uk or visit us at www.freshdps.co.uk


Below is the finished result of a careful, creative rebranded logo.

                                              

Which comes first Sales or Marketing?       


As a design, print and marketing company we speak to a lot of businesses who see the value of marketing but aren’t yet ready to invest in it without seeing sales first. This is like the old story of the chicken and the egg.

You might have the best product in the world, but how will any one know if you don’t market it? You might put it on your website.Tell someone about it at a networking event. Word of mouth marketing. Maybe use social media to talk about it, but without marketing it in the right way then it will fail.


We understand that you need to see a return on the investment, but marketing doesn’t have to be last on the list and can help generate the sales it needs. The key is doing regular activity and remembering that results will not always been seen immediately. That first egg had to be incubated for a while before hatching and being a chicken....  just a thought next time you think you should be cutting your budgets.

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Fresh Blog
Nominated For Award


We have been nominated for an award for our blog and we need your votes, we are in the category of Best Blog Design for the Blogger Choice Awards. If you like what we write about then please take the time to vote, it takes about 2 minutes and we have detailed simple instructions below for you all to make it easier as well. We will be eternally grateful to you for this.

Follow the link below, but print out these instructions first to make it simpler.


http://bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/100086/?utm_source=bloggerschoiceawards&utm_medium=badge&utm_content=bestblogdesign




Then click sign up


Add all your details


You will then get an email in your inbox confirming your email address in this link, click on this


Go to Best Blog Design on the sidebar and we should be on Page 2 then click vote.






Many Thanks in advance for helping us


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Now WE Are 2!!

Yes today we are 2 years old and how the time has flown by. It has been a tough 2 years due to the economic climate but we have grown from strength to strength.
We would like to thank all our customers and suppliers with whom we wouldnt be so sucessful, so thank you all.

Our strapline 'Design & Print The Way It Should Be' is as relevant now as when we first started, with us setting out to be the most creative, excellent on quality and service, competitive, friendliest design & print company to deal with.

Over the last year we have increased our services and are now established as web designers and e-marketeers, we have increased our team who are now part of the Fresh family and our Hemel Hempstead office is now making its mark in the area as well.

For the forthcoming year, we will be adding another Fresh service and there will be more surprises in the New Year, so keep checking back to the blog to find out the latest Fresh news.

Lastly, our blog has been nominated for our first award which is in Best Blog Design category on The Bloggers Choice Awards website, we need your votes, if you like what we do and for what we stand for then please take the time to vote, the link and the instructions are below, it takes about 2 minutes and we will be eternally grateful for your vote

Once again, thank you all for your support and we look forward to seeing you all in our 3rd year.

The link to vote for us is:

http://bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/100086/?utm_source=bloggerschoiceawards&utm_medium=badge&utm_content=bestblogdesign

1.Then click sign up
2.Enter all details
3.Go to your inbox
4.Follow the link in your inbox
5.Go to Best Blog Design In sidebar
6.Go to page 2 and find us and click vote


Many Thanks

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It Pays to Give       

We thought we would tell you the story of Pendley Manor Hotel at Tring, just recently they ordered branded pens, pencils, logo bugs and usbs as giveaway items for their existing and potential clients.

When we went to talk to Pendley they had not done any promotional givewaways before and after a breakfast meeting, we persuaded them why it is not a waste of money and here are the key things to remember about when looking for a giveaway item.

1. Make sure it is an item that you yourself would use.
2. Look for longevity in the product.
3. Look and try for something different.
4. Make sure you have enough room for your company name and website address.
5. Make sure it fits in with your brand.
6. Try to make it a talking point - an ice breaker.
7. Use a good quality item that will not break easily.
8. Do not forget your existing clients when giving them out.
9. Always leave something behind after every meeting.
10. Have the essentials always in stock to give out, ie jotter pads and pens.


The reasons behind giveway items is not rocket science, its all about pushing your company brand, and spreading the word SUBTLY, there are no statistics on ROI for this but what you will create is a reputation for not taking your existing clients for granted and for potential clients to show that you want to work with them and for thanking them for their time in meeting you so you can introduce your company.


Yes we all know its blatant branding and advertising but in todays world can you afford not to have your company noticed.

If you would like to see what promtional items we can offer, then call us on 01296 489998 or 01442 345088 or email us at hello@freshdps.co.uk or visit us at www.freshdps.co.uk



If you want to find out more about Pendley Manor Hotel then visit them at http://www.pendley-manor.co.uk/

Bucks County Show

Fresh - Best In Show           

For the Annual Bucks County Show Fresh have been helping to provide all the tickets, judging cards and pass hangers for the event as well as promotional material to make sure the day is a success. Bucks County Show have been a customer of Fresh since we started so its great to see them keeping their association with us.

Andy Gerlack from Fresh stated 'Im very proud that Fresh has been involved in such a long standing successful event in Aylesbury, and I hope long may it continue.' 

The Bucks County Show is still one of the biggest one day Agricultural Shows in the Country. The Show includes the best of British Livestock along with over 60 Equestrian classes. Also held at the event are Vintage tractors, Food Hall, Home & Garden Marquee, Rural Craft Marquee, over 180 Trade Stands and lots more attractions for the all the family and attracts over 100,000 visitors.

If you want to find out more about the Bucks County Show then visit www.buckscountyshow.co.uk

If you want to find out how Fresh can help your business then visit www.freshdps.co.uk or email us at hello@freshdps.co.uk or call us on 01296 489998 or 01442 345088