Flintshire social enterprise RainbowBiz CIC is reopening its trading arm. The Hippy Shop in Mold, next week by First Minister Mark Drakeford. It has been making changes to its shop to apply social distancing and ensure the safety of customers and staff.
A Lifeline
Firstly, RainbowBiz CIC supports some of the most marginalised members of the community through the work it does in Flintshire. This work is sustained by the profits made at the Hippy Shop which are all reinvested back into the social enterprise.
Secondly, lockdown came as a huge shock to everyone, particularly the people the CIC support. Many who see the regular weekly projects as a lifeline to their well-being and routine. Closing projects and the Hippy Shop brought things to a standstill.
The staff quickly regrouped. They are grateful for the support from the community who have gone above and beyond to support online social media posts and regular online social meet-ups. Moreover, North Wales Media, went one step further and offered their time and expertise to support the work of the social enterprise.
North Wales Media
Sue Oliver, Director at RainbowBiz CIC said; “We were approached very early on by North Wales Media asking us how they could support our enterprise. I called a meeting with the staff to discuss our priorities and how we could utilise this help.”
NorthWales Media are a Flint-based IT support and marketing service provider with years of experience, helping businesses with their IT infrastructure and online presence.
Sara-Mai Reyes Escoto, Marketing Manager at NorthWales Media said; “We’ve followed RainbowBiz for a while and are continually impressed with how much they do for the community. It’s a pleasure working with Sue and Sarah. We’re extremely happy that we’ve been able to play our part in creating two websites that speak to the fun, inclusive nature of RainbowBiz.”
A Plan of Action
After several virtual meetings, the team decided on a plan of action to re-energise both websites that the social enterprise hosts.
Their main website, rainbowbiz.org.uk, provides an insight into the work of the enterprise and the people that they support. It is now easier to navigate with lots of colour and photographs to browse.
The second one, rainbowbizhippyshop.org.uk, is the new online shop which will help to sustain the enterprise long term in conjunction with its retail premises in the Daniel Owen Precinct in Mold.
A New Click-And- Collect Service
New developments in the shop include a click-and- collect service. This will cut waiting times down for customers and also reduce queues. We hope this new way of shopping will suit regular and new customers who can simply just pop to the shop to pick up their online orders.
To reduce risks for staff and customers, the shop has introduced a cashless system. It is also accepting all forms of contactless payments in store with no minimum charge per transaction.
Finally, customers will be able to view lots more products in the window. The shop has introduced a new safe layout in light of the Covid-19 crisis.
