Fitted furniture manufacturer Symphony opened its doors to over 100 of its retailers for its first open day event since before Covid in 2019.
Symphony welcomed retailers to its marketing suite in Barnsley, where it showed new products, ran training workshops, hosted presentations from key suppliers and organised tours of its new factory.
Retailers were updated on the latest sustainability initiatives and ongoing activities by the company’s sustainability analyst.
They were also given a demonstration of the company’s new Product E-Directory, which provides them with online access to product information, as part of its transition from printed literature to a digital platform.
Supplier partners were present to show their products, with displays from Sensio Lighting, Haier appliances and Kessebohmer with its storage solutions.
To help its retail partners with their marketing, Symphony’s marketing manager Nicola Wiley led a PR and social media workshop, in collaboration with its PR agency Sellers PR, while Graham and Brown and Johnston Tiles assisted Symphony design manager Josie Medved in a style board workshop.
New Symphony products on display included the Langdale, Melrose and Princeton paint-to-order range.
There was also a guest visit by The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust charity, of which Symphony has been a Gold Member since 2022.
Retailers who marked off all of the elements of the event on their score cards were entered into a draw to win a selection of prizes.
Ensuring that no one went hungry, Symphony also organised cookery demonstrations from TV chef Peter Sidwell.
Attendees could also attend a Feedback Forum, where they could interact with key business managers and find out how Symphony could support their businesses.
Symphony head of marketing Rob Newton said: “This was the first Open Day we have run since 2019, before Covid hit. This year felt like the right time to revive these popular events, and we aimed to make the first one bigger and better than ever before. We are really pleased with how it turned out and the feedback has been great. Regular communication and meetings with our retail partners are important to Symphony, and we want to offer them as much advice and support as we can – especially at a time when the industry is facing challenges as a whole.
“It’s times like these that we need to pull together and keep a positive mind-set and remain top-of-mind for consumers in every way possible, ready to come out the other side stronger than ever.”