From Pies to Publishing: the First Businesses join the dots online with the FSB

A number of small to medium size companies are making the switch to using the new .cymru .wales internet brand, alongside the Federation of Small Businesses in Wales.

Clark’s and Y Lolfa – both famous SME brands  with a history going back many years are to be among the first companies to adopt the new .wales and .cymru domain names. They will be joined also by Fabulous Welshcakes in Cardiff Bay, the innovative public interest company Indycube, the Real Welsh Sausage Company in Welshpool and also the Neath Chamber of Trade, all of whom have resolved to make the move to the new domains. This demonstrates the real appeal of the new domains to small businesses in every part of Wales.

FSB Wales’ head of External Affairs Iestyn Davies said there were clear advantages for the business body, and SMEs among its 10,000 members in Wales, adopting the new domain name.

“The FSB in Wales has a distinctly Welsh identity and we are delighted to be able to underline this by adopting the new domain names for our website within Wales,” said Mr Davies

“Just as we at FSB Wales are using these new top level domain names to underline our Welsh identity we are sure that there will be many small businesses among our membership such as Clark’s and Y Lolfa that will want to underline the Welsh nature of their offering. Those businesses may be food producers such as Clark’s who take pride in the locally-created nature of their produce, or tourism providers that want to underline the unique Welsh holiday experience they can provide.

“Already a number of our best-known members have expressed to us an interest in taking on the new domain names. We know from our survey work that two thirds of our members in Wales are looking to increase their online presence in the year to come, and we are sure that many will be considering the benefits of having a .wales or .cymru domain for their business.

Garmon Gruffydd of Y Lolfa said:  “As a small to medium Welsh business we intend adopting and being very proud to adopt .cymru and .wales . We believe in placing Wales on the Internet and our e-sales are increasing in volumes especially with new books with worldwide appeal such as our recently published Undefeated: The Story of the 1974 Lions by Rhodri Davies.”

“As a business situated in the heart of Wales, reaching a wider audience who know our values and heritage helps others understand where we started and currently stand as a publisher and printer. Small businesses will find .cymru .wales a useful distinguishing mark in our crowded online world.”

Y Lolfa is located in the Old Police Station in Talybont (Ceredigion) on the main road between Aberystwyth and Machynlleth. Established in the sixties it revelled the artistic freedom offered by photo-litho and in the nineties welcomed the digital revolution and was the first Welsh publishing company to have a website. Y Lolfa now has five-colour and perfector presses with half its turnover coming from commercial print work.

A spokesperson for Clarks Pies said “As a brand created by Mary Clark in 1913, Clark’s Pies, we are proud of our history and where we are based and it seems natural to our business to adopt .cymru and .wales  as a top level domain name. We are sure our customers would expect to do so.”

As a company Clark’s is over a 100 years old and is embracing the digital age .Clark’s Pies were first made in Cardiff in 1913 by the founder Janet Maud (Mary) Clark in her shop at  Donald Street, Roath. The pie making did take a temporary break during the First World War, but soon recommenced in the early 1920’s. Clark’s Pies also colloquially nicknamed “Clarkies” or “Clarksies” are well known meat pies in South Wales and the West of England and are a fond favourite of families in Wales.

Jo Golley from .cymru .wales said “In the next few months businesses will by proactively seeing the benefit of Wales the brand. We had a fantastic response from companies at the Royal Welsh Show last week, illustrating how keen small businesses are to use this opportunity to market themselves as Welsh on a global scale.”

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

The enclosed photo images are of Langfords, the Welsh Sausage Company, in Welshpool, Powys, and Indycube in Cardiff, who will be among the first small business .cymru .wales founders.