Retail Membership
Join the Guild and save time and money.
Over the past 20 years we have negotiated many deals to save time and money. And in that time, we’ve recruited over 1300 other similar businesses as members, each one benefiting from our cost saving schemes.
Joining the Guild is no big decision. We know we’ll save you much more than the cost of your membership the moment you take up just one of our money-saving schemes.
Benefits for Guild members:
Driving more customers to your store…
We’ve just launched the Guild’s brand new consumer website www.britainsbestdelis.co.uk which will list your store alongside over 600 other delis, farm shops and food halls as the BEST in the country. An on-going PR campaign will help drive more consumers direct to your store, just when you need it. This site is interactive and updatable so you can post details of forthcoming promotions and tastings you want to share with customers. Your listing is FREE, as part of your membership and is additional to your listing already included on this web site
Find best local foods, award winning food and foods NOT sold in supermarkets
Membership gives you access to our unrivalled, searchable database FINDIT of over 10,000 speciality food and drink products not sold in supermarkets. These include product winners from the Great Taste Awards and World Cheese Awards as well as food & drink made local to you. This search facility is available to members only.
Training
Survival depends on doing it better than the supermarkets. One thing they don’t do is train their staff on product knowledge or the art of pro-active selling. The Guild’s Cheese and Charcuterie training courses are the best and have helped hundreds of stores to increase sales. As a member, you save £25 for every person attending, so check out the dates on our website and take a positive step towards maximising sales.
Insurance
Your fixed costs are not always fixed. Check out the insurance rates offered by the Guild’s partner, Lorica Insurance – hundreds already have and most are making real savings. The Guild is paid no commission – we simply insist on you getting the best deal. You have nothing to lose and money to save. Call them to discuss or renegotiate your current deal.*
Personnel
How much time do you spend fulfilling your legal obligations as an employer? Drawing up contracts or writing the correct letter at the right time is time consuming and can be a worry. HR4UK are the Guild’s online personnel department. We use them ourselves and their service is FREE to you – 365 days a year.*
Useful Contact Numbers
The Guild provides useful contact telephone numbers for fast access to advice on marketing, environmental health and food safety issues, disputes with suppliers or lease renewals. On joining the Guild of Fine Food you will receive a members pack that lists these useful contact numbers.
Fine Food Digest
We send you Fine Food Digest each month – the magazine at the heart of speciality food and drink. Not only that, we keep our members up to speed on new government policies and other industry news impacting on independent retailers via our weekly email – Guild-e.
Great Taste Awards
As organisers of the Great Taste Awards, we invite all our members to share in the judging, not only is this a chance to learn about the products you sell, you can also chew the fat with others within the fine food industry. And as a member, you have first chance to stock these superb award-winning products.
The Guild of Fine Food exists to help and support small independent speciality fine food businesses like yours. Please take time to check out all the membership benefits – we know they’ll save you time and money because unlike most other trade associations we don’t make a penny from any of the business services we offer. We simply negotiate the lowest possible rates for our members.
Running your own fine food store can be a lonely business so by becoming a member today you will feel part of a much bigger ‘family’.
Join today
Simply call 01747 825200 or fill in this form and fax to 01747 824065 or post to Guild of Fine Food. We look forward to hearing from you. *All Guild service providers require your current membership number to verify Guild membership.
