The Welcome People are a talented bunch! No more so than Hayley - pictured above - who's not only studying to become a doctor - but can also turn out a fancy tune on the Ukulele! (Not that we've seen or heard it yet!).
We found out about her hidden talent when she applied for a job as one of our new City Hosts in Manchester.
Hayley's seen here with a happy customer on their way to the Northern Quarter. Thanks Lucy for your feedback and the pic.
Now that Summer's finally on its way (fingers crossed) the good folks at Bayswater Village have launched their First Wednesday campaign, to encourage visitors to linger later in the area, with a programme of late night shopping, events and special offers, on the first Wednesday of each month. As part of the launch, our Ambassador Rachel was despatched with a big bunch of balloons along Queensway and almost took off!
Glad to say she kept her feet on the ground and is ready to welcome you on your next visit (she might even give you a balloon if you're lucky!).
We've been celebrating with our wonderful hat-maker Georgina, of Atelier Millinery, who won the FSB (Federation of Small Business) Micro Business of the Year earlier today.
She beat off competition from 12 regions across the UK to win the title, and is seen here accepting her award from athlete Roger Black.
Georgina's been supplying and finishing our distinctive 'Welcome People' trilby and bowler hats since we started.
She has a fantastic boutique in Kingly Court (off London's Carnaby Street) where she not only makes and sells a wide range of hats, she also teaches you how to make them yourself, through regular masterclasses and tutorials.
Pop in and congratulate her! Ask one of our Ambassadors to show you the way.
Our brilliant new team have hit the streets in Manchester and are making quite a name for themselves already!
Manchester Confidential, The Manchester Evening News and BBC Radio Manchester have featured the guys as they make their mark on the retail district.
From left to right, the back row - Kelvin, Tom, Geraint and Mark. Up front, Pippa, Hayley, Claire and Kathy.
Keep an eye out for them in the city centre and let us know what you think of the service.
Our team at Victoria were down in Battersea last Friday for the unveiling of the first of a fleet of Hybrid buses sporting one of our Ambassadors on the back. It's part of a campaign by Victoria BID (the Business Improvement District serving Victoria, Pimlico and Belgravia), to get people to visit the area.
We're delighted to be part of the campaign and you're ensured a warm welcome from our team, based at Victoria Rail Station, and patrolling around the area.
Pictured here are Guiseppe, I Shan, Yara and David. The big guy on the bus is James, who can be found treading the boards each night in the smash-hit musical, Billy Elliot, playing at the Victoria Palace Theatre.
Let us know if you spot the bus!
April has seen us expand The Welcome People to three new areas. First out of the gate was Baker Street (see our earlier post), closely followed by Ilford.
Our team in Ilford are Husna and Elena, seen here chatting to a couple of happy shoppers in the Exchange Shopping Centre.
The girls are working for our client, Ilford Town, the Business Improvement District serving some 460 local businesses. Their job is to promote the activities of the BID and to help orientate visitors and shoppers to the local area.
Greetings from Manchester! We're midway through training our new team of City Hosts for the Heart of Manchester BID, but took a short break to get a team photo. From left to right meet Tom, Kathy, Mark, Hayley, Geraint, Claire, Pippa and Kelvin.
They're a great team with a wide variety of special talents, including belly-dancing, Ostrich -riding and ukelele playing! Any guesses on who does what?
Team Manchester launch next Monday. Check back for further updates.
We hit another great landmark at Victoria this morning. At 11.36 am on Buckingham Palace Road, Alba (below) welcomed our half-millionth customer to Victoria.
As a company, The Welcome People have now seen more than 1.2 million people since we started in September 2011.
With Baker Street launching yesterday, Ilford tomorrow and Manchester on the 8th April - it won't be long before another half million customers receive The Welcome People treatment.
Will it be you?
Congratulations to Penny and her team at Baker Street Quarter, who officially started on 1 April as London's newest Business Improvement District.
The Welcome People are delighted to be back, providing a warm and friendly visitor welcome service and helping to look after the local environment.
Annaliisa and new boy Joff are already brightening up the area in their distinctive bowler hats, adorned with a bright yellow ribbon. We hope we can encourage Spring to finally make an appearance.
One of our newer recruits is Paolo, who joined us just before Christmas.
He's become quite a celebrity in Bayswater Village since his photo was added to the BID's latest advertising campaign.
Paolo insists the guy in the photo is not him, but his brother. However, judging by the look on Paolo's wife's face (above) - she knows the real story.
Look out for Paolo (and Rachel and Richard) when you're next in Bayswater Village - he might even give you his autograph.
We've just got back from 3 days in Manchester, recruiting our new team for the Heart of Manchester BID.
We had a great time, met some great characters and have hired some great people. We'll introduce you soon.
Just wanted to say a big thank you to all those who attended our group interview sessions at The Townhouse. We had a lot of fun meeting you, and one thing was made abundantly clear - YOU LOVE MANCHESTER.......... and so do we!.
Our team of City Hosts will hit the streets in mid April. Good Luck Guys - it's great to have you on board.
We're delighted to announce that we've just been appointed by The Heart of Manchester BID to provide a team of City Hosts to welcome visitors to the vibrant and exciting central shopping and leisure district.
Based around the main shopping areas of Market Street, Exchange Square, New Cathedral Street, St Ann's Square and King Street - our new team will be on hand to guide shoppers, visitors and workers; help with directions, public transport information and details on events taking place in the city centre.
The City Hosts will be the friendly face of the city and act as a point of contact for visitors and retailers alike.
We're currently recruiting for staff - so if you're interested in joining us - send your CV to joinus@thewelcomepeople.com.
See you in Manchester!
As well as visitor welcome Ambassadors, we also provide other street management staff. One of those is Tom Wood, the Partnership Manager for the Safer West End Business Partnership.
The organisation brings together the Metropolitan Police Service, Westminster City Council and local businesses in Soho and Covent Garden.
Tom joined us late last year and works hard maintaining contact with around 200 members of the Partnership, managing the digital business radio network and liaising with local safer neighbourhood teams, helping businesses with crime-related issues.
2012 was a great year for us. As 2013 gets underway, The Welcome People would like to wish all our clients and wonderful staff, a great year ahead.
May 2013 bring you everything you wish for.
Thanks Guys.
David & Calvin
Best Wishes for Christmas & The New Year from David, Calvin and The Family
Andrea, Carmela, Alexander, Max, Barry, Tom B, Antonio, David I, Abdel, Tom W, Tony, Rebeka, Luciana, Mara, Eduardo, Annaliisa, Adlo, Jose, Naomi, Ross, Jack, Ian, Rukije, David H, Tanya, Natasha, Barbara, Alba, Giuseppe, Lisa, Richard, Rachel & Paolo.
We get a lot of great feedback from customers about our service, including this one from Audrey, who said "I would just like to express my gratitude for the shopping assistants you've dotted about the West End of London this festive season, they're very helpful and in particular the gentleman in the picture was happy and eager to help". Thanks Audrey - we appreciate your comments and passed them on.
The gentleman in question is Aldo (photographed here with Audrey) - you can see him and his colleagues all year round in Oxford Street, Regent Street, Victoria and Bayswater.
Our Ambassadors are not just for Christmas!
We've had a great couple of weeks working with Penny at Baker Street Quarter. We started with a party at Home House on Portman Square and ended with a fantastic food market on Baker Street itself. But it wasn't all party, party, party! Our very own Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, Annaliisa and Eduardo (pictured below) were busy tracking down visitors and spreading the word about the exciting plans ahead for the Baker Street area.
Baker Street Quarter is hoping to become a BID (Business Improvement District) early in the New Year, when we hope our team will become a permanent fixture in this great part of London.
Thanks Penny and good luck!
We're delighted to announce that The Welcome People will soon be in Bayswater. The lovely people at Bayswater Village (the business improvement district centred on Queensway and Westbourne Grove) have asked us to provide a team to welcome visitors and support businesses in this leading shopping and nightlife area which includes the international restaurant quarter of London.
Wearing our distinctive bowler hats and 3-piece suits, be sure to look out for us from November 26th.
Beautiful, classic vintage cars - out in force on Regent Street ahead of this year's London to Brighton Veteran Car Rally. A wonderful opportunity for thousands of people to enjoy traffic-free shopping ahead of the Christmas rush.
Hurry though - the cars will be making their way to the south coast tomorrow morning, but our teams of Ambassadors will remain to guide you through the best the West End has to offer!
Our team in Regent Street are used to dealing with celebrity shoppers and today was no exception. Alice Cooper asked us for directions and our Antonio was happy to oblige!
You too can receive the star treatment by asking us for help anytime you're in the West End or Victoria.