An organisation which aims to support businesses in Kendal and boost the local economy has appointed a new manager.
Peter Brendling, 60, of Mealbank, is the new manager of Kendal BID, which represents nearly 700 businesses in the town.
He said: “My role is to be the public face of Kendal BID, to be its point of contact and to ensure we are communicating effectively with local businesses.
“It is about promoting Kendal businesses to local people and to the wider world and for me to be someone businesses can turn to for advice, support and help with any issues which might arise.”
He said one of the main challenges facing Kendal was the number of empty shops, which could affect the overall appeal of the town.
“We need to ensure we have a busy, vibrant town so people are attracted to come here. We are keen to talk to commercial letting agents and landlords to encourage them to let their shop units.
“We are also looking at creating pop-up shops where new businesses are not contracted to a seven-year lease, but can have a four-month lease to operate on a trial basis.”
He said Kendal BID was also keen to promote festivals and events in the town to attract more visitors.
Other plans included trying to provide more coach parking on the outskirts of Kendal and more active use of social media to promote local businesses.
“I would also like to set up some forums featuring businesses which could benefit from the same type of customer,” said Mr Brendling. “For example, a forum focusing on weddings could include cake makers, dress shops and florists and would bring such businesses together to look at how they might work collaboratively to promote themselves.”
He said he was confident about Kendal’s business future, adding: “One of the strengths of the town is it has a mix of national companies and also a lot of sole traders and independent shops.”
Kendal BID, a not-for-profit organisation, was established in 2014 and is now in its second five-year period of operation.
Its activities include marketing Kendal as a destination for visitors, running projects and providing benefits to businesses and the public that use them.
Late last year Kendal BID funded the dscvr Kendal app, which highlights shops, food and drink establishments, businesses, attractions and varied things to do in the town.
It offers businesses training and development grants of up to £300 to help fund the cost of upskilling their staff and, in conjunction with South Lakeland District Council, can award shop front grants to help businesses decorate or generally improve their frontages.
Mr Brendling has spent much of his career in the travel and tourism industry. One of his early jobs was working in the Caribbean teaching sailing and windsurfing. “My claim to fame is that I taught Robert de Niro to windsurf!” he said.
Since then, his career has been in management in the travel and tourism industry. He ran his own company in the late 1990s, guiding backpackers from abroad around England, Wales and Scotland, before managing Ambleside Youth Hostel for 14 years.
He was commercial director for Mountain Goat from 2014 to 2017. “One of the things I am most proud of during that time is that we took over the Windermere Tourist Information Centre, which was in danger of closing, and turned its fortunes around,” said Mr Brendling.
He was general manager at the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway and, for the past three years, he has his partner have run the successful The Bakehouse in Blackhall Yard in Kendal.
His retail experience in Kendal encouraged him to apply for the Kendal BID manager position.
He added: “Businesses have gone through some quite difficult times with COVID. We have seen a lot of shops struggling and closing during that period and I really wanted to use my previous experience to try to make a difference to the business community in the town.”
Josh Macaulay, chair of Kendal BID, said: “I am very excited to have someone of Peter’s calibre and experience join the team as Kendal BID manager.”
Mr Brendling can be contacted at [email protected]
