Beth Heath, the owner and creative director of Shropshire Festivals, serves as the driving force behind the company’s imaginative and unconventional concepts. Fueled by her love for cake, Beth thrives on turning the impossible into reality. During her tenure at Harper Adams University, she initiated Shropshire’s first farmer’s market and, at the age of 21, opened a farm shop. Over eight years, she held the role of Operational Director at Ludlow Food Festival.
In 2013, while still working at Ludlow, Beth introduced the Shrewsbury Food Festival, subsequently launching several more festivals under the Shropshire Festivals brand. These events collectively draw over 90,000 visitors to the region each year. Beth has received various accolades for her work, including the ‘Game Changer Entrepreneur of the Year’ award from The British Chambers of Commerce in 2022, the ‘Food/Drink Festival of the Year’ at the Midlands Food Drink & Hospitality Awards in 2023, and the Silver award in the 2023 Best Businesswomen Awards for ‘Best Business.’
Shropshire Festivals, an award-winning events company, organizes events such as the Shrewsbury Food Festival and Shropshire Business Festival. They have gained a reputation for delivering remarkable events that support local businesses and performers, offering the Midlands a stellar lineup of activities.
Below are highlights of the interview conducted between World’s Leaders and Beth Heath:
Tell us about the inception of the company.
The business began with the launch of the Shrewsbury Food Festival in 2013. I was still working as Operational Director at Ludlow Food Festival until the new festival business was big enough to focus on full-time. It didn’t take long!
Back in 2013, we hoped for 3,000 visitors but had 10,000. Now we attract nearly 30,000 people annually, and 2023 marked our 10th birthday for the food festival.
In the years that followed the food festival launch, I began pinpointing gaps in the market. The next festivals to launch were Shropshire Kids Festival and Shropshire Oktoberfest. The idea of the kids’ festival was an event that gave kids new experiences with have-a-go sports and music activities, along with lots of fun. Parents could enjoy themselves; they never needed to say ‘no’ as all the activities inside the festival were free. Inclusivity is really important to me.
Shropshire Oktoberfest launched in 2017 after my husband said there wasn’t an event for his demographic, and today it’s a sell-out event, attracting an extensive age range of 10,000 partygoers.
In 2019, we had well and truly outgrown the converted horse stable we were squeezed into. Beth’s husband Sid and team self-built a brand-new office, which marked a turning point in the business where we were an established, respected, award-winning business, adding new festivals to our programme every year. In the years that followed, we launched the Shropshire Tasty Trail, the Shropshire Business Festival, the Shropshire Petal Fields, and much more.
Which are the major services of the company and how do the company to get ahead in the competition? What value-added services does the company provide?
The business is best known for our public events, such as the Shrewsbury Food Festival and Shropshire Oktoberfest, which have built us a strong profile and reputation locally, as well as a growing award collection. From that reputation, we have grown the corporate side of the business. We offer local businesses partnership and sponsorship opportunities to grow their brand awareness, and we also facilitate corporate events, which is a crucial part of our growth strategy.
We can facilitate corporate events, from staff parties and conferences to company festivals and award nights. We have the expertise and infrastructure to take the stress of event planning off businesses and the reputation to attract a broad range of clients. The formula works.
What are the most important aspects of a company’s culture? What principles do you believe in and how do you build this culture?
I’ve built a culture within the team where everyone feels like the business is theirs too. They have a say in how we operate every step of the way, which is empowering for the team. This then builds passion and dedication within the team, meaning they give 100% to everything they do, feel valued, and want to stay with the company. Don’t get me wrong, working in events can mean long, grueling days, but through collaboration and having an open forum, we celebrate the wins together and get through the tough days still smiling (most of the time!).
The ethos of our events is to have fun. We want to create places to make memories and opportunities to have new experiences, and we want our visitors to smile from ear to ear.
Give us your opinion on; do organizations rely heavily on individual heroics or team processes?
Organisations, whilst often having an individual in the spotlight, must rely on slick team processes. It is something leaders must constantly keep in check; otherwise, issues won’t come to the fore until things go wrong. Shropshire Festivals isn’t just supported by my team in the office; we have a huge base of volunteers who keep our events running, plus exhibitors, performers, and suppliers. Without that full team input, Shropshire Festivals wouldn’t exist.
What are your responsibilities as the Director of the company? What is the happiest part of your daily routine?
I manage all the festivals, so I have the overarching responsibility of delivering the events, including bringing in sponsors, running the events on the ground, and making all key decisions. I bring in corporate event clients, plus clients for our boutique marketing business, Shropshire ThinkTank. I also offer event consulting one-on-one.
My happiest part of the day is when I get to eat cake and come up with creative ideas while chatting with like-minded business folk! My happiest part of the day when I’m running an event is taking a moment when the event is in full swing and looking out across a festival site at thousands of happy, smiling people having lots of fun. That’s what it’s all about for me!
What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?
It isn’t always easy to be a leader in a small business where there isn’t someone above you to tell you if you’re doing a good job or not, or when making big decisions that affect people you work with closely. I’ve worked hard at building a team around me that is so passionate about what they do that they feel the business is theirs too.
My advice to anyone coming into a leadership role would be to treat everyone with respect, accept that there will be good days and bad days, and never stop being open to learning—no leader knows it all!
