Maley’s Artisan Chocolates- Young businesses not young business people

 

TestTown People: Maley’s Artisan Chocolates- Young Businesses Not Young Business People

Participants

Michael Maley – Maley’s Artisan Chocolates

About the project

After aiming TestTown very directly at 16-25 year olds in 2013, Carnegie UK realised that this was an unhelpful limitation and removed the age barrier from 2014 onwards. Since then, we have seen a fascinating range of entrepreneurs of all ages take part in TestTown events. One of these was Michael Maley. ‘While I think encouraging young entrepreneurs is important, so is encouraging us older ones. Many of the funding options and competitions like this one are aimed at a maximum age brackets at a time when many older people are looking to change career and have the knowledge and experience to create very successful business.’ Michael wanted to do something fun when he grew up and little did he know it would take into his 30s and careers ranging from electrician and chef, to social enterprise and corporate training to find the career that did just that.

“Participating in TestTown Falkirk and Glasgow Saltmarket gave Michael the inspiration and confidence to move to the next step, opening his own shop in the centre of Falkirk.”

There is not much that beats chocolate making in terms of fun. “Maley’s Artisan Chocolates” specialises in hand-crafted, naturally flavoured fine chocolates from truffles to bars to lolly pops. Participating in TestTown Falkirk and Glasgow Saltmarket gave Michael the inspiration and confidence to move to the next step, opening his own shop in the centre of Falkirk. From No 46 Grahams Road, Michael and his team produce, sell and run workshops to share Michael’s passion for chocolate making with others.

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Words of Advice

  • The younger generation is the future, so spending the time to encourage them to care and solve problems regarding the high street is a wonderful step forward.

    TestTown 2014 Participant

  • People are not shopping at individual brands, they are shopping at destinations. The people that will win at this are those that start packaging pop-up with infrastructure. The serious problem with pop-up space is that most landlords do not offer this. Successful pop-up destinations such as Boxpark in Shoreditch, E1, and London Union’s Street Feast, E8, provide basic shop fit-out, marketing and customers, which is a much more viable model for tenants.’

    Nick Russell, We Are Pop-Up

  • You will never learn what we have learned this week in a college room or in a lecture hall, from a book or off the internet – it’s a real life experience and it has been invaluable.

    TestTown 2015 Participant

Highlights from the recent years

Five Ways To Supercharge Your TestTown

We believe there are five things which would Supercharge your TestTown:

  1. Every town should create a clear, supported pathway into trading and opening up a shop  for new town centre entrepreneurs.
  2. Every town should have a permanent pop-up facility in a viable trading space which offers flexible lease arrangements up to a year for new town centre entrepreneurs to learn.
  3. Every town should work, within their means, to reduce financial barriers in reduced rates and rents for new traders during their first year of business.
  4. Every town should carry out a regular (every five years) entrepreneur-led consultation which would feed into a business-led strategy for town centre development and business support.
  5. Every town should develop a hyperlocal cross-sector partnership to lead local innovation, ensuring that agencies, businesses, and residents are all powerful in leading local development.