DECEMBER 2022 MEWS
Hello lovely Longcrofters. We can’t believe Christmas is only 25 days away. We hope you have mince pies in the cupboard and have the Turkey on order! We are sure you are all busy on the run up to Christmas and hope with all the organising of family celebrations and assembling of kitty Christmas gifts you have some time to chill out on the sofa with a movie and perhaps a cheeky Baileys!
This year to keep things cost effective and simple we suggest you offer your customers a festive goody bag or goody box, so let your imagination run free and fill with tasty kitty treats and tailored gifts finished off with a Longcroft g and hot pink ribbon. We have some lovely festive reindeer catnip toys available and the super soft star blankets so let us know if you would like us to send you some.
We will be sending out a Christmas e-card again to all customers. Please pop over your customer details and we will do the rest. We will also be sending a Christmas press release out so please do share if your local press feature you!
Festive purrs, Abi xx
Click here to find the link to the hot pink Longcroft ribbon – select hot pink colour!
Christmas Postcards
… and not forgetting the Christmas Day postcards. Prepare these days before and schedule to send on Christmas day. To do this write the content of the email and include the subject line and recipient’s email address then click on the little arrow by the side of the blue send button in your gmail account and tap on ‘Schedule send.’ This will give you the option to send at at time of your choice such as Christmas morning at 10am. Puurfect!
A suggested postcard message below …
Dear Mum and Dad,
We are having a wonderful time here at Longcroft.
We awoke this morning to the robins chirping and found that Santa had left us some tasty treats and festive gifts!
We love the ( whatever gifts you have given) and are looking forward to listening to Christmas songs on the radio and enjoying some (posh treats/ Christmas cuddles/ turkey dinner)
Sending festive purrs.
(Cat’s name/s)
Christmas E Cards
We will be sending a festive message/ E Christmas card to all of our customers this year.
It would be great if you could send all of your customer email addresses to Lucy by December 10th. Please pop them into a spreadsheet or on GDrive, with the name in one field and the email address in another by 7th December.
If you would like to send Christmas cards in person …. still do.
Licensing
Many of you have recently been licensed and some of you have this scheduled for the coming weeks. You can find all of the licensing documentation on the Longcroft Portal under the licensing section. We have shared the additional information that should be submitted with the application but if you need this again just get in touch and we can share this with you. We have added a self development plan to the documents should you need this.
Marketing
Thank you for all of your photo Friday submissions. Hopefully you have enjoyed seeing your guests featured on our social pages. We know our customers love seeing their kitty’s moment of fame!
The last few weeks social highlights include …
Cat Inspired Pumpkin Competition – We chose the winner of our 2022 Halloween Competition. We challenged the public to get crafty with their pumpkins and turn them into all things feline! The winner was sent a £30 amazon voucher. Competitions are a fun and engaging way to attract more followers on our social platforms, and in turn, more customers to our hotels. In total, we had over 30 fabulous entries!
World cup competition – Up until 20th December customers can send in their cat footy pics and videos to win a hamper of festive goodies. We have had some cute entries to date. Please send over any in-house football pics that you have taken.
Tik Tok We have a TikTok channel on our social platforms, as videos are always very well received. Take a look and get involved!
Blog posts – are a great way of informing new customers what we do here at Longcroft and our expert status. This month includes a lovely community story from Daisy and a collaboration with CatIt, offering a quality range of cat products, accessories & supplies.
If you have a story to share please let us know.
In November we had approximately 5,500 new users on the website that spent an average of 2 1/2 minutes browsing through our many images and pages. This is 81% of our website users in November. This is great news for 2023 and shows we continue to grow our customer base rapidly.
Dates for Your Spreadsheet
December 21st Shortest Day
December 25th Christmas Day
December 26th Boxing Day
December 27th Bank Holiday
January 2nd Bank Holiday
February Half Term Friday 10th February – School breaks up until Monday 20th February school commences
Easter School Holiday Friday 31st March – School breaks up until Monday 17th April – School commences
Friday 7th April Bank Holiday
Saturday 8th April Easter Saturday
Sunday 9th April Easter Sunday
Monday 10th April Easter Monday
May Half Term Holiday Friday 26th May – school breaks up until Monday 5th June – school commences
May 1st – Bank Holiday
Monday May 8th – Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III.
Monday May 29th – Bank Holiday
In The Press
PetCare – Hotels That Will Treat Your Pet as Nicely as They Treat You!
Lifetime Costs – What is the Lifetime Cost of Owning a Cat in the UK?
What Franchise – Longcroft Hotels in the UK offer specially designed upscale feline retreats.
Catit – Top tips for travelling with your cat
Longcroft Orpington – Longcroft loves to support the local community!
Training and Development
iCATCARE – How to brush your cat’s teeth
Statista The UK cat population was estimated to reach 12 million in 2021/22 marking a slight decrease from the year before which was the highest recorded figure since the survey began. The increase in time spent at home due to the coronavirus pandemic is likely to have pushed this figure up from 7.5 million in the previous year. Across the UK the share of households owning at least one cat is going strong, if a little behind those who choose the company of canines.
Cats make people happy
Dogs may reign supreme in the nation, but cats are still a popular choice for pets in the UK, and for the sweetest reasons too. It is safe to say that UK cat owners have strong emotional ties with their furry friends, with majority of people viewing cats not just as pets but as reliable sources for love, affection, and happiness.
EU loves cats more than UK
When compared with the rest of the EU, the United Kingdom fares relatively behind in pet ownership. In 2019, the share of UK households with at least one pet cat placed the country in the lower ranks. In contrast, Central European countries such as Romania, Latvia, and Hungary had the highest share of households with cats.
Breeds In Focus – The Turkish Angora
Turks are not only intelligent, but extremely adaptable, loving and playful, which makes them an excellent choice for families with young children, and lively companions for senior adults. They readily accept dogs and other animals, but their assertive natures often make them the “alpha” pet in the household.
