'Stay positive' plea to business

A former Woolworths manager who rebranded her old store Wellworths is telling business people in north Wales her key to survival in a recession.

Claire Robertson says "staying positive" is vital during tough economic times.

She is appearing at the Spotlight North Wales conference at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Conwy, which aims to help businesses during the downturn.

She also stressed the importance of passion and learning from mistakes.

The conference is hosted by the Federation of Small Businesses, and it also hopes to help businesses "prepare for the upturn" and bring "prosperity to north Wales".

Woolworths went into administration last year with debts of £385m, and more than 800 stores were closed.

Ms Robertson had worked for the company for 18 years and rebranded the store in Dorchester, Dorset, eight months ago.

With 24 employees, she said the store was "going well at the moment".

Asked what advice she would give north Wales businesses, she said: "It's just about staying positive and trying to make the most out of the skills you have got.

"If you have a passion then just go with it. In any business, you need passion behind it.

'Very sceptical'

"Another part of what I will be saying is that over the last eight months we have made mistakes.

"But we don't take them as that, we take them as learning and we correct them as quickly as possible, learn from it and move on."

She said it was "still too early to say" whether there were signs of recovery from the recession.

She added: "I think people are very sceptical and because of what's happened over the last year or so, people have become a bit more savvy with their money.

"I think there's still a long way to go."

BBC Radio Wales' Wales@work, at 1830 GMT on Tuesday, comes from the conference and speaks to the Federation of Small Businesses, local companies and the head of Barclays Commercial Banking in north Wales.