It was a great honour for me that Boatshed Grand Union was recognised for the best marketing in the the group at the Boatshed European Conference in Portugal recently. Great for me, but what does it mean for the customer.

In a nutshell it means more people visiting the web site at www.boatshedgrandunion.com more often and looking at more boats. The more who look the more chance there is of selling your boat. More people visiting the site means more boats to sell on the Grand Union, London Canals and the River Lee. The more we have to sell, the more people visit - and so on. It is a benign circle from which everyone benefits

The challenge for the past year has been to get the Boatshed brand recognised on the Inland Waterways. Advertising in the magazines goes only so far - marketing is so much more than just advertising. Our sponsorship of festivals such as Canalway Cavalcade and Rickmansworth Festival has certainly raised our profile. Our participation at events like Crick Boat Show and thew IWA National also build recognition.

We have also partnered with the Canal Advertiser a brand new - and very good - directory for the Inland Waterways which we have helped to distribute throughout the South East.

So thanks for the award as well as nominations for a further four. It is nice to have our work reconised by our peers. It is even better to have it recognised by our customers.