Fab Frocks Wins Regional Award

Bournemouth-based Fab Frocks of Westbourne has won the Women in Dorset Small Business Award.

At the first sell-out Dorset Business Women Awards event, Fab Frocks, which specialises in evening, cocktail, prom and mother-of-the-bride outfits, beat fourteen other entries to win the Small Business category.

Fab Frocks is owned by Tracie Beardsley and Steve Taylor and over the past eight years has become a destination boutique serving customers from as far away as Ireland, London, Channel Islands, Norfolk and Devon. In 2009, Fab Frocks expanded and opened Dorset’s first and only dedicated mother-of-the-bride boutique.

The application was judged by Gill Perkins, Federation of Small Businesses South West Regional Area Manager. She said: “In Tracie’s well written application for the Women in Dorset Small Business Award, one short sentence stood out, ‘a unique business that has built up an excellent reputation in a challenging market of retail ‘doom and gloom’.

“Fab Frocks is an example of creativity, passion and commitment. It demonstrated very impressive growth at a time when ‘growth’ was at a premium and loads of potential and ambition. What came across clearly in Tracie Beardsley’s application was that they listened to their customers, invested in their staff and were achieving a first class reputation.

She added: “It was by any standards a quality and professional approach to running the business without losing warmth or sincerity.”

A delighted Tracie Beardsley accepted the award and said: “This is a fantastic accolade for Fab Frocks. When you run your own business, you rarely get a pat on the back. These awards are a great way of applauding all the hard work we all put in.”

Fab Frocks can now proudly call itself a multi-award winning boutique as it also won “Best Shopping Experience” in the 2009/2010 Bournemouth Tourism Awards.