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0 Comments | Herald Express; Torquay (UK), Sep 2, 2010

AN independent drinks company from Newton Abbot is toasting a highly successful first six months of trading — bucking the trend of problems in the industry.

Tolchards has seen sales grow significantly since opening for business in March, with more than 220 customers now enjoying weekly orders.

The firm, which employs 15 staff, has quickly gained a reputation for providing pubs, clubs and restaurants with a composite range of local, regional and national drinks.

It is a rare success story in the drinks industry, which has seen other wholesale businesses close or centralise, resulting in significant job losses in the area.

Managing director Jim Mardell said: “Starting a business in the current financial climate is challenging but with the help of our customers we have shaped our offer so that we provide a modern and relevant service which is unrivalled by our competitors.”

Jim, Kim Pratt, Jeff Davies and John Pitts all previously worked for Tolchard & Son Limited which successfully traded from the Carlsberg site in Woodland Road prior to 1990 as Torbay’s pre- eminent drinks company.

“Tolchards is based on the same core principles established over decades by the Tolchard family and Bill Elliott, although there is no connection with the family now,” said Mr Mardell.

He left his position of trading director of WaverleyTBS, the country’s largest drinks wholesaler, to enable him to fulfil his ambition of owning a local drinks business.

The company, based on Decoy Industrial Estate, has already supported a number of local sports clubs and organisations, including Torquay United and Newton Abbot Spurs football clubs, Torquay Cricket Club, the Torquay Summer Squash League and Paignton Sea Anglers.

Tolchards has also developed partnerships with Devon Cricket, Devon FA’s Friday Night Football, Tiverton Town Football Club and Dawlish Warren Golf Club.

Mr Mardell said: “Our customers have shown fantastic support in trading with us and in return we are being as supportive as we possibly can. The fact that we are local really helps establish strong relationships with our customers along with being able to employ a highly skilled and experienced workforce”

Iron wall candle holders have been around for thousands of years. They date
back to medieval times where these wall candle holders were used for lighting
the hallways of castles. Today these charming pieces of decorative art are used
to add a feeling of warmth and tranquility to the room whose walls adorn them.

In order to install these types of candles, you must first know the
circumstances of the room in which these will hang. Since this form of indoor
wall lighting will use candles for lighting, you must examine the room to make
sure that these wall candles will not be placed on the walls near anything that
could possibly catch fire while the candles are burning such as surrounding art,
curtains, coat racks and anything else that could catch fire.

Keep in mind that candles melt and melted candle wax can get on your walls and
floors. To avoid this you may want to have some sort of glass cover around your
candle. Glass covers for these candles are available in clear frosted or colors
of your choice.

Another good idea is to determine how high on the walls you wish to place these
holders. If children are a part of your household, you may want to place these
holders above the reach of children.

After you know whether you want or don’t want a glass covering your candle and
exactly how high you want your holders on your walls, the next thing is to
measure each wall for wall candle placement. Depending on how many candles you
wish to place on each wall, with a tape measure, measure how high on the wall
you want to place them. I suggest that you measure from the floor up the wall
and mark the wall at the proper height using a pencil. Go about 12 inches over
from your first wall mark and repeat this procedure. Now you have 2 pencil marks
on the wall at the same height about 12 inches apart.

Next, measure the width of the wall at the same height you placed the 2 previous
height pencil marks and write the width measurement on a piece of paper.
Depending on how many of these holders you wish to hang, divide the width of the
wall by the number of wall candles you wish to hang. Once you know how far apart
each holder will be, then using a tape measure, mark the wall with a pencil dot
on each place the wall candle holder will hang.

If you are placing iron wall candle holders along the sides of wall art or a
wall mirror, then what you need to do is measure how far from the left and right
side of the artwork you wish to place each holder. With your measuring tape go
to the left and right side of the wall art (or wall mirror) and measure from the
edge of the art outward on both sides. Make sure your outward measurements on
both sides are identical. Repeat this step over again on both sides, only this
time go about 8 inches either above or below your first marks on both sides of
your wall art (or wall mirror).

Now using the 2 pencil dots you have on both sides of your wall art, line your
tape measure from the floor up the wall using the 2 pencil dots as a guide for a
straight line and mark a pencil dot on the wall exactly how high you wish to
hang your candle holder. Repeat this procedure on the other side of the wall art
and you will have identical spacing for your candle holders on both sides of the
wall art (or wall mirror).

Iron wall candle holders are not light in weight. In order to hang these holders
securely you must use what is known as a wall anchor. Remember, never try to
hang an iron wall candle holder with a screw directly into drywall or plastered
walls. It just won’t hold the weight.

Wall anchors are small devices that are placed into the wall at the exact same
place a screw would go to hold up these types of wall candles. By using a wall
anchor you will be able to hold heavy objects such as heavy wall candles
securely to the wall without having to worry about the fixture becoming loose
from the wall and eventually falling off the wall.

Wall anchors come in different styles and sizes to accommodate different size
screws that will screw into it after the anchor has been placed into the wall.
My favorite wall anchor for hanging wall mounted candle holders looks like a
short stubby plastic screw with a screw hole in the center.

This anchor is easy to install. All you have to do is drill a small hole (about
half the diameter of the anchor) where you want to place the screw to hold your
candle on the wall. After you have drilled the small hole, all you have to do is
screw in the anchor into the small hole you just drilled until it is flush to
the wall. Repeat this procedure for all the screws needed to mount your iron
wall candle holder. When you have inserted all the anchors needed to mount your
candle to the wall, then you simply hold the wall candle holder in position over
the anchors and proceed to screw your holder up to the wall. It is as simple as
that and rest assured that your candle holder is on the wall securely.

Iron wall candle holders are works of art that come in many different shapes and
sizes. They add comfort to the overall feeling of any room in which they are
placed on the wall. With a small amount of effort you can add these to several
rooms of your home and enjoy a simple but pleasing touch of art passed on down
through the centuries.

About the Author

Joe Tobiasz is an expert in interior/exterior decorating. Along with his wife Barbara, they own and operate Wall-Decor-Concepts.com
wall mounted coat racks