Nigel's Blog
Hi, I'm Nigel the Chief Executive of Retail Trust.
The coming year will be a time of growth and change for Retail Trust. The charity will be working more closely than ever with organisations in the retail sector as we cement ourselves as the charity committed to the well-being of employees in the retail industry.
Part of working more closely with the industry is communication. Technology allows me to communicate with you through this blog – spelling mistakes and all! So please feel free to email me on the Contact page with feedback, ideas, or just to swap stories about our blogs. Enjoy!
You can read my biography on our Trustees and Chief Executive page.
Nigel J L Rothband
Chief Executive
Read Nigel's Blog
20 November 2009 : Independent Achievers Awarded
Last night's dinner at the Independent Achievers Awards in Whitehall was a fabulous opportunity to mix with many amazing retailers who work at the heart of so many communities. I found it an inspiration and am extreamly grateful to Nick Shanaher, the MD of New Trade Publishing for inviting me and giving me the opportunity to address the dinner.
Today at last we announced the top 50 acts, that will now face the public vote, for Retail Trust Search For A Star.
We have put together a 30 second clip of each act and details of how to text vote are here.
Please have a look and vote for your favourite. At least 40p from every text goes to Retail Trust.
Have a great weekend.
19 November 2009 : Matalan win Supporter of the Year
A fantastic night at the Drapers Awards last night at Grosvenor House.
Congratulations to Jessica Brown and her team for a fabulous evening.
It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to address the audience and explain a little of the work we do and share a recent case study. In addition I drew the raffle, with proceeds going to Retail Trust.
Then the opportunity to announce our supporter of the year for 2009.
Matalan have made us their charity of the year, they sell our charms in store, they have run marathons, entered Retail Trust Search For A Star, the CEO has "gone back to the floor" and they have taken an enthusiastic part in Retail Trust Week. In total they have raised £147,000 for Retail Trust. Worthy winners, I am sure you'll agree.
18 November 2009 : Marc makes his Mark
Delighted that Marc Bolland will be succeeding Stuart at Marks & Spencer. The new CEO will start in the new year. Let's see if we can make his first public outing the Retail Trust London Ball at Grosvenor House on January 25th! Morrisons are great supporters of Retail Trust and I have met Marc on a number of occasions. I look forward to developing that relationship in his new role.
Retail Trust Search For A Star is at a very exciting stage. The judges have now decided on the final 50 acts that will face the public vote. On Friday, all 50 acts will have a 30 second clip from their audition on the website, details will be posted here. There will be details on how to vote for your favourite.
We entertained three directors from Brighthouse this morning at Mill Hill. Having seen them at our Great Northern Party earlier this year, we look forward to seeing them at the Scottish Ball next month and the London Ball.
15 November 2009 : Top 50 - Wait For It ........................
What a fantastic final Audition Roadshow for Retail Trust Search For A Star at O2 Shopping Centre on Finchley Rd. in north London yesterday. Over 30 acts gave it their all as they competed to make it to the final 50.
It was great to see the team from Drapers down there, we look forward to seeing it on the Drapers website very soon.
By the end of the week the public can vote online at www.retailtrustsearchforastar.com where the final 50 will each have a 30 second youtube clip.
All the major retailers will be represented and it is going to be a hard choice.
I have my personal favourite although I am not saying who they are!
More details will be in the trade press, Sunday Express and OK magazine.
13 November 2009 : Blogless Week
I am very unhappy that I have got to the end of the week and have only managed one Blog entry. Not good enough - must try harder!
So here is the whole week in one entry!
Monday - Exec team meeting.
Tuesday - Board preparation.
Wednesday - Board meeting. Thanks to House of Fraser for letting us use their magnificent facilities.
Thursday - Meeting the amazing and inspirational Steve Edge.
Friday - "Essence of Retail Trust" meeting. Watch this space to find out what that means!
Tomorrow sees the final Audition Roadshow for Retail Trust Search For A Star, so come on down to the O2 shopping centre on Finchley Road see details here.
06 November 2009 : bssa Becomes BHF/bssa Group
A short drive to Edgbaston this morning to sit down and discuss the merger recently announced between bssa and The British Hardware Federation.
Alan Hawkins has been istalled as the CEO of the new group and John Dean, one of our Trustees, will retire next month.
Retail Trust and bssa have worked very closely together on many projects over the past few years and John Dean has been the main catalyst that has made this all happen.
It was good to spend time with Alan to understand his vision and I am confident that the new enlarged group will mean an even closer working relationship.
05 November 2009 : Sick Arsenal
Yesterday's meetings in London were with Nigel Collett from rpa Group, who is going to have some thoughts on how we may be able to work together in the future and Nick Radcliffe from Comment Technologies who may be able to help us develop a plan to improve and develop our social networking opportunities. Nick has been off sick since our meeting - I'm not sure if it was meeting me that did it or the worry if Arsenal F.C. will get enough points to stay in the Premier League this season!
This morning I met Siobhan Forey the Group HR Director at Arcadia Group. It was strange going back to the offices at Gt. Castle St where I had an office of my own nine years ago. We talked through our employee assistance programme, Retail Trust Week and came up with a plan to engage with all brands across the Group.
It was then off to the ACEVO annual conference for the rest of the day.
This evening I had a long conversation with John Wilson, one of our Trustees, who heads up our property committee. At the board meeting next week we will be discussing property strategy and it was good to get John's agreement on most issues!
04 November 2009 : 19 Years Today
I know my wife sometimes reads my Blog - So this is for Nicole, Happy Anniversary.
To everyone else, thanks for the cards, flowers, chocolates and good wishes!
Just heard Sir Stuart on Radio Four talking about M & S's numbers for the first six months. A very competent, skilful and interesting performance.
After putting the Board papers to bed in the office this morning I have meetings in London for the rest of the day.
03 November 2009 : Dream On!
Dreams have been supporters of Retail Trust for some time thanks to Mike and Carol Clare.
Today was an opportunity to meet, formally, with Nick Worthington the CEO. We have met many times before on social occasions.
We talked about Dreams' partnership with Retail Trust through our Employee Assistance Proramme and attendance at our London Ball, Dreams are taking a table again in January next year.
In addition, Nick agreed to feature Retail Trust in their quarterly staff magazine "Between The Sheets".
We also discussed the four brilliant Retail Trust Search For A Star auditionees from Dreams who auditioned at Milton Keynes on Saturday. See the photos here.
On a completely different subject, a case came to my attention today that helps us understand why Retail Trust exists. Names and dates have been changed to protect the identity of the member of retail staff who rang the Retail Trust Helpline 0808 801 0808.
Miss R has been homeless for several months after she had to move out of shared accommodation following the breakdown of her long-term relationship with her partner. Up until January of this year, she was employed by a department store where she had been an employee for 14yrs. After the breakdown of her relationship, her health deteriorated and as a result she had to give up employment. She has since sought medical attention from her GP and hopes in future to be in a position to regain employment. She has made strides to accomplish this by working with Triage, who assist people to return to full time employment and is currently awaiting the outcome of a medical assessment to decide whether she is fit and able to do so.Miss R has also been offered permanent accommodation through her local council but unfortunately she has no furnishings of her own. Her current income consists solely of benefits (Employment & Support Allowance) and she is, therefore, not in a position financially to furnish her flat without getting herself into debt. This in turn would cause stress and anxiety at a time when she is making good progress with her health issues.Retail Trust is assisting with the cost of a cooker, fridge/freezer, floor coverings and bed.
01 November 2009 : Milton Keynes And Brighton Get The Show On The Road
What a fantastic weekend!
Yesterday the Retail Trust Search For A Star Auditions Roadshow kicked off in Milton Keynes and today moved onto Brighton.
There is no question, everyone was blown away by the quality of the acts and it means we have a very exciting competition. See detail here.
A huge thank you to our celebrity judges. Yesterday we had Antony Costa, Liz McClarnon and Tony Hopper. Today was "Same Difference" (Sean and Sarah), Lisa Maffia and Tony Hopper.
The show moves to Castleford and Glasgow next weekend with the following weekend taking place in London.
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