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
15 October 2009 : Derby Day
Great excitement at our estate in Derby today.
After years of planning, at last, the residents and their families can look around at the fantastic new facilities. Today's open day will include tours of the new restaurant, Eborn House, and a selection of flats. After the tours "tasters" will be served in the brand new restaurant.
Well done to Irene and the whole team at Derby for making it all happen.
I am keeping out of the way today and look forward to visiting next week and seeing first hand how the residents' moves are going. I understand that out of the 38 new flats 35 are already allocated.
13 October 2009 : Charing Cross Lunch
A quiet lunch in Charing Cross with the ubiquitous Audra Lamoon was stimulating, exciting and educational.
Audra together with her business partner Sue Gilkes have written a fantastic book, Blondes in Business.
I have sent the book to Patrick Ballin from Mile One, who is helping us develop our ReWork programme to see how we can work together with Audra, Sue and their company, Your Impact.
Thanks Audra for a thought provoking and entertaining day.
09 October 2009 : Star Search
Nice to see Retail Week cover our new and exciting competition on their back page today.
Just three weeks tomorrow and we start the Road Shows for Retail Trust Search For A Star. Milton Keynes is our first stop and the tour takes in a number of fantastic locations including Glasgow, Brighton, London and Castleford.
Ifyou have a talent or know someone who has and you have worked in retail then visit here and sign up to a fantastic new competition.
Retailers with acts already entered into the competition include:
Matalan
Brighthouse
Signet
Ryman
Disney Stores
Marks & Spencer
Tesco
Jaeger
Peacocks
Debenhams
Morrisons
House of Fraser
08 October 2009 : Sparks Fly
What a great evening at Waterstone's on Piccadilly. Court & Spark held their annual party. Last year Claire and Pauline held their event in aid of Retail Trust, this year they were supporting Kevin Watson and Elizabeth Turner from Ulife Ltd, a business that support people through change. Elizabeth has written an inspiring book called The Blue Skies Of Autumn which she kindly signed for me.
I am extremely grateful to Pauline and Claire for inviting me to their events, they are a great opportunity to network and spread the message about Retail Trust and the work we do. Tonight was amazing, there were so many people that I knew.
Two of my favourite area managers from my Arcadia Group days were there. Jo McWilliams and Mia Cousins both of whom have carved our very succesful retail careers with New Look and House of Fraser respectively.
I know Mia is a regular reader of my blog so I had to give her a mention!
Got home in time to see Stuart Rose make an appearance on Question Time. I thought he played a very "straight bat".
06 October 2009 : Dinner With Black Rod
What a privilege to sit with Lieutenant General Sir Freddie Viggers, KCB, CMG, MBE, DL tonight at the Winnowing Club and to be asked to say a few words after his speech thanking him on behalf of the members and their guests. Not only did he have a distinguished Army career he now holds the position of Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod.
I look forward to taking up his invitation to visit "The House".
Amazing results from Tesco today, now one in seven of the pounds spent in the UK is spent in a Tesco store!
05 October 2009 : Sky's The Limit
Avis Darzins, one our Trustees, is leaving Accenture to join Sky as their Business Transformation Director. Not only does it sound like a fantastic new job, I also know where to go now if I have problems with my Sky box!
Avis and Accenture have been amazing supporters over a number of years primarily through members of their retail team allocating their "charity days" to supporting our work.
It was therefore a privilage and pleasure to attend her "leaving drinks" event tonight at Corney and Barrow, close to St. Paul's. It gave me an opportunity to mix with the Accenture team, acknowledge the pro bono time they have given us and try to secure support in the future.
Thanks Avis and good luck.
02 October 2009 : Simon Says
Sadly, despite being a close working colleague of Sir Philip Green's, I don't seem to have been placed on the invitation list to Simon Cowell's 50th Birthday party this weekend!
There are lots of column inches in today's papers speculating about who's in and who's out. One of the big challenges for those who are invited is what to buy the man who has got everything?
To all the celebs who are reading this can I suggest a donation to your favourite charity is the best bet.
30 September 2009 : High Achievers
Great fun judging the Independent Achievers Awards today. Thanks to Kate Dickenson the IAA Project Manager for all her hard work. Click here to find out more. Catagories included Shop Presentation, Effective Ranging, Retail Innovation and a new catagory for this year, Environment & Sustainability.
The Awards dinner will take place in London on 19th November where Retail Trust will be represented as the charity partner to the Independent Achievers Academy.
This evening was Naomi and Paul's joint 100th Birthday party at the Cobden Club. Lovely to hear Jamie Cullen live and meet up with an old face from Manchester, ex Radio 1 D.J. Gary Davies.
27 September 2009 : Double Page Spread!
There won't have been too many occasions in our 177 year history where we are featured across two pages in a national newspaper. Today's Sunday Express carries a great article promoting our fabulous competition Retail Trust Search For A Star.
25 September 2009 : North West End To The Week
We are well represented in the North West following a very generous donation from the Moores family.
Both our housing estates in Liverpool and Salford bear the Moores name.
My day was spent visiting both estates and spending time with every member of staff. The new estate in Salford looks amazing and we are all looking forward to the official opening on December 10th.
Whilst I was there, I managed to fit in a quick live interview with Steve Suttie on Salford City Radio. They were keen to understand more about the party last night and it gave me an opportunity to plug the new estate and promote the help we give.
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