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
24 September 2009 : Great Northern Party
I had never been to the Imperial War Museum in Manchester before. Around 300 guests enjoyed a fantastic evening raising almost £40,000 for Retail Trust at the same time. It was sad that Andrew Harrison was not able to be there, following a family bereavement, as he and his committee had done so much to make the evening such a success.
With a "forties" theme we were entertained by "Irresistable" and DJs Darren Procter and Dave Ellis.
23 September 2009 : From Conference To Dinner
A huge thank you to Clare Rayner and the team at Retail Acumen for their support today.
The Retail Conference, which they organise, was an outstanding success. In addition, Retail Trust had a stand in the networking area, I presented in the main auditorium and took part in the panel discussion at the end of the day. What a great opportunity to network and promote the work of the charity at the same time.
In the evening, the BRC held their Annual Dinner at Grosvenor House. I was delighted to be seated on an excellent BRC table that included, Will Kernan from New Look, Hugh Milward from McDonald's and Amty Shields from Drapers.
The raffle was in aid of Retail Trust and TICT and raised several thousand pounds.
Thanks to Stephen Robertson and his team for their continued support.
22 September 2009 : Scotland The Brave
A day in Scotland at our wonderful Crookfur Estate is something I always look forward to. To have the opportunity to talk to our General Manager, Kathy, and the rest of her team about the direction of travel of our amazing charity was inspiring.
I also had the opportunity to talk to residents and their families about the support we offer and our Scottish Trustee, John Wilson, popped over to review a number of initiatives.
21 September 2009 : Try Something Different Today
Something special is happening at our Mill Hill estate today. Roger Burnley, Sainsbury's Retail and Logistics Director, is unveiling a plaque on one of the cottages following Sainsbury's £25,000 donation.
Our history has always been around the drapery trade and this is the first plaque on the estate to have the name of a grocer on it. The grocery business now work in partnership with us as much as fashion and the department stores.
Increasingly we are being recognised as the principal charity for the retail sector providing support and assistance to all 3 million staff who work in our industry.
20 September 2009 : Express Train
The full page feature on Retail Trust Search For A Star is going to appear in next week's Sunday Express.
Their website ran a nice introductory piece as a taster. Read it here.
It is fantastic to have The Sunday Express and OK magazine as our media partners and as a result the prizes for the winning act have just got better! Watch this space.
18 September 2009 : Vision On
Jonathan Taylor and Gill Smith from Visionpoint visited Mill Hill for lunch today. What a great job they did, working with us, five years ago. Visionpoint pulled together the market research that shaped the direction of the charity over the past five years. The devolpment of the Helpline 0808 801 0808 and the creation of our employee assistance programme would not have happened without their support. As we look ahead to the next 15 years it will be excellent to work with them again.
Have a great weekend and Happy New Year!
17 September 2009 : Remember Us When You Are Famous
The consumer launch for Retail Trust Search For A Star is upon us! Look out for the full page feature in this Sunday's Sunday Express.
We are all very excited about the project which is designed to engage with the staff on the shop floor, raise the profile of Retail Trust and ensure we put a smile back on everyones face.
If you have a talent apply now - it's free to enter. If you have a friend or relative who works in retail then let them know by visiting the dedicated website.
Good luck and please remember us when you are famous!
16 September 2009 : From Greasy Spoon To Marriott Hotel!
The day started with a breakfast meeting with Michael Andersen our Group Fundraising Manager in a "greasy spoon" just off Baker Street. We were off to see Ian Grabiner at Arcadia Group. Ian was on fine form and we got into lots of detail about the work we do, how the numbers are looking and our strategic direction. He was particularly interested in our employee assistance programme and put us in touch with the best person in the Group to work with to start to ensure there is full awareness of all we can offer to his employees. We inevitabiy got onto the London Ball and discussed Arcadia's potential support on the night! Last year Philip was instrumental in getting us to our £1m target.
James Lowman, the youthful, cricket loving Chief Executive of the Association of Convenience Stores, spent a couple of hours at our Mill Hill Head Office. We had a great catch up and we both recognise the importance of our two organisations working together.
The London Ball committee meeting followed and we are in a fantastic position. We only have 15 tables to sell and we have already sold out on the silver table catagory! If you have not yet booked your table - be quick! Book here.
The day was rounded off by the fabulous 2009 Everywoman in Retail Awards ceremony. Maxine Benson and Karen Gill, co-founders of Everywoman, included a charity raffle in aid of Retail Trust and gave us a great plug during the evening - Thank you very much.
It was a delight and a pleasure to have Katie O'Brien, Sir Philip Green's PA, on one side of me and Lynette Deutsch of Endaba on the other. The Retail Trust table also included the lovely Nicole Rothband, Trustees Judith Pilkington and Claire Beesley.
I am absolutely delighted that Wendy Hallett won the Innovator of the Year Award. Wendy, who owns and runs Hallett Retail was our supporter of the year last year. I hear she has been nominated for an award at the Drapers awards next month too. I hope the shelf in her office is strong enough!
14 September 2009 : Handy Andy
What a great start to the week!
Following a chat with Andy Higginson, the Chief Executive of Tesco's retail services, a date has been set for us to get together. This follows a couple of great bits of news regarding Tesco and their growing support for Retail Trust.
Tesco have now booked their table for our London Ball, which means there are only 17 tables left!
In addition, Tesco are now signed up to our employee assistance programme with a trial taking place in the north east covering 6,500 staff. An awareness programme is underway and we very much look forward to working closely with all at Tesco in the coming months.
11 September 2009 : Ready Steady Win
The first ever Ready Steady Cook event in aid of Retail Trust was held last night at Chateau Harry in the LG Lecture Room and Kitchen which are situated in the basement of Waterstones in Piccadilly, London W1.
A huge thank you to Gavin Matthews, Partner at Bond Pearce, who sponsored the event on our behalf.
We are delighted to be working in partnership with Bond Pearce who are becoming superb supporters of Retail Trust. Not only did they put on last night's event, they allow us to use their offices for our Resolving Redundancy Workshops and they attend many of our events.
A number of retailers were represented last night including Marks & Spencer, Arcadia Group, Gap, Thomas Pink, Mothercare, QVC and Hutchison 2G.
Despite creating the most wonderful halibut with Italian lettuce and peas, (pictured) my team did not win.
Ana Atherton, from our fundraising team, was in the winning side. There is a bit of a theme here as Ana won our Come Dine With Me competition too which was organised by the team for Retail Trust Week.
Thanks and congratulations to Kate Sacchi who organised the evening and who works closely with Bond Pearce.
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