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
18 June 2009 : Four Events And A Trophy
A busy day that started with a meeting at our PR agency Rain Communications. Delia is a great inspiration to me and a superb "sounding board" too. Rain have done a fabulous job and we enjoy an excellent working relationship.
It was then off to lunch at the bssa annual get together at the Army and Navy Club in Pall Mall. John Dean, CEO of bssa and a Trustee or Retail Trust, was in fine form. The guest speaker was the great John Timpson CBE who described the "upside down structure" he introduced into his business. Company at the table was excellent with two of the people reaching milestones recently. Liz Fox has just completed 25 years at UKFT Association (she must have started there when she was seven years old) and John Brown OBE who has reached the personal milestone of 60. Congratulations to them both.
Retail Trust have had a long and special relationship with RAS Publishing and all of their titles. It was therefore a particular pleasure to sit next to Isabella Griffiths, the Editor of Womenswear Buyer. Isabella has just returned from honeymoon and we chatted about a huge range of topics from regional accents to ice cream, and from Welsh male voice choirs to cricket. I am confident that I didn't upset her too much and that her magazine and those in her group will continue to promote our work!
Last stop was Old Billingsgate for the RLI awards dinner. Jayne Rafter and her team do a fabulous job and were very generous to us tonight. We were the nominated charity for the evening, we were presented with a cheque for £4,000 and I was given a speaking slot to promote the charity and show our latest video. Sir Philip Green was the winner of the personality of the year award for the second year running and as he was not able to make it, he asked me to collect the award on his behalf. It's just how I get this 2ft. high trophy to him - that's the problem now!
17 June 2009 : Alan Asks the Questions
I was up and by the phone at 6.45 a.m. having been told I would get a call just before seven and be on air just after 7.00 a.m. At 7.15 I got a call to say they were running late and would receive a call in 15 minutes. Sure enough at 7.30 the call came through.
Alan Beswick is the presenter of BBC Radio Manchester's breakfast show and we had some good banter. I certainly had an opportunity to promote the Retail Trust Helpline 0808 801 0808, ReWork, Financial Assistance, Counselling and free Legal Advice. The interview can be heard by clicking here and scrolling down to recent media.
The rest of the day will be busy too with a review meeting with the team on Retail Trust Search For A Star, a meeting in London with Natilie O'Neil and this evening a London Ball committee meeting.
16 June 2009 : Manchester Calling
A call from BBC Radio Manchester means an early start in the morning.
They have invited me onto the breakfast show tomorrow to talk about the help we can give retail staff who are facing redundancy and are worried about jobs.
Early to bed and alarm set!
15 June 2009 : Light Lunch
I was asked to speak at a gentleman's lunch at Bloom's Restaurant in Golders Green. I selected the title "Retail is Detail" and it gave me the opportunity to talk about the work of the charity and have a splendid lunch too. A great crowd of gents who fired 15 minutes of questions at me following my 20 minute address. Questions ranged from developments in retail right through to my cricket coach at school - the great Jack Bond!12 June 2009 : Nisa Chap That Bill
Bill Laird is MD of Today's Group. We first met when we were fellow "Dragons" in the "Dragons Den" at the bssa Masters Forum. We met at the IOD and talked about the world, retail and particularly the contacts that Bill has and how he may be able to help us find support for Retail Trust Search For A Star.
I invited Bill to our Northern Forum up in Manchester, an opportunity for leading retailers in the north to sit and discuss matters of state.
11 June 2009 : Thank you Thank you
A busy day!
Two huge thank you's. The first to Luke Mayhew, Stephen Robertson and the team at the British Retail Consortium for a fabulous BRC Annual Retail Conference. The highlight for me was James Timpson's presentation that was fresh, innovative and compelling. If you have not heard him speak then next time he's speaking make sure you get there, he was brilliant.
To have an opportunity to address the 350 delagates on the work of Retail Trust was a privilage and I very much appreciated the opportunity.
This evening Mike and Carol Clare opened up their magnificent home and grounds to Retail Trust for a private dinner for 60 guests.
An evening of champagne and chocolates including a wandering minstrel made for an outstanding evening.
Guests included, Sir Geoff and Lady Valerie Mulcahy, Gerald Ratner, John Milligan, our Chairman, Dudley Cloake and his wife Patricia, our Life President Barry Gibson and his wife Brenda, Brendan Dorian, Jurek Piasecki, Leo McKee, Chris and Teresa Tideman, Claire Beasley, Paul Clarke and Kypros Kyprianou.
A special thank you to Nigel Collett from rpa vision and his charming wife Nikki, who were great company on table 5.
Helen Mitchell our Development Manager needs special praise for pulling off a truly great evening.
10 June 2009 : Stuart's 125 Years
Stuart Rose gave John McDermott and I a wonderful welcome at M & S this morning despite not having his usual quota of eight hours sleep! The M & S 125th Birthday bash took place last night at Old Billingsgate. Graham Norton, Diversity and Will Young were the star turns.
We meet with Stuart regularly and it was great to discuss a number of ways in which we can develop our relationship.
We were joined by Susan Aubrey-Cound, Stuart's Executive Assistant and Tanith Dodge, Director of HR.
Stuart was quoted in the Daily Express today talking about Retail Trust Search For A Star.
09 June 2009 : Boris, Seb and Me!
There are not many times that I have been able to say that I shared a platform with a Lord and the Mayor of London.
The New West End Company in conjunction with Heart of London held a seminar at the Langham Hotel entitled West End 2012, 1000 days. It was all about preparing London's West End for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Lord Coe, Boris Johnson and Cllr. Colin Barlow, Leader of Westminster Council, were the big hitters who spoke.
We have had a great relationship with New West End Company and they very kindly allowed me the opportunity to promote Retail Trust Search For A Star to the gathered throng.
There were one or two in the audience who came up to me afterwards, keen to have a pack, explaining the details of their particular talent. Let's see who applies.
It was good to see Drapers on-line covering the story in great detail and The Sun mentioning it too! We believe a number of the other nationals will be covering the launch over the next couple of days.
08 June 2009 : Retail Trust Search For A Star Launches
Retail Trust Search For A Star is a nationwide talent search to find the UK's most talented retail act from singers, dancers, bands, comedians and variety acts.
The four acts who receive the most votes will go on to perform at the live grand final at the Retail Trust London Ball at Grosvenor House on January 25th 2010.
The finalists will have their performance streamed live across the web for millions of people to see and the act with the most votes will be crowned "Retail Trust Search For A Star Winner(s) 2010.
Everyone who works in retail can enter and have a chance to represent their brand.
The press launch today in central London was well attended by journalists and retail CEOs alike.
Supporting the launch were, Harold Tillman, Chairman of the British Fashion Council, John King, CEO House of Fraser, Nick Robertson, CEO ASOS and Teresa Tideman Joint MD of Disney Stores.
Let's see what the press make of it.
More details of how to enter can be found by clicking here.
03 June 2009 : Picture That!
Our PR and marketing team have done a great job of modernising the way we communicate and we have now got a Twitter account, a Facebook page and flickr.
Please click on the links to join in the fun!
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