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
06 April 2009 : Charm Offensive
More retailers have signed up to take our phone charms to sell at their till points. This gives us an opportunity to raise money and raise awarness to shop floor staff and the public at large. Charms will be appearing on till points in the following retailers soon: Superdrug, Gap, Cargo, Debenhams and Ann Summers.
In addition we have had a plethora of chains signing up to our employee assistance programme: Radstock Co-operative Group, Home Delivery Network, Gap, Habitat, Scottish Midland Co-operative Society and Dwell Retail.
03 April 2009 : Weekend Cheer
I understand W H Smith are going to be selling Pic N Mix. Here's an idea, why don't we buy the "first bag of Pic N Mix" and sell it on eBay!? Maybe not, we've done that one to death!
A visit from the Chairman to Mill Hill this morning was a useful excercise. It gave us an opportunity to talk about one or two tactical bits. In addition we played around with a number of strategic issues that have been occupying my mind.
I had a session with our new Fundraising Manager for Scotland, Nicola Steele, and it made me think:
We are in a very interesting place; we have an economy that is shrinking, an increasing number of retailers going into administration and people worried about their future. At the same time Retail Trust is expanding its services, recruiting new staff and growing its income. Through the dedication of our staff we have positioned ourselves at the heart of retail and are now providing products and services that their employees need. For the first time I feel I can truly say we are relevant to the industry.
Nice to end the week on a positive note - have a good weekend.
02 April 2009 : Top Shop New York Style
Sent a text message to the Top Shop, Top Man team on the opening of their brand new New York store in Soho. Dave Shepherd the MD of Top Man texted back to say "we are open"! Having seen the photos online the store looks fantastic. Is opening in a recession going to be a problem? I hope not, having spent 14 years at Top Shop, the Brand has a special place in my heart.
This morning I spent time at our career cafe that was run at our community centre in Mill Hill for retailers who have been made redundant. A brilliant programme, part of ReWork, with lots of practical advice. This cafe had the theme Networking. I've already had an email from one of the participants saying how brilliant it was. We are planning to hold them every month so check out the website for dates and detaiils of future cafes.
Then it was off to Wimbledon for the RLI Mix. Jayne Rafter the publisher of RLI is a great supporter of Retail Trust and we spent time talking about future opportunities for fundraising and an awarness campaign.
01 April 2009 : Shoe Must Be Joking
With the April fool this morning, I made out that one of our key supporters had offered all Retail Trust staff a brand new pair of shoes from their spring summer range and I needed everyone's shoe size!
Well, these are the numbers of people in our various locations who fell for it - or didn't.
Now Head Office teams.
H.R. & Training 0
I.T. 0
Fundraising & Marketing 4
Finance 0
Helpline 1
Exec Team 0
This morning we had a meeting at Mill Hill with our career coaches who are providing support to those ringing the Retail Trust Helpline 0808 801 0808 for support through our ReWork programme. Following the meeting they were given a tour of the estate.
Then it was off to meet John Wight from rps who has supported us in the past and is looking to do more work with us in the future.
Last meeting of the day was with seethedifference which is a programme about transforming charitable giving by allowing people to donate on-line to specific projects. It has not been launched yet and I am delighted that we will be in from the start - it is an exciting project.
31 March 2009 : It's a Record
It's been confirmed that March 2009 is a record month for numbers of calls to the Retail Trust Helpline 0808 801 0808. We have drafted in extra support to the team to deal with the additional admin and have recruited a new member of staff.
This afternoon we had a meeting about the London Ball 2010 which will include a brand new,exciting initiative that will capture the imagination of the retail world! Sorry I can't say anything else about it yet until we have had Retail Trust Week. Watch this space!
It was good to catch up with my old mate Roger Reade, Cheif Executive of the Manchester F.A, who has been a great supporter of our Northern fundraising events.
This evening I'm off to Home House in London's West End for a Twenty Club dinner. The guest speaker is Keith Edleman, former boss of Storehouse and who has a passing interest in Arsenal F.C.
30 March 2009 : Welcome Back!
If I had a pound for everyone who said today "things have gone brilliantly while you have been away" I could donate it to Retail Trust and be considered a major donor.
Well things have gone brilliantly: Calls to the Retail Trust Helpline (0808 801 0808) for the month of March will be a record, we have signed up even more retailers to take part in Retail Trust Week , the ReWork project is getting loads of exposure and our Charms will be selling in many more retailers over the coming months.
There is no question that things are tough on the High Street, the good news is that we are set up to help even more people and their families who are in need.
I see that the shareholders at Marks & Spencer are still unhappy that Sir Stuart Rose is continuing to fulfill both roles of Executive Chairman and Chief Executive. Stuart, if you find it becomes impossible for you to carry out both roles there, we could always do with extra help to man the Retail Trust Helpline, even if you can do a couple of mornings a week it would help - Full training will be given!
23 March 2009 : Out of Office
I am out of the office for a few days.
Will be back soon!
20 March 2009 : See The Difference
Had a fantastic meeting with Frances and Jill from See The Difference.
Who are they? I hear you ask, well you will be hearing a lot more from them in the near future. In brief it is a programme that is about transforming charitable giving by allowing people to donate on-line to specific projects.
If you are reading this and you want to find out more or work for another charity, then why not email seethedifference@hotmail.co.uk
Have a great weekend!
19 March 2009 : £9.99 Charity Shop Dress is a Wow!
I thourougly enjoyed my first experience in the Lion's Den at the bssa Masters Forum. Seven teams of five presented their ideas and the Lions criticised and encouraged in equal measure. The winning team designed a children's sock to be worn with brand new shoes that have special padding in the ares that often need plasters in the early days.
A dash from Oxford back to central London and Gosvenor House for the Retail Week Awards 2009. I was a guest of Retail Week and was entertained wonderfully by Debora Webster, Lorna Goodyer and Keeley Stocker whose dress came from a charity shop and cost just £9.99!
Many congratulations to Morrison's who won retailer of the year and Sir Geoff Mulcahy for his outstanding contribution to Retail Award.
18 March 2009 : Making a Stand
A huge thank you to Tim Danaher and his team at Retail Week for allowing us to have a stand at today's Retail Week Conference in London. This is a great opportunity each year to network with the great and good and to promote all that we are doing.
In the conference itself, I was most impressed by Phil Wrigley Executive Chairman of New Look who described the impact on people in this recession perfectly.
A quick dash from the conference to House of Fraser Head Office on Baker St for tonight's London Ball committee meeting. A new invigorated ball committee under the leadership of Teresa Tideman, Joint MD of Disney Stores were presented a totally new concept for London Ball 2010. Suffice to say, we are all very excited - but full details will not be communicated until after Retail Trust Week. Watch this space...
Then I zipped up to Oxford for my briefing on tomorrow morning’s Lion’s Den session, which is an integral part of the bssa Oxford Masters Forum. I was accompanied by Bill Laird, MD of Nisa-Today's and Hilary Shepherd, owner of Maureen Cookson.
Prev
