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
16 March 2009 : Happy Birthday Hallett
The day started with an alarm call at 4.30 a.m. The BBC driver was outside the house at 5.20 a.m. and it was off to White City to the Radio 5 Live studio. A quick chat with the producer and straight in for the live interview with Shelagh Fogerty on the breakfast show.
The interview gave me a chance to promote ReWork that we are launching today. ReWork offers three free services to middle and junior management who are facing redundancy from retail:
1. An outplacement guide designed by industry experts giving help and advice on everything from perfecting your CV to preparing for a job interview.
2. Career cafes taking place monthly giving job hunters the opportunity to get practical help from industry experts.
3. Career coaching - Three free confidential one-hour telephone coaching sessions with a professional career coach.
Back in the car and home in time to take my son to the station by 7.00!
BBC Radio Scotland rang to ask if I was available to go onto their breakfast show too. Due to a prior engagement I was unable to do the gig so Rob Mansell, my finance director, stepped in and did a fabulous job. Thanks Rob and well done.
Delighted to see the Daily Telegraph ran a piece on ReWork on their business pages and we also got lots of mentions on line.
The day in the office included the weekly Executive Team Meeting and a meeting with all Head Office and Mill Hill estate 
staff.
This evening was the party to celebrate the 10th Birthday of Wendy Hallett's business - Hallett Retail. Wendy was our supporter of the year last year and had a fundraising raffle for Retail Trust that raised hundreds of pounds.
Thank you and Happy Birthday Wendy.
As I have been up for almost 20 hours - I'm going to bed!
15 March 2009 : Radio 5 Live Call In
A call from Radio 5 Live "Wake up to Money" invites me onto the show tomorrow morning. It's on at around 6.15 a.m. and is to discuss our ReWork programme which is gaining support from accross the retail community.
Off to do some preparation and to set the alarm for an early morning call!
14 March 2009 : Old Lerpoolians London Night Out
What a great pleasure it was to be the guest speaker at the Old Lerpoolian Society, London Branch, Annual Dinner. It was held in the grand surroundings of the RAF Club in Piccadilly and was attended by around 70 old boys and old girls.
A huge thank you to Nigel Moss the Hon Secretary and Hon Treasurer who invited me to speak. Thanks also to Peter Firth the President and the Principal, Hans Broekman who is a very impressive young man with more brains than about three people put together.
I had an opportunity to raise a few laughs and talk about the work of the charity.
Interestingly, there were employees from Marks & Spencer, Ethel Austin and Asda in the audience as well as many people who knew old friends of mine from my school days just across the water at King Williams College in the Isle of Man.
13 March 2009 : Retail Trust Week vs Red Nose Day
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What a fantastic result from Red Nose Day, I am so impressed with the set up and how everyone gets behind the project. It was the inspiration for Retail Trust Week which is in its third year and we are seeing tens of thouisands of retailers signing up for their staff to take part.
Stores who are taking part this year inclode: Matalan, Mothercare, Harrods, Borders, BHS, Debenhams and Top Shop.
Check out the link and sign up now!
12 March 2009 : Supporting People (What Support)?
Barnet Council is consulting people who live in sheltered housing about proposed changes in the ways in which support services are provided. The proposed changes will potentialy have a major negative impact on the way we support our residents in Mill Hill - all 77 of them!
A meeting was held this evening at our community centre and almost all the residents turned up along with family members in many cases.
The meeting was attended by James Taylor, Supported Housing Manager for Barnet and Cllr Jeremy Davies. There were some excellent questions raised and we were grateful to Lord Clarke of Hampstead, who was supporting one of his relatives who is one of our residents, he made a number of well made points.
The consultation will end on 31st March with Councillors' making a decision on the proposals in June.
We are very unhappy about the proposals and will be doing everything we can to ensure that the planned cuts are not adopted.
11 March 2009 : Board Buoyed By Budget
The Board meeting today discussed the five year financial strategic plan and also the budget for next year ( 09/10). We had a lively discussion regarding all areas of the budget. We are clearly operating in challenging times and it is a difficult time for retailers. We will see an increase in demand for our services whilst our established donor streams come under pressure.
I am delighted that the budget was agreed by the Board and look forward to growing our services at a time when we are in such demand.
10 March 2009 : Yes Minister
A meeting together with Michael Newton, our employee assistance programme development manager, took place this afternoon at the Department for Work and Pensions. We are starting to build a relationship with so many people now and the support we got was outstanding. I am confident that, over time, we will start to forge great links with government.
Later in the afternoon I met with our new Chairman, Dudley Cloake, who had just come from an interview with The John Lewis Partnership magazine. We discussed tomorrows Board meeting.
09 March 2009 : Grade As for Derby
Well done to 
Irene Thomas and the team in Derby, they have just received "A" Grades on all six Core objectives and "A" Grades on six supplementary objectives following their Supporting People QAF Validation visit. This is a fantastic achievment and unprecedented in our history as none of our retirement estates has ever achieved all "A" results! Derby cottage pictured below.
The Salford community centre opened today and lunches were served for the first time.
08 March 2009 : Oh Darling!
A huge row has broken out as Alistair Darling plans to raise business rates next month b
y more than £1 billion. Philip Green has met with ministers to seek a postponement or cancellation of the proposed 5% rise.
This is the worst possible time for retailers and there is a good chance that many more names could disappear from the High Street if the rise is imposed.
I am very sad to see the loss of 100 jobs as Principles closes its 66 stores.
05 March 2009 : EAP Rolls On
Cheques from three more companies hit our desk as they sign up or renew their employee assistance programme support for their staff.
Ryman, Fat Face and Menary's retail are the companies and it means that their staff can call the Retail Trust Helpline on any issue at all, either work related or personal and we will help and support them with free legal advice, free counselling, access to our ReWork programme and access to grants.
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