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
04 May 2010 : Marc & Stuart
All the best to Marc Bolland on his first day at work at M & S today (although I understand he was in yesterday).
Retail Trust and M & S go back a long way and we have enjoyed support from all the previous CEOs. With our amazing relationship with Morrisons (built up over Marc's time at the grocer) I am sure we will continue to enjoy such a relationship.
As our financial year ends it's interesting to look at one or two statistics.
Helpline calls last year rose 57% on the previous year. This is a clear indication that our message is really getting out there to the three million who work in our industry.
With the help of M & S (that's Marc and Stuart) and more CEOs and Chairmen like them, we can continue to help even more people in our industry.
03 May 2010 : New Year Starts Today
Today is the start of our financial year 2010/11.
I am extreamly excited by the opportunities this year presents.
We will continue to work in partnership with all retail companies to offer our extremely popular Employee Assistance Programme for their staff.
The Retail Trust Helpline 0808 801 0808, a totally free, confidential and independent service which is open seven days a week is there for anyone in retail whatever their need.
Retail Trust is the only charity that looks after all the needs of all those working in retail. We listen to what is important to those in need in our industry. Our dedicated Helpline and our employee focus groups help us shape the way we deliver.
Because we really understand the pressures of working in retail, you can rely on Retail Trust to be supportive, respectful and confidential whatever the problem.
This year, more than any previously, we are here to change peoples lives for the better and to look after the talent that works across the industry.
Retail Trust - Your Safety Net.
30 April 2010 : Three Train Journeys, Two Meetings a Speech and a Dinner
What an exciting couple of days that involved three train journeys, two meetings a speech and a dinner.
Sleep over the past couple of nights has totalled seven hours!
It all started on Thursday morning when the alarm went off ay 4.30 a.m. to enable me to get the train to our retirement estate in Derby for a meeting with our General Managers. Great meeting and fantastic feedback from the team - feel very motivated. Quick dash to get the train to York as I was speaking at the BHF/bssa dinner that evening. Got into the hotel with 23 minutes to get changed before the coach was ready to leave to take us to the venue for dinner.
Lovely dinner at Castle Howard sitting with two amazingfamilies, one who run Barnitts Home and Garden, one of the largest independent department stores in York and the Woollons who run Woollons & Harwood.
Then on my feet for the charity appeal, I'm still waiting to see the final figure. People seemed to be very generous. Thank you all.
After the entertainment it was back to the hotel and up again this morning at 5.30 to get the train back to London for another meeting back at Head Office.
Looking forward to the weekend that will see Manchester City move a step closer to securing fourth place and a few more runs off my bat on Sunday.
Have a great weekend.
27 April 2010 : Marathon Man
It is always hard to pick on individuals when commenting on one's supporters.
We had a number of people running in this weekend's London Marathon and all finished the race! I have not seen all the details of their times and amounts raised, however I am aware of one particular individual who has raised a staggering amount of money.
Kevin Hallett, FD of Hallett Retail ,has raised an amazing £10,000 for Retail Trust. A record for any single individual running the marathon.
Kevin and his wife Wendy are brilliant supporters of Retail Trust and Wendy won our Supporter of the Year award last year. No one has ever one the award twice although Hallett Retail are working hard to change that!
26 April 2010 : Free Scholarships Available
Retail Trust and Skillsmart Retail are offering junior managers ten scholarships to BHF/bssa’s Oxford Summer School - the 'jewel in the crown' of UK retail training - runs from 21 to 27 August 2010 and is valued at £1,750. The deadline or receiving applications is 14th May, so contact now if you are interested in applying.
The intensive week-long residential course at Keble College is run by the British Shops and Stores Association (bssa) and includes exercises, lectures and tutorials, team-building events and social activities aimed at delivering an inspirational experience that helps junior managers to learn all the tips to reaching the top from the biggest names in retail.
The scholarships are designed to benefit smaller or independent retailers and delegates.
The course helps to identify the problems, decisions and challenges involved in running a retail business, perhaps explaining why the list of past speakers (Ian Cheshire, Charlie Mayfield, Nick Robertson, Peter Williams) reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of the industry.
Retail Trust and Skillsmart Retail are urging EVERY junior manager in a smaller or independent retailer (i.e. fewer than 1000 employees) to apply. Aside from the learning, an enviable list of evening events will give you the perfect chance to let your hair down and network with representatives from some of retail’s biggest businesses.
If you are interested in attending, please email Marketing on our Contact page.
23 April 2010 : Networking For Career Change
As part of Retail Trust’s ReWork programme, the charity is running half-day Resolving Redundancy Workshops in London.
Losing your job can be an isolating experience. At the workshops, you will spend the morning with other job-hunters getting practical help from industry experts, professional coaches and expert trainers. Whether it’s learning about the range of jobs in retail, working through your future plans, improving your CV or preparing for an upcoming interview, we are here to help.
The workshops are free to anyone who has worked in retail for two years or more and whose job has recently been made redundant or is under threat of redundancy.
The next workshop takes place next week, 29th April, with the excellent Andy Lopata who is talking about Networking for Career Change
Career experts recognise that your network – the people you know – are the best route to finding the job you want. In this workshop, networking guru Andy Lopata will show you how to home in on the jobs and employers you want; and how to use your network to reach the right people and get on that all important interview shortlist.
Do find details of venue and agenda for the day, together with details of future ReWork events click here.
22 April 2010 : Calling All Super Heroes For Retail Trust Week
Retail Trust, the only charity that looks after the needs of the three million people working in retail in the UK, has dedicated this year’s Retail Trust Week to celebrating the inner hero in all of us as it calls for Retailers to sign up, support the cause and help raise funds and awareness of the charity.
This is definitely a power to the people campaign and all about those on the shopfloor helping their friends and peers in retail, who may be in need of help in tough times.
We are challenging retail staff up and down the country to pull out their capes and masks and find their own hero tasks – from abseiling iconic buildings or swooping through the skies through skydiving, to helping out local communities or holding alter ego in-store talent contests.
The aim is to raise significant money for Retail Trust and to create further awareness of ‘everyday heroes’ that work within the retail industry. We hope everyone can find their own level of heroism and ‘stretch’ for the campaign. It’s not about one fixed activity, but about one fixed helpful mentality. So join us in signing up now…even if it is squeezing as many people you can into the classic superhero changing room of a phone box as we have done.
Our confidential Helpline 0808 801 0808 for those in need has seen calls rise by 92% in the last 2 years with people looking for counselling on personal issues, financial hardship advice, and increasingly bullying and abuse in the workplace. The money raised from Retail Trust Week will help us deal with more of the issues and needs that we are being contacted about, and will allow us to change people’s lives for the better - and maybe the life of a colleague of any one of us in the industry.
Retail Trust Week has its own website www.retailtrustweek.org.uk where you can see some of last year’s activities and pick up details on how to get involved this year and register for our pack. Alternatively, contact Sarah Newton, Corporate Fundraising Executive, at Retail Trust (0208 358 7236) for more information about how your company can take part in Retail Trust Week. Retail Trust receives phenomenal support from the retail industry and this year has already raised a record-breaking £1million+ sum at the Retail Trust London Ball in January. But with calls to the Helpline on the increase, the support of everyone in the industry is never more important to make sure the ‘safety net’ the charity provides is robust and broad reaching.
21 April 2010 : "Triumph & Disaster"
Some excellent results announced yesterday by retailers. Tesco anounced a record £3.4bn profit, with clothing sales hitting £1bn for the first time. Terry Leahy announced the creation of 9,000 new retail jobs in the U.K.
Primark pitched in with an 8% rise in sales and a profit increase of around 18%
Burberry continued the positive trend by announcing a 6% sales increase in the six months to March.
ASOS are on route to £20m profit after a 35% rise in sales and have 3.6 million users registered on its site!
Thorntons on the other hand disappointed with a poor Easter and blamed the weather. I will never forget Sir Ralph Halpern "walking the floor" with me when I ran Top Shop at Oxford Circus. I tried to blame our poor performance that week on the weather. Ralph stopped, turned to me and said, "Mr. Rothband, we have weather every day" I have never used weather as an excuse since!
Good to hear last night that planes are able to land after six days of chaos. We have five members of staff stranded in various parts of the world. I hope they all get back safely.
Excellent meeting yesterday with our PR agency, Publicis, reviewing the Retail Trust message with a couple of our Trustees, Adrian Wright and Chris Tideman. Many thanks for your time gents, we have an exciting year ahead.
Tonight we are holding a London Ball committee meeting with our excellent Ball Chairman, Leo McKee, CEO of Brighthouse. Table bookings are going well for the biggest retail party of the year. Book early by clicking here.
15 April 2010 : Lights Camera Action
Following my excellent meeting with EMAP yesterday it was a series of interviews with press for the rest of the day.
The first was with a well respected retail journalist who has been commissioned to write a book about the High St. She was interested to talk about by thoughts on the past and the future. It was facinating reflecting back on my first job as a Management Trainee in British Home Stores in Manchester in the summer of 1975. In those days there were sales assistants behind their own counter operating their own till. How things have changed! There was an opportunity also to talk about the pressure on today's workforce and the role Retail Trust can play, acting as a safety net for the three million employees of the retail industry.
Another interview was with a member of the trade press who is keen to spread the word about Retail Trust across all the titles in her group.
All this pales into insignificance when you consider what the three party leaders have had to go through in preparation for tonight's live T.V. debate.
There are around 80 "rules" to adhere to and they will be concerned that every comment and grimace will be scrutinised.
Who will get in the perfect "put down"?
One thing is for sure it will have an impact on the result on May 6th.
14 April 2010 : EMAP and Retail Trust - A special relationship
EMAP and particularly Drapers and Retail Week have been outstanding supporters of Retail Trust for decades.
Previous Retail Trust Board members, who have been employed by EMAP, include Gerry Saunders , Eric Musgrave and Ian McGarrigle.
We enjoy a special relationship with the current editors of the two magazines, Tim Danaher and Jessica Brown. What a treat to entertain Tracey Davies, Director of Retail and Dominique Gait, Group Events Manager at our Mill Hill head office this morning.
We discussed a whole range of issues all relating to our ongoing partnership.
I always get a thrill from showing visitors, who have never been here, around our magnificent estate.
If you know anyone who has retired from retail and is in need of housing then click here to find out how to apply. Also, if you are currently employed in retail and are the main carer for an older relative, you can apply for them too.
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