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 December 2009 : Tesco Team Talk Tactics
Andrew Higginson, CEO of Tesco Retail Services spent an hour with Rob Mansell and myself in town yesterday.
There are a number of initiatives we are involved in with Tesco and Andy was helpful in moving them forward.
In addition he booked a second Tesco table for our London Ball which now has just three tables to sell!
03 December 2009 : Marr Makes His Mark
The BCSC Annual Dinner & Presentation of Gold Awards took place last night at Grosvenor House (my second home).
It was a pleasure to be sitting on the Chief Executive's table, Michael Green. Michael has been an energetic and enthusiastic supporter of Retail Trust for many years and I look forward to welcoming him as our guest at our London Ball on 25/1/10.
Also on our table was Michael's wife Stacey, who deserves several medals and the BBC's Andrew Marr. I can confirm that the car he drives in the introduction to his TV show on Sunday mornings is not his own!
Many congratulations to all the winners and particularly Andrew Harrison and his team at Manchester Airport for their "Out of Town Retail Scheme Award". I know I shouldn't have favourites, however, Andrew is the Chairman of our Northern Fundraising Committee!
02 December 2009 : Scotland Dig Deep
What a fabulous evening last night at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow. The retail world were out in force to raise money for Retail Trust and have a party - and they know how to party!
Over £100,000 was raised at our Grand Scottish Ball, including a fantastic £30,000 from Debenhams.
Susan Reid, Sales Director at Debenhams and the Ball Chairman did a brilliant job with her committee in getting more sponsors and more people there on the night than last year.
Susan was presented with our Scottish supporter of the year award at the Ball.
The whole of the Debenhams board were there. Other retailers present included House of Fraser who have shown amazing support over many years. This year was no exeption, the room decorations were superb and mainly due to the Frasers team. Harvey Nichols, Brighthouse, Hallett Retail, John Lewis Partnership, and Marks & Spencer were also there in force.
It was a delight and pleasure to sit next to Moira Shearer, one of Scotland's leading lawyers and Nadine Hawkins, editor of No.1 magazine.
01 December 2009 : Leap Into Action
A huge thanks to the guys from "Leap" who came down to the London Audition Roadshow for Retail Trust Search For A Star and made an amazing video - See it here http://www.leapanywhere.com/media/show/1674
Not only do they do loads of stuff promoting good causes they were a pleasure to work with and have tweeted about us too!
I'm travelling up to Glasgow today for this evening's Scottish Ball. They know how to party in Scotland - It should be a great night.
28 November 2009 : Retail Week Feature
Thanks to Tim Danaher, Liz Morrell and the team at Retail Week. Liz interviewed me a few weeks ago because she was doing a security supplement that came out with this weekend's edition 27/11/09. Liz says the emotional impact of crime on store staff can be devastating if retailers don't propely support them. In the article I say "the number of retailers we are working with is growing and HR departments are increasingly recognising that Retail Trust can play an integral part in the support network".
The Retail Trust helpline 0808 801 0808 is there to support anyone who works in retail.
The back page of the magazine features one of the acts who have got through to Retail Trust Search For A Star, Leanne Robinson from River Island. Text vote for your favourite - It's very close!
27 November 2009 : Record Website Hits
A morning of interviews to find a new development manager for our fundraising team was succesful. Watch this space to see which candidate got through.
Having seen our website numbers for this week, it looks as though we went through the 100,000 barrier for the first time. This is amazing and demonstrates the interest that Retail Trust Search For A Star has generated.
Keep voting - It's very close!
26 November 2009 : Matt Makes Magic
In this job there are one or two people and one or two Brands that stand out as outstanding supporters. People who understand what we are trying to do and despite very busy "day jobs" do everything they can to support us. Matt Chambers, Brand Director at House of Fraser, is one such individual. It was good to meet up on Baker Street and talk about all the initiatives HOF are involved with.
The London Ball, Retail Trust Week, Charms and they have five employees through to the last 50 of Retail Trust Search For A Star.
In addition, Matt is suggesting a brainstorming session with his team to explore the opportunities we have with project FORT. (Friends Of Retail Trust).
Thanks Matt and I look forward to catching up soon.
25 November 2009 : Touker is a Star
What a great night as Touker Suleyman, who own Hawes & Curtis, opened his brand new store on Jermyn St. Not only is the store magnificent, Touker made the evening a fundraiser for his favourite charity, Retail Trust.
Fundraising initiatives on the night included a raffle with the first prize of a shirt a week for a year (that's 52 shirts). An auction of signed shirts. The sort of people who signed the shirts were Ruby Wax, Caprice, Sir Philip Green, Sir Stuart Rose, David Cameron and Gordon Brown.
It was great to have Stuart there who rang Philip whilst his shirt was being auctioned with the hope of Philip bidding. Philip's response was not repeatable as there were ladies present!
In addition, Touker is donating a percentage of the takings last night.
I came away with four new shirts and an amazing feeling knowing we have such great support from another retailer. Hawes & Curtis want to make this an annual event. Tom Singh from New Look, who was there, said New Look would consider doing something similar.
If there are any other retailers willing to do the same then let me know.
Biggest thanks go to Paul Clarke one of our trustees who made it all happen, thanks so much Paul for your stunning contribution.
Earlier today I met with one of our former Trustees and now an Honorary Associate Member, Rowland Gee. Rowland has been involved with Retail Trust for many years and I have always valued his judgement and advice. It was a pleasure spending a couple of hours with him and as ever, he was an inspiration.
24 November 2009 : Former Supporter Of The Year Treats Me To Lunch
Wendy Hallett who owns Hallett Retail is one of our most passionate supporters. Wendy has run marathons for Retail Trust, takes tables at all our events and promotes us to all her employees and contacts.
We had a very interesting discussion about business, the charity and the world!
Wendy, thanks for your amazing support and for lunch too.
23 November 2009 : First Christmas Lunch Of The Year
It's only November 23rd and I have enjoyed my first Christmas lunch of the year courtesy of Brent Cross Shopping Centre. Tom Nathan, the General Manager, invited all our Mill Hill residents to the lunch and Jonathan Field, Managing Director of John Lewis in Brent Cross, provided a gift for everyone.
A huge thank you to the guys for setting this up and for the security team at Brent Cross for volunteering their time. Kate Sacchi from my team was the main instigator who made sure it happened - Well done Kate.
The day had started with a breakfast meeting with my Development Director John McDermott. We then went onto The Fashion Retail Academy to meet the Chairman Kim Morton and Principal Karen Dennison. We agreed a number of initiatives that will allow Retail Trust to promote our services to the students and involve them in our work. I look forward to building strong links with the College.
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