bira Magazine - October 2017

THE MEMBERSHIP MAGAZINE OF THE BRITISH INDEPENDENT RETAILERS ASSOCIATION ISSUE 11 | OCTOBER 2017

Four in hand Harry Grant likes running a quartet of Glendale Paints shops

conference and awards

“One of the best events for independent retailers. Every year it’s packed full with inspiring people leading the way for our industry.

Don’t miss out on what they have to share this year.”

Surinder Josan, All Seasons DIY, Smethwick

10.05.2018 Save the date for the bira conference and awards 2018 0121 446 6688 opt. 1

membership@bira.co.uk

bira.co.uk/conference-2018/

Comment

Now you must be on top of your game When money’s too tight to mention, says CEO Alan Hawkins, lean on bira THERE IS A perfect storm going on in retailing at present (although I know there are pockets of good news too). We have allowed many of our customers to settle into a state of wait-andsee, while Brexit - among other things - makes them hold back on expenditure. bira’s latest quarterly monitor for the three months to June shows sales drifting marginally downwards for the second quarter in a row. Margins, meanwhile, are being squeezed as the low value of sterling increases the costs of many imported goods, but retailers are nontoo-comfortable about passing on these rises.

The bira quarterly sales monitor to June reveals 47% of retailers experiencing modest margin pressure and 46% feeling significant pressure - together that adds up to pressure!

Additionally our supposedly business-friendly government is dumping all sorts of employee costs back on to retailers, such as national

living wage, auto-enrolment pensions and apprenticeship levies. All these impositions are doing nothing to improve bottom lines that are not robust in the first place.

So, you can moan or you can do something about it. (Maybe you’ll feel at your best doing both). Ask yourself the difficult questions. Are you operating as efficiently as you can – and that really means taking hard or outside-thebox choices at times?

Are you really schmoozing your customers as effectively as you can? Is every visit by a rare customer seen as a promising sales opportunity to be exploited to the full by you and all your staff?

Are you promoting your business in all ways possible, from the traditional to also the new and exciting opportunities? Are you seeing internet sales only as a challenge, or as an opportunity too? Have you invited bira in to

review some of your costs, for example banking, insurance, credit card fees, utility costs?

Have you used some of our training packages to enthuse and improve your staff?

For many retailers, the autumn-to-Christmas period is the last chance to put fat on the bones before the leaner times of January and February. The money being spent can have only one home – your till or your competitors’.

Of course, bira set its own targets in the excitement of the start of the year and we are now struggling to hit some of them. We are dependent on the well-being of our members, so our joint business health is intrinsically linked. We share a love of independent retailing and all that it brings to communities across the United Kingdom.

Together we are so much stronger. The more you lean on bira, the more we can help you prosper and not just survive.

Trade news

Cover photograph: Paul Driver

Wages Survey 2017 THE BIRA 2017 Wages Survey showed that 57.2% of independent retailers have given their staff a pay rise this year. Linked to this, 59.5% stated that they have had to raise wages to comply with the minimum rates of pay for the National Living Wage (NMW), rather than a desire to promote staff. The result has been detrimental, with 61.6% of retailers saying it had affected their profits and 31.9% having to reduce the number of people employed to meet the extra cost.

Retailers in London are paying £1.90 over the NMW of £6.70 compared to Midlands retailers who are paying just £1.07 over.

The overall average was £1.27 but there were very different pay rates between sectors, with furniture, beds and floor coverings at the top paying £2.38 over the NMW, while department stores were found to pay £0.86 over.

FIND OUT MORE

For the full details of our Wages Survey please contact Sarah Arnesen.

National Minimum Wage

Gap in Pence between the NMW of £6.70 and your starting rate:

BY SECTOR

£2.38

Furniture, beds, floorcoverings

£1.61 Other

£1.36

Clothing & footwear

Scotland: £1.13

£1.30

Books, toys, music, computers

London: £1.90

£1.30 Garden & horticultural machinery

East Anglia: £1.41

£1.29

Gifts, Glass, Crafts

OVERALL AVERAGE

£1.27 £1.23

Northern Ireland: -

£1.10

Wales: £1.51

Cookshop, housewares

DIY, hardware

£0.94

Cards, stationery, crafts

£0.87 Pet products

£0.86

Department store

North: £1.31

Midlands: £1.07

South West: £1.25 South East: £1.24

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IN THIS EDITION

OCTOBER 2017

news for 2 Trade bira members

wages 10bira survey results

it 12Doing in style

changes 25Big on the cards

in 27 Investing your people

Last 29Counterpoint: Nicky Naque 32The Word

Campaigning at No. 10, paying to beat the shoplifters; plus letters to the editor

Pay rises and the continuing effects of the National Minimum Wage

Jill and Raymond Joscelyne sell beautiful things to people they like

Grant’s 16 Harry four in hand

The DIY retail veteran on 30 years of business on both sides of the Scottish border

ISSUE 11 OCTOBER 2017

This is your bira magazine, so share your news, views and ideas with like-minded retailers by contacting us at editorial@bira.co.uk All contributions will be gratefully received by us OCTOBER 2017

The legal changes you need to be aware of when taking card payments

Employers are looking at ways to attract, retain and reward their staff.

Our new scribe examines why her young gifts business is on the up.

David Jones swapped furniture for DIY 28 years ago and he has never looked back

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Trade news Inspiring Supplier closure dismays stockists female retail ambassadors named THE ROLE OF women in retailing was celebrated on 12 September at the 10th annual Worldpay everywoman in Retail Ambassador Programme event, which is supported by bira. The everywoman initiative celebrates women “who are reinventing retail and encouraging others to advance their careers in retail, with the support of other advocates for gender diversity”.

Among 12 ambassadors named on the night are three who run independent businesses. Lisa Sohanpal is founder and CEO of Nom Noms World Food, based in London, which creates healthy ready meals using authentic flavours from around the world. Julianne Ponan is the owner and chief executive of Surreybased Creative Nature, which makes a range of healthy snack bars. Ellen Green is CEO of Blue Badge Co, based in Bristol, which produces stylish items for disabled people, including display wallets for blue badge parking permits.

The 2017 Retail Ambassador of the Year is Lauren Kisser, director of operations at Amazon Prime Air, who was singled out by the judges for her dedication to addressing the gender gap in retail.

BIRA MEMBERS HAVE been saddened by the unexpected closure of specialist hardware supplier London & Lancashire Rubber Co, which leaves a gap larger distributors cannot fill.

Dan Ebdon, owner of Pextons Hardware in York, learned about the closure after chasing an order with London & Lancs, which was founded in 1900. When he had no response, he called a neighbouring firm on L&L’s industrial estate in Tunbridge Wells and was told the supplier had not reopened after the August bank holiday. The company is now in liquidation.

“We’ve received no explanation and I’m really dismayed at this loss,” he said. “We reliably placed perhaps four orders a year, which I suspect is a familiar ordering pattern and presumably is partly behind the demise.

“I stocked up on unusual ferrules, washers, Prikka-Strip, Bird Ban, food-safe PVC hosing, SOS tape, sink strainer plugs, Ettore squeegees, Radsnaps, proper copper draught excluders, cast-iron gulley grids, anti-slip spray, Captain Tolley’s Creeping Crack Cure and so on.

“This is really good quality stuff that is hard to get full stop or hard to get in small- and medium-sized quantities.”

Steve Akers, director of buying for bira direct, said: “We were saddened to learn that the popular supplier London & Lancashire Rubber Co had

gone into liquidation. It was an important supplier through bira direct and we have taken many calls from bira members regarding continuation of supply. We have been able to re-direct many to alternative suppliers, but it is a sad loss of a well-liked company with a great history.”

Dan Ebdon sees L&L’s demise as part of a worrying trend among smaller specialist wholesalers: “It’s not just the quality products - which I’m trying to source and stock more and more - we’ll miss. It’s the unusual ones too, like unusual sizes of sink plugs.

“We had a similar problem 18 months ago when Mr C R Lister died. He was a oneman-band wholesaler of tape, string, glues etc. He sold excellent quality 3M masking tape at an amazing price.

I tried to setup an account with 3M directly to continue buying the same tape; they were totally unable to fill the void Mr Lister had left.

“More broadly, I’m really noticing an issue with shortages and discontinued lines across the whole breadth of our suppliers and it’s so frustrating. Many of our popular lines are either unavailable long-term or outright not-coming-back.”

GET IN TOUCH

Are you experiencing the same supply problems as Dan Ebdon at Pextons Hardware? Let us know via editorial@bira.co.uk

Win your business a free pop-up

IF YOU HAVE entrepreneurial spirit, passion and run a business that has potential for growth and longevity, you could win a cost-free pop-up retail space in a competition backed by bira.

Free Space+ is an initiative by Revo, an organisation that represents the whole retail property community, with key support from bira. Its aim is to permit budding independents to win free retail space in some 100-plus centres across the country.

Revo is looking for businesses that are small, hungry and would benefit from trading in a new location for a time. These could be start-ups, online-only firms looking to move to bricksand-mortar, family-owned businesses changing direction, etc.

Nine Revo members are offering free pop-up spaces to nine winners for three months in the first half of 2018. Applicants will be asked to choose a preferred centre, but the actual space awarded to winners will be finalised at a later point.

To enter the competition, you must upload a short video to YouTube to show Revo what you are made of and provide a link in the form. Shortlisted entries will pitch for their desired space.

Registrations must be submitted no later than 1 November 2017 at www.revocommunity.org/freespace.

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FreeSpace+ is looking for the best budding indie retailers in the country

OCTOBER 2017

Trade news

Taking our message right into No 10 BIRA IS PLEASED to have been given access to No 10 Downing Street to push its pro-independent and pro-high street agenda.

The association is very active in the parliamentary and influencing arena, having been on the previous government-led Future High Street Forum and the current Retail High Level Round Table.

“Our meeting on 23 August with senior government special advisor, Jimmy McLoughlin, was special, however,” says bira CEO Alan Hawkins, “as it allowed bira to argue its own very specific agenda to really get to the nub of high-street problems.”

Rates, a massive tax on the high street that has been very much exacerbated by the recent overdue revaluation, remain a painful problem despite the government wishing the issue would just go away.

In Downing Street, the bira team made the strong point that although the government has raised the rates-free level to £12,000 with a taper run-off to £15,000, this is nowhere high enough to benefit the average high-street retailer and bira member. bira is calling for an allowance, not a cliff edge of this amount, just as with your tax allowance, says Alan. It is calling for a fairer tax take on the digital economy too to make this revenue-neutral to the government, as well as dropping all other short-term and difficult-to-understand temporary reliefs.

“If the allowance was in place the other reliefs

BIRA GROWS AGAIN We’re very proud of our specialist sectors at bira. We are happy to be extending our support to welcome a new sector to our network towards the end of October. Look out for full details in the November/ December issue of bira magazine.

bira director Bob Jarrett, public affairs advisor Fiona Cuthbertson, CEO Alan Hawkins and president Vin Vara of Toolshop Group arrive at No 10

would not be necessary and we suspect this would mean that the number of appeals would drift to a trickle, again saving a great administrative burden.

Our experience with government is that you have no chance unless your solution is clear, practical and at no overall cost to the Exchequer,” says Alan.

“Interestingly and encouragingly, it looks like this was not a one-off meeting. We have been asked for more detailed costings, especially around bringing the digital economy on to a new level playing field, one where online, often massive, retailers do not benefit from a much lower rates burden than traditional bricks-and-mortar operators.”

Although the meeting concentrated on rates, other key issues, such as parking and access, out-oftown planning and impact assessments on the high street, plus government-led legislation on people costs like national living wage, were covered.

£100m Dulux plant opens ON SEPTEMBER 12 production began at AkzoNobel’s decorative paint facility at Ashington, Northumberland, the most advanced and most sustainable paint production plant in the world. Representing a £100m investment, it has the potential to double the annual UK production of Dulux and the company’s other paint brands to 200m litres.

The factory consolidates work previously done at sites in Slough and Prudhoe in the Tyne Valley and OCTOBER 2017

has created 120 jobs directly, plus an estimated 600 more in the supply chain.

Some £12m is being spent by Akzo on its research facility at Felling, near Gateshead.

Akzo, which bought Courtaulds in 1998 and ICI in 2007, produces many major home improvement brands, such as Dulux, Cuprinol and Polyfilla. It employs 3,500 people in the UK, a market that produced €1bn of turnover in 2015, 7% of global sales.

Brakes applied to shop openings SHOP OPENINGS IN the UK have reduced by 84% in the past 12 months, according to Turning Point, the LDC’s latest bi-annual Retail and Leisure Trends Report, which compares the number of openings in the first quarter of 2017 with the corresponding three months in 2016.

This marked slowdown resulted in a net loss of -207 shops in Q2 2017 versus a net increase of +1,284 shops in Q1. This is the biggest fall between two consecutive quarters in the past five years.

The overall number of shops has reduced significantly. In 2012 the quarterly average of openings was 4,006; by Q2 2017 it had declined to 2,995, a 25% reduction.

The Shop Vacancy edged up in May and June 2017 to reach 12.2%, but this is some way from the 2012 peak of 14.6%.

Comparing recent results to those over the last five years, the LDC report, which covers the first half of 2017, shows: lR etail parks have seen more net openings than high streets or shopping centres but account for just 2.5% of all store units. lH igh streets still house more than half of all retail and leisure outlets (50.5%). lC omparison Goods Retail (non-food) was the only category to suffer net decline in H1 2017. l I ndependents generated 89% of the net growth in shops since H1 2013. lB arbers and beauty salons topped the growth tables in H1 2017. lB ank branches have headed the Service Retail closures table for the past five years, but in H1 2017 estate agents took the top position. lC onvenience (food) retailers topped the retail fascia growth table in H1 2017, taking seven of the top 10 places. lC entral London lost more shops, net, than anywhere else in GB. Matthew Hopkinson of LDC commented: “Shorter lease lengths and more proactive management by landlords is likely to increase the number of openings and closures of stores and thus more fluidity in the UK’s high streets.

The changes in the first half of 2017 are a clear indicator of the uncertainty that permeates across all aspects of the UK economy.”

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Trade news

Want to nail a thief?

That will be £85, please SHOP THEFT CAMPAIGNER Neil Mackay has been told he must pay £85 to the police to have even a hope of them giving him the name and address of a convicted thief who stole from his specialist tool and hardware store, Mackays of Cambridge.

Neil caught the thief on one of his many CCTV cameras as he exited with two Dremel drills. After the theft was reported to Cambridgeshire Police, they subsequently told Neil the culprit already had been convicted of another shop theft and had received 48 weeks in jail. As a conviction for Mackays’ loss almost certainly would not have increased this sentence, the police said it was “not in the interest of the public purse” to pursue his case.

Neil was advised by the police that his only redress was to take civil action against the miscreant, but they warned him that thieves rarely paid any fines imposed. Determined to stand by his policy of prosecuting all thieves, Neil decided to make an example of the felon.

He takes up the story: “I rang the police back and requested the basic information required,

MANY CONGRATULATIONS TO Mr & Mrs John Morris, who tied the knot on August 19. John is bira’s honorary treasurer and when he is not doing that he runs the three department stores in the Tudor Williams group in southwest London. Mrs Morris was formerly Georgie Symonds.

that is his name and address (when not residing at Her Majesty’s pleasure). I was told I would have to make an application under Section 35.2 of the Data Protection Act. I promptly sent an email giving the crime reference number and requesting the information. I received a reply stating the application would have to be made on the ‘correct form’ and I would have to pay an £85 non-refundable charge. But they couldn’t guarantee to give me the information anyway! It feels like I am being fined for being the victim of a crime!”

The police email stated: “...Section 35.2 of the Data Protection Act...gives you the right to request third party data, however, this does not give you the right to receive it. Each case is dealt with on a case by case basis. There is also a non-refundable fee for this request of £85 payable to the Police & Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire.”

Neil describes the situation as “absurd” and his local MP Daniel Zeichner has taken up the case.

Meanwhile, the CCTV image of the thief has been added to the Rogues’ Gallery at Mackays.

Good luck to Chris Beards of Mantons Cards in Port Erin on the Isle of Man, who is a finalist in the High Street Entrepreneur of the Year category of The NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards. “This is welldeserved recognition for all our team’s hard work and commitment to help our customers, which is something all of us at Mantons take pride in,” said Chris. The greeting card and gift specialist was named bira’s Independent Retailer of the Year at its annual awards in 2015 and Chris is

hoping for another triumph as 2017 is Mantons 30th anniversary. The NatWest awards ceremony is on 14 November at the Imperial War Museum. Since 2010 Mantons has won 16 national awards including the bira Hero Award for fundraising.

BAGMA to stage mini-events for its 100th TO MARK ITS centenary, BAGMA will be holding two mini-conferences in October and December, as well as a reception in Hanover on 13 November during the Agritechnica Show (12-18 November).

The conferences will be one-day events with the morning featuring presentations from BAGMA and its service providers on matters affecting memOCTOBER 2017

bers’ businesses, while the afternoons will focus on dealer issues, such as road traffic law and Brexit and its effect on the agricultural market.

The first event will take place at Askham Bryan College, near York, on 24 October, to be followed in the BAGMA Four Counties Region at Ledbury Rugby Club, Herefordshire on 13 December.

OSS hits 90% satisfaction rate with delegates OXFORD SUMMER SCHOOL hosted its 88th Academy programme in August at Keble College, Oxford. More than 130 delegates from 60-plus British and international retail organisations attended the seven-day course.

The academy attracts delegates from across the retail sector, including rising stars from Boots, Harrods, Screwfix, Nike and McArthur Glen, plus bira members including homewares retailer One Forty of Cranleigh, Surrey and Basildon-based chain Cycles UK. In recent years the academy has seen an increasing number of international delegates. This summer retail managers from across Europe, Israel, Russia, Australia and New Zealand attended.

On the theme of Redefining the Customer Experience, this unique course continues to deliver high-quality learning and development for retail managers and leaders. The programme features a combination of insight from experts in retail management, challenging group exercises and presentations from senior retailing executives from the sector.

This year these included: Helen Dickinson (CEO, British Retail Consortium), Paul Anderson-Walsh and Linbert Spencer (founder-directors of The Centre for Inclusive Leadership), David Meckin (MD, Insight Financial Consulting), Amee Chande (MD, Global Strategy & Operations, Alibaba), Tim Woollias (industry head for retail, Google) and Robert Garnish (head of branch, John Lewis, Aberdeen).

Delegates at this year’s academy programme gave the course an overall satisfaction rating of 90%.

Members attending this year’s programme included: Fanny Newman (store manager, One Forty of Cranleigh); David Rawlins (area manager, Cycles UK); Sian Munday (buyer, ladies separates & childrenswear, Bentalls of Kingston, a Fenwick store); Grace Ruthven (buyer for beauty, Fenwick Newcastle); Barrie Horn (buyer for menswear, Fenwick Brent Cross); Rachael Skudra (merchandise planning manager, Fenwick Brent Cross).

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Trade news /Postbag

Dear Editor…

A CLOSING GESTURE

Members and friends of the bira Five Counties branch learned about the growing popularity of English wines during a recent outing to Denbies Wine Estate near Dorking, Surrey. After learning about the vineyard’s history and the geographical and geological reasons for its situation, a tour of the vats and processing plant followed. A tasting session of the three most popular wines preceded a trip by road train to the top of the estate, which afforded magnificent views overlooking the Surrey hills (above). Lunch in the Gallery Restaurant, with panoramic views on all four sides, was followed by that all-important visit to Denbies wine shop.

All’s fair at Autumn Fair LOWER FOOTFALL BUT a cautiously positive attitude among buyers was the general verdict on Autumn Fair, which ran on 3-6 September at the NEC. Jeff Moody, commercial director at bira, said: “The mood among retailers was really positive with lots wanting to spend at the show. It was noted that the fair felt smaller than in previous years, but generally our suppliers that exhibited gave good feedback, saying the quality of leads was good.”

Greg Waters, UK sales director at giftware supplier Enesco, said that despite a degree of uncertainty since Brexit, retailers are cautiously optimistic: “We find that retailers are ordering small quantities, but ordering often.”

On the stand of greetings cards supplier Ling Design, national sales manager James Gunn reported having some quality leads: “Generally the mood is quite good and buoyant, given the times that we are in. People are looking for something different, but this is always the way of the independent retailer.”

David Stratford, at premium tableware manufacturer Villeroy & Boch, voiced concerns about the “excessive pricing” for exhibiting at Autumn Fair and wondered if it would remain a viable option over the next three to four years.

“The show is quite poor for footfall, but it’s about quality as well. The mood varies; some retailers are in the doldrums and some are very focused on offers.”

OCTOBER 2017

Autumn Fair exhibitors (clockwise from top left): Harry Singh, James Ling, Sean McAllister and David Stratford

At domestic appliance distributor EPE International, group operations director Harry Singh reported that the first two days of the show had been busier than last year: “The market is challenging and the show isn’t as big as it was. But the retailers who want to stay ahead and are open to change are the ones that are here.”

Confirming that the show had been quieter than in previous seasons, Sean McAllister, group sales director for housewares distributor RKW, stressed that pricing was a key factor for retailers.

“They are finding it more challenging, but we are managing to supply them at the right prices but we all know it’s going to be a tough three months.”

Thank you for including a letters page in bira magazine. I like to think that maybe our little Five Counties branch in the south-east had some influence in this appearing.

I’m sure once bira members are aware of it, it will build into an interactive column.

Perhaps this little story may interest readers. After more than 30 years’ trading, I had to close my business, C C Tiles of Fleet, Hampshire, in June 2016. Shortly after the Closing Down notices went up, I had a visit from longstanding bira/BHF member Geoff Baker. Locally, W C Baker and Son is known as the traditional ironmongers shop that’s got everything.

When Geoff came in to wish me all the best in retirement, he noticed on our wall a tiled picture of Old Fleet. I hadn’t really thought about what to do with it. While trying to clear everything out and hand the premises back to the landlord with vacant possession, there was quite a melee going on. The picture required quite painstaking work to try and salvage it, as one broken tile would had rubbished the whole thing.

I doubt we would have been that careful had Geoff not intervened. He contacted Fleet Town Council and got the ball was rolling. Everybody agreed that it would be a crime if the tile picture was broken up. The panel was painted by Caroline Rush-

ent, a ceramic artist from Windsor, about 15 years ago.

A council official said they would love to have it and put it on display in their offices.

Eventually, after carefully soaking the tile off from their original background, a new mount was made and it is now in place at the council offices (above). I was pleased to see it go to a good home.

I hope it will be looked after when the building is refurbished in a few years’ time.

Colin Thompson, retired bira member, Hampshire

NO LAUGHING MATTER I am quite angry about the Counterpoint column in the September edition, in which “Des Count” writes about charging people 50p to come into his shop. He says he is going to put a shed outside the door for his father-in-law to sit in to collect the money. He would need planning permission for this shed. You should not have printed this item.

Annoyed member, Suffolk

Editor’s note: Fear not, Annoyed member, Des Count’s tongue was firmly in his cheek as he typed his frivolous Counterpoint

Share your thoughts with the bira community. Email your letters to editorial@bira.co.uk or write to Postbag, bira magazine, 225 Bristol Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5 7UB for consideration. Please include a daytime telephone number in case we need to call you.

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Product diversification / Marketing

Can coffee stimulate your sales?

The UK’s obsession with drinking coffee is giving plenty of sales options to independent retailers

COFFEE IS THE most popular drink worldwide with around 2bn cups consumed every day. We British do our bit, sipping no less than 55m cups of coffee per day or about 2bn a year, according to The British Coffee Association.

Members of bira will be all too familiar with the growth of coffee shops on the high street, but there are opportunities for many of them to benefit from the increased interest in drinking the product of the seeds of the coffea plant. For example, ground coffee and single-serve coffee pods are becoming increasingly popular, says the BCA, particularly among millennials (aged 16 – 34) who account for 16% of all buyers.

There is no shortage of options for coffee-related goods to try, from mugs to sophisticated coffee machines, not forgetting beans or ground coffee itself. Harry Singh, group operations and finance director of domestic appliance distributor EPE International,

observes: “The number of coffee shops on the high street and the influence of people regularly visiting coffee-drinking Europe is affecting even a tea-drinking nation like the UK. Consumers want the coffee-drinking experience at home.

As more brands recognise this trend, different coffees and machines are being produced, with the result that consumers can enjoy better coffee at home.”

Sean McAllister at housewares distributor RKW, agrees: “With the rise of high-street coffee chains, people are looking to replicate that experience at home. Coffee machines (are often) seasonal, (bought) as a gift item.”

Vicky Woolston at The Kitchen Shop, Lichfield, offers a range of options: “Mostly we sell Nespresso machines, due to their ease of use. We have always stocked a filter machine and other non-electrical coffee products. We are trying a new cold-brew product from KitchenAid.”

FIND OUT MORE

For more on coffee-related options, see p15.

Make texts work for your shop

Can you remember how you functioned without a mobile phone? No, neither can we! But how can that hand-held computer help you market your independent business? TextLocal reports.

THE RISE OF the mobile society has been astronomical, with Ofcom telling us that 93% of adults in the UK are using mobiles and 71% of that figure are using smartphones. So almost seven out of 10 adults are smartphone-enabled.

Instead of stating what we’re using mobiles for, it would be simpler to ask what are we not using them for. The answer is, very little.

In addition to calling and texting via your mobile, you can check your emails, keep up to date with your social media feeds, take photos, browse the web and even order the occasional takeaway. You can see why smartphones have become an essential of modern life.

What does this mean for marketeers? Well, according to research, we are more likely to respond to SMS than we are an email from a business. Ask yourself, what do you read first: an email or a text message?

SMS marketing is seen as a more personal approach than emails, which can come across as rather wooden. If you compose and target your texts correctly, they can provide excellent ROI. Before you think that Facebook has advertising all figured out, take a closer look at the figures.

Facebook has 30m users in the UK, compared to OCTOBER 2017

a comparable 33.7m mobile phone users, but 91% of this audience use the site as a social networking platform rather than interacting with their favourite brand. And not everyone has social media on their phones, whereas all mobiles have SMS built into them.

When compared to mobile advertising, SMS has a better ratio of actions taken, including downloading an app, purchasing goods or services, or even entering a store to make a purchase.

To achieve the greatest levels of success in a campaign it’s important for marketeers to build a culture of trust, as well as ensuring that customers get the messages they want to read.

Research suggests that 78% of users would read a text from a company they had agreed to receive communications from compared to 41% from a company they had not elected to hear from.

A consumer’s trust can be eroded further if unsolicited texts are sent.

Only 22% are willing to read

texts from companies they have not heard of. If used correctly, communication via texts from a business is proven to boost loyalty with 54% of respondents saying that receiving useful texts helped build brand loyalty.

It’s clear to see from the research that mobiles are not only an intrinsic part of our lives, but provide excellent opportunities for marketing if used correctly. If you’d like to receive a copy of the ‘State of SMS’ report or to know more about how SMS marketing could benefit your business, visit www. textlocal.com or speak to the bira membership team on 0121 446 6688.

Trade news

Wages Survey 2017 THE BIRA 2017 Wages Survey showed that 57.2% of independent retailers have given their staff a pay rise this year. Linked to this, 59.5% stated that they have had to raise wages to comply with the minimum rates of pay for the National Living Wage (NMW), rather than a desire to promote staff. The result has been detrimental, with 61.6% of retailers saying it had affected their profits and 31.9% having to reduce the number of people employed to meet the extra cost.

Retailers in London are paying £1.90 over the NMW of £6.70 compared to Midlands retailers who are paying just £1.07 over.

The overall average was £1.27 but there were very different pay rates between sectors, with furniture, beds and floor coverings at the top paying £2.38 over the NMW, while department stores were found to pay £0.86 over.

FIND OUT MORE

For the full details of our Wages Survey please contact Sarah Arnesen.

National Minimum Wage

Gap in Pence between the NMW of £6.70 and your starting rate:

BY SECTOR

£2.38

Furniture, beds, floorcoverings

£1.61 Other

£1.36

Clothing & footwear

Scotland: £1.13

£1.30

Books, toys, music, computers

£1.30 Garden & horticultural machinery

East Anglia: £1.41

£1.29

Gifts, Glass, Crafts

OVERALL AVERAGE

£1.27 £1.23

Northern Ireland: -

Cookshop, housewares

£1.10

DIY, hardware

£0.94

Cards, stationery, crafts

£0.87 Pet products

£0.86

Department store

10

London: £1.90

Wales: £1.51

North: £1.31

Midlands: £1.07

South West: £1.25 South East: £1.24 OCTOBER 2017

Trade news

Pay and jobs in the current economic climate Have you been able to offer staff a pay rise this year?

What impact has the NMW had on your business?

1: Increased your Minimum Rates of pay to comply

2: Affected profits

3: Reduced number of people employed

Yes 59.5% No 40.5% Yes 61.6% No 38.4% Yes 31.9% No 68.1%

Yes 57.2% No 42.8% If yes, the average % increase was

3.9% (median = 2.9%) If no, have you done any of the following?

30.5

Offered other benefits in lieu (Extra holiday etc)

16.7 2.8 41.7

Introduced a pay freeze Introduced a pay rate cut Reduced hours worked/ working week

8.3

Made redundancies

The bira Wages Survey is compiled annually in conjunction

4: Reduced hours

OCTOBER 2017

Yes 34.5% No 65.5%

with Croner Reward, one of the UK’s leading pay and benefits

specialists. We always welcome more members becoming involved

in providing information for the report so that it is as representative

as possible. Participating members receive the full report in the form

of a 24-page booklet that is packed with statistics relating to staff pay, benefits, recruitment and retention. The booklet is available to other members at ÂŁ50 + VAT from Sarah Arnesen at bira.

For details on how to participate in the bira Wages Survey, please contact sarah.arnesen@bira.co.uk

11

Business profile

Doing it in style Design House Norwich is all about design for the home. Jill and Raymond Joscelyne sell products they like to people they like.

THERE ARE NOT many impulse purchases made at Design House Norwich. In the best traditions of independent retailing, the sales procedure, which can be a long process, is consultative and advisory, without even a hint of hard-sell. In the modern spirit of personalisation and experiences, every major item sold is a one-off, created individually for the client. Welcome to the world of premium stylish furniture.

Design House may be viewed as a lifestyle store, but it is not a fashion store. The philosophy of the husband-and-wife team of Raymond and Jill Joscelyne is to offer classic and long-lasting pieces that embody creativity, craftsmanship and integrity. Among the selection of the top international makers on show, quirky and crazy items have no place. They would only sell – if they sold at all – at the end of the year with a heavy discount. Despite the apparently rarefied atmosphere of this alluring environment, normal retailing disciplines apply – you have to give customers what they want and what they need.

In November it will be five years since the pair opened their store close to the centre of Norwich on a quiet, slightly off-pitch, street.

It is a destination store that, again in the best traditions of an indie, reflects the tastes of the knowledgeable proprietors.

“We are a small business,” says Raymond, “and we do not feel the need for market research on what the people of Norwich and the surrounding region want. The way we work is to fill the shop with things we like and hope that enough people like them well enough to buy them.”

“How we trade now is very close to the original concept we envisaged,” Jill confirms. “We work only with suppliers we know and trust.

We don’t go chasing anything that someone might want. We are the only place in East Anglia that stocks the brands we do, and we are one of the few in the UK outside London to trade at our level.”

With striking pieces like the Ploum sofa from French supplier Ligne Roset retailing in excess of £3,000, the Joscelynes are the antithesis of mass-market retailers. The service level and advice they share is similarly specialised.

Most of the large pieces of furniture can be customised, with changes to colour, fabric, legs, trimmings and finish among the many options that have to be explained, discussed and weighed up with the prospective purchaser.

“Yes, we are more expensive than most other furniture shops, but we can do things they can’t,” says Jill. “And certainly you cannot buy our hands-on, personal, service online. If

someone wants some wall cupboards to incorporate a TV screen, for example, we can design a combination that they could not easily do.”

“Virtually everything we do with furniture is individually specified,” says Raymond. “I like to think we are opening people’s eyes to discovering more interesting furniture and design for the home. It is very difficult to find anything inspiring in standard high-street shops, which are usually covered with price reduction signs.”

In early September the store’s updated website went live. For the reasons explained above, it is a digital shop window for Design House, not a transactional platform. At present, prices for the furniture are not shown. Whether to do so or not remains a discussion point.

The relationship with customers is often a slow-burning one. Someone may come in to look at just once piece and then get talking to Raymond about other options. Other people come in with a substantial shopping list, have lots of discussions, and leave with their options all priced up. Often the decision to purchase is not swift.

“It’s not unusual to do a lot of work with someone in the shop, then they leave and you don’t see them again for quite a while,” says Jill.

“Just when you think they changed their mind or went elsewhere, they pop back in, all ready to place the firm order - and usually wanting a quick delivery. Other people keep coming back to us as they move round their home, improving or updating different rooms.

Design House Norwich 31 Timberhill, Norwich NR1 3LA Established: 2012 Size: 3,000sq ft Hours: Mon – Sat 9.30-5.30.

Annual sales: £450,000 Brands include: Grange, Hulsta, Ligne Roset, Vitra Staff: Raymond & Jill Joscelyne, plus one full-timer, and one part-timer bira member since: 2012 designhousenorwich.co.uk Instagram @designhousenorwich Twitter@DesignHouse_N

12

OCTOBER 2017

Business profile

Almost all our customers need our expert help, but some don’t know they need it “But the important first stage for us is that we make everyone welcome. We want them to talk to us and be comfortable with us because almost all of them need our expert help – it’s just that some don’t know they need help. With Raymond’s experience of our suppliers, he has unique knowledge of what can be done in any instance because he is the one dealing directly with the factories. You cannot get that in a chain store or department store.”

One obvious challenge of running a business that sells, in the nicest possible sense, nonessential and mainly non-seasonal products is cash flow. Saturdays still tend to be the busiest day to see customers, but as noted above customers can take a long time to decide to buy.

Orders worth around £25,000 or £30,000 are not unknown, but they cannot be plotted into a cash flow projection.

“We have had a good five years, but of course business could always be better!” jokes Jill, “especially as the VAT bill comes around every three months without fail.”

As she handles the finances and bookkeeping while Raymond is more front-of-house, she is particularly conscious of the financial demands of a small business.

Echoing a familiar refrain from independOCTOBER 2017

ent retailers, Raymond confirms they do what they do because they enjoy it: “You have to enjoy it to open the shop every day. There are certainly easier ways of making money, but you cannot beat the buzz of working here on a reasonably busy day. In our experience, without exception, the people we see from Norwich and the surrounding areas are really nice. They are not so short of time, not so stressed, as people in London.”

Given the price levels at Design House, the customer base is affluent and of an age to appreciate quality and the value of buying something that has been well-designed and well-made, but business is not limited to successful professionals who are moving up the property ladder.

“A significant number of our good customers are retired people who are down-sizing, moving into smaller homes where their existing furniture does not fit or does not look right,” Jill reveals. Both agree that not enough young people come through the door.

While furniture accounts for 90% of sales, fabrics, soft furnishings, wallpapers, lighting and gifts are also on offer. Raymond is in charge of buying the larger pieces, while Jill’s expertise takes care of gifts. The pair have a

long history of working together, which dates back to the College for the Distributive Trades in 1975 when Jill was one of 18 young women on a course and Raymond was the only man.

The pair worked at Heal’s in London together before settling at Clement Joscelyne, the business of Raymond’s family that traded for more than a century. With eight shops across East Anglia and in London, it fell victim to the steep drop in sales after the financial collapse of 2007-08 and was closed in 2012.

So Design House Norwich was Jill and Raymond starting again from scratch. “The whole thing about a business like this is that it is a way of life,” Raymond muses. “What we have achieved here in our leasehold shop shows how much big-company infrastructure you can do without. It’s really just about the customers, the product and their suppliers, and one or two people who share the same values. I am happier and more fulfilled doing this than I was with a chain of shops and 120 people to manage.”

Today the staff apart from Jill and Raymond are Georgie Potter, 21, who specialises in soft furnishings and interior design, and Emily King, a textiles student who works parttime. It’s a very personal service from a flexible, multi-tasking and fulfilled team.

13

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Would bira members like your products?

To discuss appearing on these product news pages, contact mutimedia sales executive Simone Adams on 0121 446 6688 or email her on simone.adams@bira.co.uk

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Product news Coffee machines

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ava i a b l e n ow.

OCTOBER 2017

15

Wendy and Harry Grant outside the Alnwick shop that Wendy manages as well as looking after the administration for Glendale Paints

The big interview

Four in hand In the DIY boom years of the 1970s and early 1980s, Harry Grant opened four shops in quick succession.

More than 35 years later, he still gets a buzz from running his Glendale Paints northern quartet ONE OF THE trickiest decisions an independent retailer can make is to open a second shop. Getting the first one off the ground is hard enough, but the big question is always whether a successful formula can be replicated elsewhere. How can the personal touch be maintained across multiple sites?

Harry Grant obviously knows the secret because he went from one shop to four in just about 10 years at the beginning of this career.

Glendale Paints is very well established in Wooler, Alnwick and Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland and in Kelso, across the border in Roxburghshire. All four locations are busy market towns and Glendale Paints is a feature of the main street of each.

Harry’s retail experience commenced in his home town on Seahouses on the Northumberland coast in 1965. At the age of 17 he was in the grocery department of the local branch of the North-East Cooperative Society. That led to a job in a carpet shop, but when boredom and a desire for a new challenge set in, he looked to open his own business. After inheriting some money, an existing DIY freehold shop in Wooler caught his eye and in November 1974, at the age of 27, Harry was a proprietor.

Glendale Paint & Wallpaper had been established after the Second World War and was serving mainly decorating tradesmen when he took it over. His first task, he recalls with a laugh, was to bring it into the 20thcentury. A few years later, in 1976, a second branch

was opened in Alnwick. In the mid-1980s the current premises seen in our photos was bought and the business relocated.

Kelso is the site of the third shop, which Harry established from scratch in 1978. He relocated in the town in the late 1980s and this Scottish unit is the only one he rents. In 1981 the quartet was completed by the acquisition of an existing DIY business in Berwick-uponTweed. The current premises were acquired in 1986.

Harry’s base is Wooler and the other three shops are within a 25-mile radius. So why did he grow so quickly in the early days? “In the late 1970s and early 1980s the number of people owning their own homes shot up and DIY was expanding, so it was easy to expand.”

Although paints and wallcovering are still by far the most important category for sales, early in his career, Harry added more general DIY and hardware. He credits his success in running four shops with hiring good staff and keeping them happy. As well as his wife Wendy, who has been in the business for 30 years and oversees the Alnwick shop and the company administration, Harry has five fulltimers and two part-timers. Long service is a feature at Glendale; at Wooler, manager David Farr has been there for 39 years and his colleague Rosie Cowins for 32 years. In Alnwick, Marie Henderson has worked in the shop for more than 15 years.

The customers are a mixed selection, 

19

The big interview Long service is a feature at Glendale Paints. Marie Henderson (below left) has worked in Alnwick for more than 15 years, while Bob Dixon (left) joined just over a year ago, but brought 22 years of experience in a builders’ merchants with him

Glendale Paints

Photography: Paul Driver

54 High St, Wooler 45 Bondgate Within, Alnwick 103 Marygate, Berwick-upon-Tweed 5 Bridge St, Kelso Founded: 1974 Sales areas: Wooler 1,000sq ft; Alnwick 1,000sq ft; Kelso 450sq ft; Berwick 850sq ft Staff: owners Harry & Wendy Grant, 5 full-timers, 2 part-timers Opening hours: Mon-Sat 8-5 Main brands: Crown Wallcoverings Cuprinol, Dulux, Grand Deco, Johnsons, Leyland, Ronseal, Sadolin, Sanderson Annual sales: “Almost £1m! I’m determined to get there!” glendalepaints.co.uk

including the predictable traditional painters and decorators, builders and local Do-It-Yourselfers, plus, less commonly, the maintenance teams from many rural estates that cover the beautiful local countryside of the Borders.

Looking back over 40-plus years of trading, Harry maintains very little has changed among his customer mix, “although a few of the estates have changed hands…”. Comparing today to the busy years of the early 1980s, he’d like to see the younger generation getting more into DIY: “But they are much more likely to hire a handyman to do minor repairs, gardening or redecoration.”

One thing that has not changed since the mid-1970s is Harry’s reliance on a manual stock control system. He is still in charge of buying the thousands of lines across his quartet of shops and he likes things as they are.

The big change he’s seen in terms of competition is the rise of the out-of-town sheds, but despite having a Homebase in Alnwick and in Berwick, Glendale Paints has retained its relevance to the local tradespeople and regular shoppers. He does not ignore what the big boys do, but he points out that people tend to forget that even large companies disappear. Does anyone remember Texas Homecare or Focus?

18

So, how does Glendale Paints compete? “Well, we always think we are better than them at what we do and we have to get that message out to the customers. We get our prices right to start with, so we don’t go discounting all the time. We are more knowledgeable than most of the staff in the big places and shoppers see the same staff here.

“The younger person, the typical first-time buyer, seems automatically to think that big is beautiful, but if we can attract them in once or twice we can convert to our way. I have had a few customers criticise us for being too cheap compared to the sheds. That’s a funny attitude!”

Harry admits, however, that these days the public are more cost-conscious than ever, which puts extra pressure on him to buy well. Like most indie paint/DIY shops, he relies heavily on the services and deals offered by big brands, wholesalers and groups, such as PPG, Akzo Nobel, Decco, Brabantia, Toolbank and bira direct.

He is resigned to the changes in the relationship between retailer and his or her suppliers over the years: “Of course, there was a lot more personal contact between us and the local reps in the old days. But we are hardened to the way suppliers work now. Largely, they treat us just as a number, so we treat them just like a number

too. Someone like PPG is very Americanised in its approach; it may be very efficient but it is very impersonal too.”

With 40 years’ experience to draw upon, Harry is no longer a regular at the trade fairs.

“With my knowledge and contacts in the trade, I don’t feel the need to go - plus I don’t have the time. And I can usually get all the offers they say are exclusive to the shows anyway.”

Given the number of day-to-day essentials he stocks on his hardware and homewares shelves, business is steady all year round at Glendale Paints, but Harry experiences the same dip in general sales in January to March as many bira members. And he looks out for signs of spring even more keenly than most.

“Up here in Northumberland, we don’t always have the best weather, so as soon as there is a dry spell in the spring, trade takes off very quickly.

From Easter onwards, we see a lot of holidaymakers and they can account for up to 50% of sales, buying bits and pieces, gifts, things for their caravans, or camping gear they forget to bring.

The holiday trade dies down by September but from then and into October the local householders are starting shopping for Christmas things.”

As readers discovered in The Big Interview in OCTOBER 2017

The big interview

We introduced paint tinting systems in their early days, 20 years ago. They are the biggest advance I have seen in the industry. the September edition of bira magazine, Harry’s almost-next-door neighbour in Alnwick, Keith Nichols of Northumbria Pets, has been experimenting with opening on Sundays during the tourist season. But Harry has not been tempted: “I made a decision years ago that working six days a week was quite enough for me and the staff. In Alnwick only, we open on Bank Holiday Mondays, but that’s it.”

Having been a fixture in his communities for more than three decades, Harry relies on wordof-mouth and reputation as his major marketing channels. He still takes a page in spring and autumn editions in the local free lifestyle monthly magazines like Kelso Life and Alnwick Life, but he has stopped newspaper advertising: “It is not as slick as it used to be. It’s too expensive and you’re always fighting for attention with the other ads.”

For digital marketing, the company website is neat and informative. The homepage states: Glendale Paints. Quality paint shops in North Northumberland and Borders. Glendale Paints are an independent chain of quality paint shops.

We specialise in paint and wallpaper and also sell to the trade. We have shops in Wooler, Alnwick, Berwick and Kelso and have been serving the communities of North Northumberland and OCTOBER 2017

Borders since the 1970s.

Harry has no desire to sell online, so the site is strictly for information and marketing and, from that point of view, it’s nicely presented. (But I’d love to see images of each shop, with Harry, Wendy and the staff, to get over the personal service they provide. bira mag editor).

With four decades of independent retailing under his belt, Harry has a few golden rules to advise less experienced bira members or wouldbe proprietors.

“Financial controls are essential. I run this business by the bank balance. I don’t spend what I don’t have,” he says. “You have to be wary with your buying too. If buying something new, you need to be backed by a good feeling that it is going to sell in your shops. Stand up against discounting. Don’t get into bargaining with customers. Set fair prices and stick to them. If they don’t want to pay them, they are not customers you want.

“But really listen to your customers, no matter how strange their requests. Remember that hopefully they will be paying for your advice by buying from you.”

Harry gives full praise to his loyal staff who run the individual branches, while he roams across the four in sequence. He aims to be seen

in each one at least twice a week. After 43 years, he still gets a buzz from running an independent business: “Doing this is a habit. What I get out of it, some people call satisfaction.”

There are a lot of products in the shops that Glendale was selling back in the mid-1970s, but the biggest advance Harry Grant has seen is the boost to trade given by painting tinting systems, which he introduced in their early days about 20 years ago. “They revolutionised the business as you can make up virtually any shade the customer requires there and then,” he says.

Although off the top of his head Harry is not sure precisely how many lines he stocks, across the categories, paint has always been the number one for sales and has got stronger and stronger, despite the many competitors. Generally, hardware is the next most valuable category, followed by small domestic electrical appliances, such as kettles, toasters and heaters, with fireside accessories in fourth place (it obviously gets cold around the Cheviot Hills in autumn and winter).

As to the future, Harry will be 70 next birthday and despite his love of the game, “I don’t want to work until I drop,” he says.

Is there an independent retail entrepreneur out there who wants to talk to Harry?

19

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Would bira members like your products?

To discuss appearing on these pages, contact mutimedia sales executive Simone Adams on 0121 446 6688 or email simone.adams@bira.co.uk

Product news October All items this page: 0161 627 9673 sales@upgs.com / saltercookshop.com

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21

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Product news October

A PAN FOR LIFE BY SALTER DEFY WINTER WEATHER WITH SNICKERS

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Full of character and fun, Portobello by Inspire mugs mix individuality with sophistication, and are on trend every time. With designs inspired

by London’s Portobello Road, the range runs from quintessentially English with a twist, to contemporary multicultural with flashes of punchy colour. This cosmopolitan range will appeal to anyone who wants to follow their heart and express themselves.

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23

Membership built around you As the UK’s biggest independent retail network, we work hard to get big business benefits for you

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To start using any of these services contact the membership team 0121 446 6688 opt. 1 membership@bira.co.uk bira.co.uk

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Legislation

Big changes on the cards Are you informed about the new rules relating to card payments?

Let bira enlighten you

Be clear on the new rules More information is available from Global Payments.

Contact your account manager or to speak to the bira membership team on 0121 446 6688.

OCTOBER 2017

THERE ARE SOME important changes taking place that you need to be aware of if you take card payments. In the unlikely event you apply a surcharge to your customers for paying with a card or if you accept contactless payments you will need to take action.

Surcharging The first big change is that the government has mandated that the practice of adding a surcharge when customers pay by card will not be permitted from January 2018.

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Stephen Barclay, said: “Rip-off charges have no place in a modern Britain and that’s why card charging in Britain is about to come to an end.

This is about fairness and transparency. From next year there will be no more nasty surprises for people at the check-out just for using a card.”

In 2010, the total value of surcharges for debit and credit cards was an estimated £473 million.

The government previously capped the interchange fees that businesses face for processing card payments, and have promised to engage with retailers to assess if there is any more that can be done to help. bira is closely involved in this process, both directly and through the BRC Payments Group, where bira is in the chair.

Contactless The second change is that from this month Visa has decided that all Contactless card payments are to be authorised and therefore all terminals need to be switched to a zero floor limit. This could mean longer authorisation times but it is thought that this will help prevent fraud and give card holders a clearer view of their account.

Global Payments advises: “Once you’ve implemented the new zero floor limit for Visa Contactless transactions, it’s important that you don’t hand over any goods to your customers unless you’ve received the approved/authorised response back to your terminal. The terminal will still beep to show the card has been read, but this shouldn’t be taken as indication that the transaction has completed successfully.”

No changes have been made to Mastercard or American Express Contactless transactions and these remain with a £20 floor limit. Any mobile phone-based Contactless transactions will continue to be authorised as they are now regardless of the transaction amount.

You’ll be pleased to know that Global Payments customers won’t need to do anything as all Global terminals will be updated automatically but for all others you should check with your acquirer to make sure your limit is updated.

25

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Staffing

Investing in your people From the sublime to the ridiculous, employers increasingly are looking at ways to attract, retain and reward their staff.

AT GOOGLE HQ in London, staff are treated to a free lunch every day, while employees at Scottish craft beer company Brewdog can take paid-for Puppy Parental Leave if they get a new dog. Such employee benefits might be on a scale that independent retailers cannot match (no matter how much they love dogs, food or their staff), but by investing in activities like training, as well as investing your own time with your people, you could soon see the benefits.

Retailing is known for having a high turnover of staff. Research has shown that over a quarter of employees working within retail are considering a job change or have changed jobs in the last 12 months because of a poor working environment.

The research, by recruitment firm RHR, found that while salary remained a key consideration for employees, other elements around management and recognition were nearly as important.

Louise McGill, partnerships & affiliations manager at HR specialist and bira’s legal partner Ellis Whittam, says: “The importance of investing in your staff’s development should not be underestimated. Investing in training, for example, is essential as it can improve employee retention levels, increase employee engagement, help tackle any workplace issues that you are facing, and better equip your workers. All of these will help your business and your employees.”

Providing training for your employees is a sound investment for their development both personally and professionally. Neil Moss, director of bira retail training, says, “Recent figures from the BRC-KPMG monthly retail sales survey indicated that more than one in five consumers plan to cut back on spending and that there has been a 23.3% increase in non-store sales in recent months. These stats alone emphasise why it has never been more important to invest in your store staff. Now is the time to boost the skills and confidence of your sales team for the all-important Christmas trading period.”

OCTOBER 2017

This October, bira retail training is offering one-day courses entitled Increasing Profitable Sales and Buy Better, Sell More. There is also a range of distance learning programmes, ranging from Selling Skills to Buying & Merchandising, accredited by City & Guilds, that your staff can complete in work, at a time and pace that suits them and your business. bira members benefit from low rates on all bira retail training courses.

For managers attending one of the prestigious Oxford Summer School programmes for retailers, the focus is on developing the individual’s management and leadership skills, with the aim of driving a significant return on this investment, through improved personal and commercial performance. bira members enjoy a 25% discount on the three core residential OSS programmes and there are also full and part-funded scholarships to apply for, supported by retailTRUST.

Upcoming courses: lC ustomer Care and Selling Skills: Wednesday 18 October 2017, Birmingham lB uy Better, Sell More: Tuesday 31 October 2017, Birmingham For more information or to book, please contact Nichola Cave on 01295 713338 or email nichola.cave@bira.co.uk.

Richard Graham, owner of gift shop One Forty in Cranleigh, Surrey, who regularly sends members of his team on bira training courses and secured a part-funded scholarship for his manager, Fanny Newman, to attend the Oxford Summer School Academy this August, says: “We consider the development of staff through training to be essential to keep the business moving forwards. Staff benefit from feeling valued and involved, and aside from developing new skills they get an opportunity to step back from their day to day tasks and look at their jobs from a different perspective.

“There is a huge benefit in meeting people from other businesses who share the same issues.

Just talking these through is beneficial.”

By investing in your bira membership, you are also investing in your staff, giving them access to a range of services that they can benefit from.

One of these is bira bank, which offers vehicle finance not only for your business’ vehicles, but those of your staff too. bira also offers discounted private medical insurance from our partners at Towergate Health & Protection.

In a recent study by Employee Benefits magazine, more than 8 in 10 employers felt they had a responsibility to encourage their staff to have a sensible work-life balance. This could involve encouraging staff to take their full holiday entitlement, helping them to reduce their stress levels, and creating a positive working environment, where you praise and appreciate what they do.

Log-in to the membership area on bira.co.uk for more information about the services available to you and your staff.

27

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OCTOBER 2017

Counterpoint / Nicky Naque

Instagram is my secret weapon Our new Counterpoint correspondent Nicky Naque accentuates the positives as she examines why her young gifts business is on the up.

Have your say Would you like to share your views and experiences with the bira community? We welcome contributors like Nicky Naque. You can write under your own name or under a pseudonym. If you are interested, please email editorial@bira.co.uk

OCTOBER 2017

I AM RELATIVELY new to retail, having a gift store that’s just over four years old. So it was with interest that I read in the September issue of this magazine that gift stores had seen the biggest decline in sales according to bira’s own quarterly sales monitor, -5.5% down from the same period in 2016.

This is not said to be smug, but we are not seeing a decline. Our sales are up on the same period last year, in some months by quite a lot.

My own analysis suggests three reasons.

Firstly, it’s our relationship with our customers. Retailers can be quick to criticise customers and, believe me, I can understand why. Some people’s behaviour in our shop beggars belief.

On the whole, I have a lot of time for my customers. Mostly they are hard-working, interesting, considerate and generous people. Some of them have become good social friends.

I feel privileged that they pop in and share their lives with us, enthuse about the shop and its product selection. They are always keen to see what’s new. In return for them parting with their hard-earned pennies, we look after them, really well. We have analysed sales and now we know our 40 top customers. We have set up a VIP group for them on Facebook and we provide special discounts, previews and gauge their opinions on products before we purchase them. They really feel involved and connected.

Secondly, I think we have a cracking product choice. It didn’t happen instantly. It’s taken three years of experimenting, asking for feedback and a ton of research, but I do now truly believe we have a product selection that you would not find in many places. We work hard to find unique brands and have introduced new suppliers from Australia, America and France to really delight our customers.

We buy small quantities, which means things sell fast and customers now know to buy when they see if they want something. It means an incredible amount of hard work to keep up with the demand for new things and constant ordering, but the pay-off is reflected in our sales figures.

Lastly, we survive by social media. I don’t know how many bira members do social media or to what extent, but for us it launched our business and has grown it to a level we could

never have hoped for. We are based in a small picturesque village, so there’s not much footfall.

Without social media, I feel the business may have caved in a couple of years ago.

We use Facebook primarily but Instagram is becoming an increasing favourite among customers. Our biggest principle with Facebook is to talk about what our customers are interested in, not what we want to sell them. They are not on there for that. They enjoy recommendations, information, local news, offering their opinions and competitions. And we work hard at it.

I do all the social media personally. I post twice daily on Instagram and Facebook (and occasionally on Twitter, but not many of our customers use that platform). I do a lot of thinking and research into what I post. I also trawl Facebook and Google for articles and information I think will be useful to our customers.

I spend at least an hour a day on social media and it makes a huge difference to the business.

I invested in a business photography course to try and ensure my product shots are great quality. I did an online course on Facebook with online marketing expert Amy Porterfield and that transformed my approach, by focusing my posts on the customer, not my products.

I believe, however, that you can never be complacent and although sales may be up so far this year, they could fall next month. It is our job to keep on working out what change is needed to keep being successful.

29

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OCTOBER 2017

bira notices

The membership magazine of the British Independent Retailers Association Published 10 times a year by bira publishing Editor Eric Musgrave 07702 628848 eric@ericmusgrave.co.uk Design Alan Bingle 07949 024737 alan@forty6design.com PA, senior communications & PR officer Kate Godber 0121 446 3730 kate.godber@bira.co.uk Multimedia sales executive Simone Adams 01295 713329 simone.adams@bira.co.uk All advertising and editorial enquiries editorial@bira.co.uk Printed by Buxton Press

bira, 225 Bristol Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5 7UB Tel 0121 446 6688 Fax 0121 446 5215 www.bira.co.uk bira national president 2016-18 Vin Vara, Tool Shop, London CEO Alan Hawkins Finance director John Collins Commercial director Jeff Moody Membership & marketing director Bob Jarrett

bira membership magazine incorporates bira alert, Hardware Today, Cookshop, Housewares & Tabletop and Pet Product Focus. If you would like to reproduce anything from bira member magazine, please contact the editorial team for permission.

While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the material we publish, bira publishing cannot accept legal liability for any errors or omissions, nor can they accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers or contributors. Unless specifically stated, goods or services mentioned are not formally endorsed by bira. Views of the contributors are not necessarily those of bira. All rights reserved. © 2017

OCTOBER 2017

Open sesame!

Log on to bira.co.uk to take full advantage of all your membership benefits AS THIS MAGAZINE proves, at bira we are great believers in the printed word, but for some things, an online version is just as convenient.

So, to unlock member-only service information, resources, exclusive content and the digital version of this magazine, don’t hesitate to securely log in to your member dashboard on bira.co.uk.

We are concerned that some members have not yet got around to doing this and there’s a wealth of information you could be missing.

How to gain full access easily: Use the simple, online tutorial How to login to the member dashboard (https://bira.co.uk/resource/ how-to) or follow the guide below: l Head to bira.co.uk on your browser l Click on the Member Dashboard button in the top right-hand corner l When the pop-up screen appears, insert your username (business member number) and the password you have created into the correct fields l Press the Login button to gain access.

And that’s it! You are now logged in and will have access to all the member-only information on the bira website.

If you have any problems or need assistance to activate your online account, just email our web & digital manager Paige Hylton on paige. hylton@bira.co.uk.

Manage all your bira direct invoices in one place online Members using the bira direct services can now benefit from Invoice Manager, the central hub on bira.co.uk for all bira direct supplier invoices This means: l No more waiting for documents to arrive in the post l A reduction in paper invoice handling and storage in your business l Managing your invoices and purchase orders electronically l Accessing your latest management information (including archived invoices from 2015 onwards) l Never losing another invoice A video tutorial on how to use the new system is available in the Resources area of the website.

For further information, please contact bira direct’s buying director Steve Akers on 0121 446 6688 or steve.akers@bira.co.uk.

From Dundee to Monmouth, we welcome our newest bira members Artico, Monmouth; Blackwells Butchers, Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland; Casualtop, Warrington, Cheshire; Dragonfly Cards & Gifts, Knaresborough, Yorkshire; Electric Bikes Scotland, Dundee; Flying Bean Café, High Wycombe, Beds; Handy DIY, Stourbridge, West Midlands; Lifeboard Leisure, Ealing, London; Robbins Family Butchers, Birmingham; Sappro UK, Gainsborough, Lincs; The Diva Experience, Redcar, Yorkshire; Zigi Enterprises, Hartlepool, Cleveland.

31

The last word

Q

You don’t have a website and you are not computerised…

Computerising our stock control would cost us too much and our manual system works. Our Facebook page works well and I don’t see what extra local business a website would bring us in. I certainly don’t want to sell off a website.

We are computerised when it comes to paying invoices – that is one of the biggest changes I’ve seen since 1989. We had five banks in the town then. Very soon, the last one will be closed and we won’t have a bank or a building society here.

Q

David Jones

CLAY CROSS DIY, DERBYSHIRE

DAVID JONES OPENED a furniture shop but when he realised the margins were better in DIY, he switched direction. Some 28 years later, he is still getting a buzz from buying smartly and selling to the people of Clay Cross with a positive attitude. Here he reveals a big secret too.

Q

So, furniture’s loss was DIY’s gain?

I’d been the owner of a furniture shop in Chesterfield from the age of 23 but then had a chance to buy a struggling DIY business in Clay Cross, about six miles away. I saw the potential in combining DIY and furniture, but soon realised what I could make from DIY and hardware, so I stuck with that. That was in 1989 and within two or three years, I’d turned the business round completely. That unit was 1,600sq ft. In 1989 someone made an offer on the property that I couldn’t refuse. I bought a local furniture store that had been struggling and moved the business, increasing my selling space to 2,500sq ft on the ground floor, with the same sized warehouse space upstairs, and a back yard big enough for 40 pallets loaded with bags of compost. And as a bonus I have a 10m window.

Q

You’re not one to be lightly stocked...

Whatever we sell, we stock in depth.

Every display peg is full and if you want 10 dustbins, we have 10 here for you. I have about £135,000 of stock (at cost) all the time. I love doing the buying. I still get a buzz out of finding a new line, getting it in and watching it fly

32

out. One of my big successes in the past three years has been artificial flowers that I found at Autumn Fair. There’s a very large cemetery down the road and about 70% of the flowers there are from us. With buying, you must know what your customers might want, but you’ve got to be tough. I don’t have any problems upsetting reps who come in pushing a new line at me that I don’t want. My wife Anne and Anjie Carpenter, who has been working with us for 20 years, are also very good at steering me away from things that aren’t required.

Q

How do you cope with competition?

Within seven minutes’ drive you can find all the big names from B&M to B&Q, but their staff regularly send people to us because they don’t have what we have, and they can’t get it. I’ve never been worried about competition. When a new Tesco opened and took some housewares business from me, I found the artificial flowers to replace the lost sales.

Q

What advice would you give to a would-be indie retailer?

Always, always, be positive with people. Whenever a customer asks me how I am, I always say “I’m wonderful” or “I’m marvellous”. They might have their problems, but they don’t come in to hear mine. They receive positivity from me and the staff as soon as they walk in – it’s a game you must play to get them in a positive mood to buy. Just look at the comments on our Facebook page to see that it works.

Are you still enjoying the work?

It’s brilliant. Running a DIY and hardware store is a great way to spend your time. I have no problem working six days a week. I love meeting all the characters we have round here.

They are building a massive housing estate here, so that’s another load of new customers.

Q

Tell us a secret about yourself?

A few years ago I was at a dinner organised by (DIY supplier) Decco. The guests got to talking about the Frank Leigh column that appeared in Hardware Today for 28 years. A retailer said it was all nonsense, all made up by the people at the BHF. He was very certain Frank Leigh was not a real person. I just kept quiet because in fact I wrote that column every month for 28 years, under a pen name to give my view of the trade. About three or four suppliers threatened to sue me about what I’d written about them, but I only told the truth as I saw it. Anyway, I’ve now put away my ballpoint pen, so I can reveal my secret identity at last.

Personally speaking Hobbies: Snooker and football Favourite music: Northern Soul and ska Favourite film: The Sound of Music Favourite food: Indian Favourite drink: Red wine Best holiday: Motorhome to Poland Car: Mercedes GLE 350 Gadget: iPhone Best bit of advice ever received: Be nice to people on the way up because you might meet them on the way down Greatest achievement: Buying my home and business premises outright Clay Cross Do It Yourself 17-19 Market Street, Clay Cross, Chesterfield S45 9JE Facebook @claycrossdiy

OCTOBER 2017

Auto enrolment spot checks The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is carrying out spot checks on employers across the UK to make sure they are complying with their workplace pensions duties. Where employers are failing, it is issuing warnings and fixed penalty notices of ÂŁ400.

We’re here to ensure that you receive the right support to meet your auto enrolment obligations. Answer no to any of the questions at bira.co.uk/auto-enrolment-safeguarding and you may want to get in touch with your pensions provider or speak to bira workplace pensions.

Answer three questions at bira.co.uk/auto-enrolmentsafeguarding

Wren Sterling is a trading name of Wren Sterling Financial Planning Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The Financial Services Register number is 665653. Registered office: Castle Marina Road, Castle Bridge Office Village, Nottingham NG7 1TN. Registered in England No. 09157918

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