advice

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shopping experience cheshire towns 191Veteran retailer Bill Grimsey, the former boss of DIY chain Wickes and food retailer Iceland, has unveiled a 31 point plan identifying routes to rescue the  struggling high streets.

The recommendations offer an alternative plan to the Mary Portas Review and include a suggestion to raise a £550m local economic development fund by levying major retailers turning over £10m with a 0.25% retail tax.

Central to the plan is the need to accept that there is too much retail space already in the market and that town centres need to become community hubs with multiple different uses including healthcare, business, the arts and manufacturing.

To view the 31 recommendations click here (pdf document)

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Businesses in the Windermere area are being invited to a free ‘Love your Lakes’ event that will be taking place at Fallbarrow Park on Wednesday 11th September.

The event is part of  Windermere Reflections and being delivered in partnership with Nurture Lakeland and Cumbria Business Environmental Network

For more information contact helen@nurturelakeland.org and to register to attend email loveyourlakes@nurturelakeland.org

Love your Lakes Flyer

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A further 70 independent retailers across 5 more towns in Dumfries & Galloway will now be receiving assistance from The Shop Doctor.

Following the success of the recent Shop Doctor Programmes delivered by Let’s Talk Shop Ltd in Dumfries, Annan, Stranraer, Gretna and Lockerbie the scheme has now been extended to provide support to shops in Dalbeattie, Thornhill, Langholm, Castle Douglas and Newton Stewart.

Let’s Talk Shop Ltd was successful in securing the contract for onward delivery of the programme which will take the number of shops now receiving Shop Doctor support in Dumfries & Galloway to 140.

Similar recent programmes in Argyll & Bute and East Lothian increase the number of independent shops involved with The Shop Doctor in Scotland alone to 160.

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Playing music in your shop can make a real difference to how it is perceived by your customers. Getting it right can help retain customers in your shop for more time and encourage purchases, get it wrong and they may not even come through your door.

When considering what music to play remember that if it is to be heard by your  customers your personal choice may not be ideal and the music needs to compliment the retail environment , not conflict with it.

In addition you will almost certainly require a Performing Rights Society Licence (PRS) and a Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) licence, two separate organisations dealing with different sectors of the music industry.

For further information about PRS visit:  www.prsformusic.com 

For further information about PPL visit:  www.ppluk.com 

For a brief overview of PRS and PPL click here for information extracted from each of the organisations websites

 

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June has seen yet more independent shops in Scotland receiving Shop Doctor support in ongoing support programmes funded  by East Lothian Council and Dumfries & Galloway Council.

A total of 21 ‘on-to-one’ shop visits  took place across North Berwick, Haddington, Dunbar, Gretna and Lockerbie in June with a further 6 shops in Lockerbie scheduled for a visit in early July. Every visit is supported by a comprehensive Shop Doctor report detailing practical opportunities considered available to improve business vitality within each of the businesses concerned.

Commenting on the visits our Shop Doctor advised that “There continues to be  a tremendous variety of retail choice available on our High Streets with independent retailers providing a critical role in maintaining the unique identity of the fabric of a town” and added  “retailers, local councils, landlords and the general public each have an important role to play in sustaining business vitality in our towns and all need to work towards a common goal”.

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DSC_0060 croppedWith a portfolio of some 13 charity shops across the UK, LIFE recognises the importance of ensuring that its retail network delivers the best of standards and service to help ensure it can efficiently sustain and develop its charitable objectives.

The Shop Doctor was recently asked to provide a full day’s training in Rugby to some 26 staff responsible for the management of the shops.  He focused on helping them better understand how to maximise the returns available from each of their businesses by the implementation of effective merchandising practices and proficient customer service.

With the Shop Doctor’s fast-moving, fun and participative delivery style, the day proved a great success with delegates returning to their shops with renewed motivation and plenty of ideas for turning good shops into even better ones.

 

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20130521_094908In order to assist Net-tex  launch its re-branded range of Equine Health and Management products, the Shop Doctor recently gave merchandising presentations to delegates attending Net-tex Roadshows in Gloucester and Newark.

Held on the 14th and 21st of May, the events heralded exciting changes in the presentation of the complete range of Net-tex equine health products.  The Shop Doctor was on hand to guide retailers as to how best to maximise the opportunities available from the product range now available by implementing good retail and merchandising practice.

Delegates attending the Gloucester event were also given the opportunity to visit the Stable Yard of Carl Hester MBE, Olympic Gold Medallist where Carl delivered a highly informed demonstration of dressage training.

Delegates attending the event at excellent facilities of The Oakridge Arena in Newark benefited from demonstrations from Show Horse producer and trainer Lynn Russell  on the dos and don’ts for turning out good show horses as well as a riding demonstration by Lynn on two of her horses that had travelled with her from Surrey.

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The latest Shop Doctor Retail Workshop is to be delivered on Tuesday 30th April in the unusual setting of Gretna Fire Station.

Arranged by Dumfries & Galloway Council the workshop precedes one to one visits with eligible retailers in Gretna during May which also sees the start of an identical scheme for independent retailers in Lockerbie.

The support programmes for both Gretna and Lockerbie follow successful schemes delivered by Let’s Talk Shop in Dumfries, Annan and Stranraer.

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10 independent retailers in and around Dunbar, Haddington and North Berwick have recently received a one to one advisory visit under a programme funded by East Lothian Council.

The visits were preceded by a retail workshop providing insight into the art of effective merchandising and highlighting the critical elements of ensuring that businesses presented themselves in a manner that enhanced their own opportunities alongside those of the trading environment in which they operate.

The workshop included a review of first impression photographs taken that same day which highlighted some of the often overlooked challenges facing each of the towns.

All participating retailers will receive a Shop Doctor Recommendations Report detailing opportunities for enhancing retail vitality within each business and further developing issues identified during the one to one sessions

Up to 18 shops were eligible for the support and it is hoped that The Shop Doctor will be revisiting the area again in the near future to assist more of the areas diverse independent retailers.

 

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Successful tenders recently submitted by Lets Talk Shop Ltd to East Lothian Council, Dumfries & Galloway Council and Argyll & Bute Council will shortly see independent retailers in Dunbar, Haddington, North Berwick, Lockerbie, Gretna and Rothesay participating in Shop Doctor Support Programmes.

This will increase the number of  Scottish towns benefiting from the bespoke advice provided to independent retailers within them to nine with over 100 individual businesses receiving one-to-one advice and in excess of that number of delegates participating in the associated retail/merchandising workshops.

The visit to Rothesay, Isle of Bute is on behalf of the Rothesay Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI), a £2.6 million project currently coming toward the end of year two of a five year delivery phase. The THI project is funded by Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic Scotland, Leader and Argyll & Bute Council.