Was It Worth It?

My colleagues and I at JEM Retail Consultants recently took an Exhibitor stand at the Retail Week Technology Summit. Was it worth it, what did we learn, and would we do it again?

The Interim Survey Report 2013 published by Executives Online reports that 62% of interim managers generate new opportunities themselves, with the remaining 38% relying on interim or recruitment providers. "The provider share of assignments has remained virtually constant in all Executive Online's surveys conducted over the past six years".

When it comes to finding the right interim manager the survey goes on to report that clients and interims connecting directly is the most prevalent method of engagement but the use of agencies has grown: "However, many more clients in 2013 - 47%, almost half - reported they'd prefer to use a recruitment or provider company of some sort, up from just 25% in 2011.

In my own experience, referral has been a far more important source of new assignments. I have successfully completed 5 contracts since I became an interim in 2006. Only one of these has been as the result of going through an agency, the rest have been the result of be referred by people I have worked with in the past. Most of my contact with agencies has, in fact, been as a recruiter rather than candidate.

One of the reasons that Jane, Erica and I established JEM earlier this year is that we have worked together in various combinations on 3 of these contracts, most recently the replacement of all the key operating systems at The Jacques-Vert Group, so we know there is a demand for our combined services. The reason we attended the Retail Week Technology Summit was to meet more retailers directly and make our name better known. We want to reach the 47%.

So how did it go for us and what did we learn? Well, there were one or two issues from the outset. Our stand was positioned next to a coffee area, which we thought was a good idea. Unfortunately the venue also served coffee immediately outside the main meeting area with the result that delegates obtained refreshment and then resumed their seats without venturing as far as us. The same happened at lunch time leaving us rather lonely.

A quiet word with Andrew Walker from the EMAP team sorted this out with the added benefit that the drinks reception that evening was restricted to the area of our stand. Andrew and the rest of the team from EMAP were, in fact, very helpful throughout the two days. Very useful for event novices such as ourselves.

So what did we gain from the summit? Well, we made some great new contacts meeting people from retailers such as Mammut, GOoutdoors, and Gap. We had the chance to discuss some interesting partnership opportunities with leading hardware and software suppliers as well as Syntel, a US based multi-national provider of integrated technology and business services.

Would we do it again? This particular event, probably not, but we did talk to the EMAP team about some other opportunities and I think we'll be taking advantage of those in the near future. We are also looking forward to the forthcoming Retail Business Technology Expo (RBTE) next March, where we have already booked a stand.

If nothing else it was a great opportunity to compare promotional freebies with the other Exhibitors!

Written by Mike Gamble: Director JEM Retail Consultants.

Flying High Between Contracts

While being a consultant gives me the opportunity to work with a variety of interesting people on exciting change programmes, gaps between contracts are an occupational hazard. Oscar Wilde said "a break from employment is not a holiday" and on this occasion I decided to do something more constructive with my break than play tennis and chase the next assignment.

Looking back on it now I was foolish not to have flown off to some exotic destination the moment my last contract ended, isn't hindsight a wonderful thing? Instead I have filled my time with various, mainly none paying, projects that have gradually grown to the point that I find myself "working" at something or other 7 days a week. So now my situation will move from working all the time whilst unemployed, to working in full time employment without ever having the holiday on an exotic beach in between!

So what am I busy with I hear you ask? Well I will tell you about one of those projects and if this blog gets enough hits to keep Mike happy and off my back for a couple of days, then I will write about another one.

Concorde was one of the most beautiful and iconic aircraft ever built. It was also one of the most exclusive with just 20 being made between 1966 and 1979 and only 14 of them ever entering commercial service with BA and Air France.

October 24th this year marks the 10th anniversary of the last commercial flight by Concorde when 3 flights landed at Heathrow within 5 minutes of each other to "cheers and tears" according to Joan Collins who was on the last of them arriving at 16:05. The last flight ever was on November 26th 2003 when Concorde was flown from Heathrow to its birth place at Filton Airfield near Bristol carrying 100 BA staff.

After more than 250,000 hours of flight time Concorde had come home.

But I am starting to sound like Wikipedia. The point of this is that a friend of mine has a source of Concorde memorabilia including some stunning fine art prints signed by Concorde pilots and stylishly framed with the unusual addition of an authenticated seat belt. As you can imagine these products have extremely limited availability making them very collectable and my friend wanted to market them to coincide with the forthcoming anniversaries. Unfortunately he didn't have the time, which is where I came in.

Going with a website was the obvious thing to do and Sara at Creative Remedy, who built the website for JEM Retail Consultants, was on hand to help. What was less straightforward was settling on a price point that will provide the required margin and return on investment but not put off the customer. As these are unique items there was really nothing to go on.

Then there was trying to estimate the demand. The exclusivity is a great selling point for the prospective buyer but could be a stock availability nightmare for us. There is no planning system here full of 2-years sales history. There is no tried and tested customer profile. The largest task of all is the search for the potential customer base and finding ways of drawing them onto the website.

I think even my trusted colleague Erica would forgive me for resorting to a spreadsheet if, in fact, that would even help. What will the take up be? Will 2 of us have the capacity to fulfil the orders? Will our supply chain be fast and robust enough to meet sales? Do we need to source more products? Other products? We discuss and debate all of these questions; we then stick our fingers in the air and grab numbers out of the sky. Hopefully that doesn't sound like your planning system. Or does it?

Kidding apart I am excited about the venture. The website will go live on Tuesday 24th September when I will send out a quick update to let you know the details and keep you informed of its progress, hopefully success and the performance of our planning and merchandising system!

Written by Jane Fransen-Hale: JEM Retail Consultants.

The Birth of JEM Retail Consultants

The trials & tribulations of setting up JEM and all the tasks involved and the case studies.

 

So setting up JEM Retail Consultants sounds straight forward enough. Three colleagues who have worked together over the past 10 years decide to unite and market themselves as a consultancy firm. The deal should be clinched over lunch and a glass, or 2, of Sauvignon Blanc and away we go……or is it ……….umm not so…… now we need a name, a website, a logo, business cards, pictures, case studies oh my, it’s an endless list of tasks and decisions.  Luckily for me no argument over the name – JEM - I love shiny things so a name close to my heart and made up of Jane, Erica, Mike – so I come first – great can’t complain about that. But then it gets harder, good job we have Mike managing and nagging us – apparently normally my job as the resident Programme Manager.

JEM Retail Consultants: www.jemconsultants.co.uk

And so we write our case studies, Erica and Mike working together on Buying and Merchandising structure and operations and a Warehouse implementation at Awear. All of us at Jacques-Vert working on a complete Supply Chain Programme – won a retail Week Award for that one so a great photo opportunity there for the website. Then there was LK Bennett and again all 3 of us, this one a little more complex as Erica and I held senior positions in the business, Merchandise Director and Head of IT & Logistics respectively, as well as carrying out project & programme roles.  Meantime, Mike concentrated on resolving the ever increasing issue of what to do with stock at the end of the season. Easy, I hear you say, and yes, from an outsiders point of view but not when at LK Bennett.  However, for the real story you would need to ply me with more than 2 glasses of Sauvignon Blanc.

So the work continued, all of the time conscious of our story and the essence of what JEM is all about and how best to get that across to potential customers.  Why us, why not a blue chip Consultancy Firm, apart from the obvious cost savings!  We had to make sure the case studies bought to life the 3 of us as individuals; exceptionally skilled and experienced in our own area of expertise, having held various operational jobs as well as the project & programme work.  All 3 of us skilled at presenting strategic goals and then delivering those goals and benefits.  Three individuals who work as individuals yet work even better as a team.  Ten years together means we know how the other one works, so we don’t save time by cutting corners, we save time and deliver excellence by hitting the ground running together as one unit.  Anyway, don’t let me go on and on, just take a look at the websites and peruse through the case studies, see if you believe we have achieved what we set out to do?