Abbey Green - Nuneaton

Retail Workshop Ltd worked with 25 retailers over a 2 year period helping them to highlight and develop opportunities for:-

• Sales increases
• Better stock efficiency
• Higher retail standards
• Development of long-term profitability
• Personnel Development.

Here’s just a few of the results we achieved:-

• Sales increases averaging 19.6% in the final year alone.
• Gross Profits improvements averaging 18% (again in the final year)
• Achievement of NVQ’s
• More use of computers and web activity in the businesses.
• Higher footfall into the shops.
• Recruitment of 16 additional jobs
• Set up a self managing local retail group.
• Involvement in local community initiatives
• Massive investment in property upgrades.
• Working closer with local Crime Prevention Team.
• Higher legal standards achieved; Trading Standards, Environmental Health, Health and Safety, Disability Act etc.
• Action plans in place for future growth.

We went back again 18 months later to see if the improvements were just temporary. They weren't! Here's what we found:

Detailed visits were carried out to 21 of the stores that took part.  The attached is an individual breakdown by store of their individual results.  These results, when totalled, indicate the following:-

1.  Sales have continued to increase in 20 out of the 21 shops, showing a staggering 50% increase overall.  This is on top of the 19% indicated (in the final year of the programme.

2.  Gross Margins have continued their improvements also - now at about 20% above their original total.   This represents a significant increase in Gross Profits, with both increased margins and sales.

3.  Even more staff have been recruited; in total now 14 part time and 14 full time staff have been employed since the programme began.

4.   15 of the 20 shops have continued active training, using both in store and external courses to improve and develop skills.

5.  12 shops have continued to actively develop their use of IT in their businesses even more than in 2003.

6.  2 shops say that if it was not for the Regeneration programme they were likely to have gone out of business, making the 7 staff redundant.

7.  The Abbey Green Retail Group continues to meet regularly and is now a constituted group.  They organise 2 annual local community led events - summer and Christmas Fun Days.  They work closely with N.B.B.C. and the local community.

8.  An empty property was split into 2 shops and both were let early in 2003.  There are no empty retail properties in the area at all.  All shops on the programme continue to trade well.

9.  A number of shops have continued their own individual developments with:-

• Involvement in the Investors In People Awards.
• Continued development of NVQ in their stores.
• Actively support local work experience programmes with local schools.

All the (21) shops interviewed felt that the future was looking buoyant.