Summary of Political Party Conferences 2012

This year political party conferences have fallen in mid-term. There was a sentiment that mid-term blues were prevailing and all three parties’ leaders speeches focussed on re-affirming their positions rather than making policy announcements. All three leaders spoke about their upbringing and values instilled in them by their parents.

The Liberal Democrats were the first to kick-off the party conference season, with their conference on a stormy day in Brighton. All eyes were on Nick Clegg to hear what he would say about the coalition in his speech – which asked coalition members to keep to their side of the bargain, as well as talking about the need for fairer taxes. There seemed to be an atmosphere that attention should be on making the coalition work and to carry out work with this mindset, despite many Liberal Democrat Ministers taking the opportunity to openly criticise some coalition colleagues – especially over ‘Plebgate’.

BCSC attended just on the Monday for a meeting with Sir Alan Beith, MP for Berwick-on-Tweed, to discuss the portas pilot there. Sir Alan is happy to promote our mentoring scheme and will act a valuable contact in reaching other Liberal Democrat MPs, as chairman of the Party’s Liaison Committee.

The following week, labour held their party conference in Manchester; the conference itself was smaller than previously due to being in opposition but also linked to the mid-term apathy. BCSC had a number of successful meetings with MPs on a range of issues, such as retail, town centre regeneration, planning policy reform, climate change and sustainability. Notably, we met with Mary Creagh MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Defra who is very keen to meet with members to discuss sustainability measures they are undertaking. Other meetings saw support for our agenda and the issues facing industry in terms of a restructuring of the sector.

From the useful contacts made and those developing, we will be following up by providing key pieces of evidence to MPs to help with policy formation ahead of the 2015 election and will further engage with Ministers to give public support for our issues.

Ed Miliband gave a very well received speech announcing his One Nation vision for the UK. The speech was well delivered but many questioned whether any policy had actually been announced. Ed Balls speech focussed on the need for Conservatives to change approach and to inject stimulus to the economy through public spending. Other speeches of note were from Hilary Benn, Shadow CLG Secretary of State - whose speech focussed on affordable housing and the need for government to build 100,000 affordable homes with the money from the sale of 4G contracts – and Harriet Harman, Deputy Leader – who spoke about the need to re-engage people and communities with politics.

The final conference was the Conservative party conference in Birmingham this week, for which David Cameron’s speech was hotly anticipated following Ed Miliband’s rallying cry the week before. Slightly overshadowing this, however, was the arrival of Boris Johnson, whose potential for leadership was the subject of a slightly frenzied mobbing of Boris where he said he felt like a movie star!

Cameron’s speech reiterated the difficult task in hand and that we are living in a time of financial difficulty but that the Conservative party stands for those who want to make a better life for themselves through hard work. There was notably no mention of the coalition. Boris’ speech focused on finding a solution for airport expansion in the capital. The Chancellor reiterated that there is no plan B and that it is imperative to stick to deficit reduction that has helped keep our interest rates down. The message seemed very much to be ‘keep calm and carry on’.

Again, BCSC had numerous successful meetings with MPs and Ministers to discuss BCSC issues. The most notable meeting was with Mark Prisk MP, Minister of State for Housing at DCLG having just moved from his position as Minister of State for Business and Enterprise. Mark has a background as a surveyor and therefore has an understanding of his new brief and is also glad to return to a brief that he has professional experience of. He is supportive of BCSC issues and is keen to work with us going forward, in particular on planning reform and the work of the distressed town centre property taskforce.

Other meetings found further support for BCSC issues and we will use these contacts to further raise the profile of the work of BCSC and actions members are taking.

Further information about who we met at the conferences can be found here.

Purple Pulp | July 2012

Welcome to the Purple Pulp... 


Following a successful 2012 Purple Apple year with an incredible amount of quality entries and a sell out Awards Dinner, we thought it would be useful to update you on all things Purple Apple for 2013.

Survey Feedback 

Thank you to all those that submitted the survey, which was emailed and tweeted (we hope you heard us twerping on about it on @BCSCPurpleApple). Over 75% of responded compared to 2011, so thank you!

“Fantastic mentor - valuable insight and helped take a step back from the entry”

Survey Comment

To summarise the key findings we thought it would be useful to let you know some of the resulting actions. Purple Apple support: it was clear that some of you were in the dark about our support tools as some of the below were underused this year. We can support your entries in the following way;

-          Award Entry Guide is your must read Purple Apple bible

-          Mentor scheme allows you to submit a initial/ draft application, budget, results and creative to gain essential critical feedback before the deadline

-          Video Presentations from the Purple Apple Taskforce Chair provide extra hints and tips for your application

-          Winners Z-Mag provides brief synopses of all Purple Apple and Purple Merit winners alongside the judges critical comments

-          Winners website hosts all of the complete Purple Apple and Purple Merit applications

-          Creative Workshop is a showcase event providing information and networking opportunities amongst Purple Apple applicants, Purple Apple Taskforce and guest speakers with the aim to provide further insight into why certain 2012 campaigns won

-          Feedback emails are sent to every applicant, winners and runners-up, to provide critical feedback from the Judges

-          Purple Pulp Newsletters, blogs and emails update you on all things Purple Apple related throughout the year.

Our Award Entry Guide, blogs, Purple Pulp Newsletters and emails will provide clearer instructions, earlier on in the year for what is expected for your online application and Supporting Materials, including file sizes and formats.

Purple Apple Marketing Awards Dinner 2012 

What a jam packed dinner this year, with 51 winners, more than ever! It goes to show the level of entry quality was really high this year, with 56% of Purple Apple entrants winning an award! Particular congratulations go to our eight 2012 Purple Apple winners:

Chapelfield Chapelfield’s Custody & Community Project

Kingdom Shopping Centre The Great Glenrothes Hippo Parade

Manchester Arndale I Love Manchester Campaign

Meadowhall Shopping Centre Toy Tester

Midsummer Place Midsummer Place’s Sustainable Christmas Tree

Pentagon Shopping Centre It’s a RAP!

The Mall at Cribbs Causeway Christmas Lights Switch On Event/ Concert

Westfield Stratford City Westfield Stratford City Launch

Head to the Purple Apple website to see the Winners website for all the Purple Apple winner applications. Do you want to know what the Judges thought of the all winning campaigns too? Then check out the Winners Z-Mag. 

Statistics

The 2012 ‘most entered’ category was Events with 45% share of entrants. Closely following was Strategic/ Overall Integrated and Community Relations with 19% of entrants. This has changed considerably to 2011 statistics, where Community Relations was the most popular category.

Community Relations                 8 winners (16% of total winners)

Effective Advertising                   5 winners (10%)

Events                                      22 winners (43%)

Public/ Media Relations              5 winners (10%)

Strategic/ Overall Integrated        11 winners (22%)

50% of Purple Apple winners and just fewer than 43% of Purple Merit winner were mentored this year, which goes to show that our mentor system works, make sure you grab a mentor for your 2013 submission.

2013 Awards Dinner Plans

As the Brewery is such a stunning venue and continues to be popular with dinner guests, the 2013 dinner will be held at The Brewery. To keep the evening lively and fresh we are reviewing the layout and format of the evening.

Creativity Workshop

After receiving great interest following last years we are planning the Creative Event for later this year. This event is a great opportunity to hear from a number of award winners; find inspiration for future initiatives in your centres delivered by guest speakers; understand how to get the best out of your application and how to make your Creative File and Supporting Materials work for you. We will be in touch with further information – keep an eye out for on the Purple Apple website.

Thank you once again for your support and we look forward to the Purple Apple Marketing Awards 2012 and onwards to 2013.

Work Experience at BCSC

This blog post is a guest post by George Miller, who spent this week doing work experience with us...

The past couple of days I have spent with BCSC have given me a major insight into the world of retail property. It has really shown me the variety of work done in the retail property market whether it be research and education or public affairs. As well as that, its opened my mind to the work involved in the industry and how you go about carrying out research and completing reports. Additionally how the work is completed through the means of meetings and conference calls. Working with BCSC has also revealed the important skills and qualities necessary to work and be successful in the retail property sector. Its enhanced my knowledge as to why creating contacts and communication skills are important as you are always working with people and you have to be able communicate and question in order to achieve your goal to as higher standard as possible.

Not only that, but it has introduced me into how life within a business will be. It’s a starting block in preparing for life outside of education and into the “real world” of work and independence. It’s introduced me to the basic yet extremely important skills when in work from commuting and travel to constructing an important e-mail which are major parts of a full time job and I feel BCSC has really taught me how to cope and deal with these situations.

These few days of work experience has really inspired me pursue a future in Retail Property whatever area I choose to follow because I have been shown the wide range of work within the industry, and have been fascinated by all the sections that I have been introduced to. It has strengthened my desire to complete education within the property sector and hopefully go on to fulfil a career in the industry. My only fear would be finding a job as businesses nowadays are less interested in inexperienced gradates when they are trying to cut back due to the poor economic climate of the country especially within the property market.

Overall I feel as if my time with BCSC has been insightful and a real stepping stone into the world of retail property and has heightened my understanding of the industry as a whole.

Partnership or not to partnership?

I’m not going to tell you in this blog that you should get involved in corporate sponsorship to ensure the future success of your business, quite frankly that’s boring not to mention predictable. But I am going to discuss why individuals will purchase from a particular company. Either yours or one of your competitor’s…that will ultimately be your decision!


Adrian New from Redmandarin Sponsorship Consulting says “Sponsorship is the most effective marketing segment when it comes to interacting with your customers, to building a relationship with them and to thereby utilise their passions to deliver business revenue and a return on your investment” - Is this just marketing gibberish to convince you to get involved in sponsorship? Perhaps it is; but then does he have a point?


With social networking constantly on the rise, it’s easy to see and understand why people like to interact with a company. They want to feel like they know a brand and the company well before exchanging any monetary value in return for a product or service. They want to hear what others have to say about a brand and a company, often resulting in researching for hours through different mediums before purchasing. At the end of the day when buying something, we buy from people because we can relate to them in some way. So is your brand reflective of the intended persona of your company? Do we have a belief system where if a brand is ‘good’ then the product is inherently good too? Will the average Joe buy from a company that he doesn’t know? Or a company that has been interacting with and building a relationship with Joe over some time? Is this pro-activity worth the time and investment? You decide….who would you buy from?

Your target market, whether primary or secondary – are owners, architects, developers, investors, retailers, local authorities and shopping centre managers….the BCSC annual conference and exhibition in September is designed and set up specifically to bring together owners, architects, developers, investors, retailers, local authorities and shopping centre managers – I am no genius (even though my colleagues seem to think so), but it’s not rocket science to see that if you were going to start building relationships with your targeted clientele, that this is the event to utilise and do so.


Reaching out on your own social network sites is definitely effective and we encourage you to do it – especially for your current clients. But what about those that have never had any interaction with your company before or rarely have – surely you’ll need to step onto another platform to draw prospective interest to you. For instance, what about being listed on the BCSC facebook page, website and even mentioned on twitter. Speak to prospective clients through a trusted mutual resource who have the attention of a wider range of industry professionals.


Ok ok, so I may have indirectly pointed out the reasons to possibly get involved in sponsorship, but perhaps that’s because in today’s society and the behavioural traits of those purchasing or doing the decision making – this is the best platform to interact and start building a relationship with new clients. Remember, relationships are not just one off exchanges but a series of exchanges over a period of time.


Want to reach new clients? Get in touch...susan.ungerer@bcsc.org.uk


Written by: Susan Ungerer

BCSC Northern Region Annual Conference 2012 - Speaker Interview: Craig Phillipson

BCSC Northern Region Annual Conference 2012

DICE with Retail | Oulton Hall Hotel, Leeds | 20 June - 22 June 2012

Speaker Interview: Craig Phillipson, Managing Director, Shopworks UK

With the Northern Region Annual Conference drawing closer, BCSC met with Craig Phillipson, the MD of Shopworks UK to find out more about his presentation.

Craig will be presenting at the Northern Region Annual Conference on ‘For the love of shopping: making your shopping centre the place to shop’.

Shopworks UK is an international retail consultancy providing a range of services related to retail planning and design, category management, shopper research and shopfitting. Shopworks operates from 8 offices worldwide and works with retailers and manufacturers such as Swarovski, 02, Kodak, Sweaty Betty, Nike and Boots.

Craig is an experienced speaker and is regularly contacted by the media for his expert insight and opinion – he has been interviewed on BBC radio and featured in publications such as Marketing Week and the Daily Express. In 2009, Craig was presented with an award for his contribution to retailing in India.

How can shopping centres provide a positive shopping experience for customers?
Shoppers the world over are looking for an easy and pleasant shopping experience.  Ensure customers can quickly find their way around the centre with clear navigation and ensure any information or support they may need is readily available. Help shoppers to feel good about what they are doing by using inspiring imagery throughout the centre and encourage retailers to keep their window displays fresh and interesting.

Shoppers’ expectations are rising so shopping centres need to provide experiences that attract attention and engage customers on an emotional level, such as fashion shows, cookery demonstrations, art exhibitions etc. The emotional response this generates in shoppers strengthens allegiance with the centre and encourages return visits. Individual retailers can offer ‘experiential shopping’ too.

What can shopping centres do to promote ongoing loyalty in their customers?
Convenience and accessibility are very important. Well maintained, well lit parking offered at a good price (preferably free!) is essential. Also, think about offering a shopping centre loyalty card. These are becoming increasingly popular and are valued by regular customers.

Work with your anchor stores to maximise their ‘draw’ potential. Ensure they have a strong marketing plan in place and encourage them to run in store promotions that will pull shoppers through the centre.

And maximise the potential of social media. Use sites such as Twitter or Facebook to communicate directly with customers. As well as announcing planned events and sales, communicate in real time as events are taking place.

How can shopping centre managers reinforce the image of their centre as a family destination?
Top of the list – entertain children.  Provide good quality, cost effective play areas and ensure you are prepared for school holidays with a good schedule of children’s activities.  Show your centre cares about families by providing the human touch.  For example, train your customer services staff to offer help to busy parents who may be struggling with boxes, bags and energetic children.


What advice can you give to shopping centre retailers to maximise sales?


My top five tips:

• Create a clear pathway through store and easily identifiable product categories so that shoppers can quickly understand where they need to go.
• Plan your store layout so that customers have sight of as many of your other products as possible on their in-store journey.
• Identify how your customer shops and merchandise according to her ‘decision tree’, i.e. does she shop first by style, price, brand or colour.
• Maximise cross selling opportunities by displaying related products together, such as scarves next to coats.
• Use signage or bold displays to highlight key products.  Ensure products displayed in the window can be easily found in store.

What would be your key piece of advice for shopping centre managers over the coming year?
The bar is rising as new shopping centres enter the market with higher design specifications (e.g. Westfield Stratford or One New Change in the City).  Take the opportunity to review your shopping centre design with your retail design management team.  As an immediate step, ensure all your retailers are adhering to the shopping centre design guidelines.  If your centre is looking a little jaded, now is the time to think about refurbishing.


If you would like to find out more, then please do book online for the Northern Region Annual Conference here!

Please note that delegate bookings are not open to supplier organisations, however there are a variety of sponsorship opportunities available.

BCSC NewGen membership… Why bother?!

For £80 a year, why not?!


The benefits of having a BCSC NewGen member in your company are endless; so why are so many younger industry employees not given the opportunity to join?!

BCSC NewGen enables those new to the retail property industry an exciting chance to meet with industry experts, learn from thought provoking and intellectual seminars and create new contacts providing a wealth of business opportunities.

I have been in my role for two and a half years, and as an Events Organiser who joined BCSC with limited retail property knowledge, part of my role overseeing all NewGen events has given me the scope to understand a great deal about the market, grow my knowledge base and find out who’s who in the industry. If I, as events organiser, who isn’t afraid to say knew very little about the industry is able to grow, learn and excel, the opportunities for under 35’s in the sector are endless.


A testament to BCSC is the NewGen Committee; a group of individuals who I have seen excel and enhance their careers, build contacts, and progress whilst overseeing the committee and ensuring all those involved in NewGen reap the same benefits.  Young and ambitious, their prestigious role within BCSC has not only enabled them to make and build contacts, create business opportunities, but as their knowledge and confidence, often forward thinking and inspiring, grows, it has allowed many to go on to and present to industry leaders at various BCSC seminars.

Shouldn’t all those new to retail property aspire to achieve this?!

It is often difficult to understand why leading retail and retail property firms who often spend huge amounts of time and money seeking exceptional candidates never insist joining an association that best represents them, their companies, individuals and business activity. BCSC offers so much more than just an opportunity to network; the learning and knowledge potential is vast and endless; if events aren’t for you, the value received from just using BCSC’s website should be reason enough to join.

The website, more than just a good looking site, is a fantastic tool, providing members with access to industry research and publications, forthcoming calendar of events and gives details of BCSC’s government relations activity, headed up by Edward Cooke, Director of Policy and Public Affairs. Speaker presentations are available for download if you were unable to attend a particular event, as well as access to video content and photos; bottom line, the website is an insightful and informative platform and even gives you access to the other two and a half thousand BCSC members…


So ask yourself, what do you receive for the cost of just £80 for a BCSC NewGen member subscription?

Discounted rates at BCSC events, preferential rates at the Annual Conference, a member Yearbook, which provides contact details for all the other BCSC members and corporate members. Dynamic and creative NewGen seminars and study tours, providing platforms and forums for learning, networking and growth. First hand access to new research and publications, as well as high calibre retail property speakers at all events, oh and the odd celebrity. Sounds great, right?

With all this in mind and the benefits to be gained, why is it that so many of the under 35’s reading this are not members of BCSC’s NewGen?!

Build your path; start with BCSC’s NewGen.

£80 per annum - BCSC NewGen membership rate with an affiliated company

http://www.bcsc.org.uk/membership_form.asp#rates

Smart Solutions In Uncertain Times - Speaker Interview #2

BCSC South & West Region Shopping Centre Management Conference

                                

Smart Solutions In Uncertain Times

After the success of the first interview with the South & West Region Annual Conference speaker, Robert Goodman, the General Manager at Bluewater. BCSC met with Shaylesh Patel, Founder of Healthy Planet to find out more about his presentation on 50%+ Rates Savings that deliver CSR.

Shaylesh created Healthy Planet: a charity that constantly looks for innovative ways to inspire, encourage and educate people to make greener and healthier choices for the overall benefit of the community and the planet as a whole.

Shaylesh Patel's Interview

1) When does rates reduction work with Healthy Planet?

Any size of retail space incurring empty rates, and expected to be empty for more than 5 weeks (break-even). 

Of particular interest to BCSC members are:

Landlords voids; or Ex-retailers voids awaiting the surrender of their lease.  Here, with landlords (cost-free) permission, we can bring footfall by utilising the space until the surrender date. The retailer will save money by working with us (eg McDonalds and Barclays with the permission of Land Securities, The Mall and PRUPIM).  

Our solution is less attractive than a more commercial tenant who does not ask for a contribution.

2) How does Healthy Planet's Empty Spaces initiative legally and securely save landlords and ex-retailers money?

As a charity in occupation, we are entitled to 80% mandatory rates relief. To fund our charity work/occupation and the remaining 20% rates liability, we ask the landlord to sponsor us by 50% of the empty rates they would have incurred without us. Therefore, they save the other 50%.

Unlike many other rates mitigation solutions and charities, we have:

• HMRC and Charities Commission clearance
• A track record of 'real' charitable occupation with 100 councils, including the most stringent.  Eg Camden, Basildon, City of London and Redditch.
• Actual and ethical occupation
• Unvaried planning categorisations

3) Besides financial savings, what are the other benefits?

• Delivery of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) agenda with a high profile, award-winning charity at both a national and local community level
• Tax deductible donation/sponsorship
• Uninterrupted marketing for a more permanent and lucrative tenant
• Terminate the tenancy, anytime and penalty-free with less than a week's notice
• 'Books for Free' is a strong brand and is a media friendly, award-winning footfall generator
• Reduced insurance and dis-repair costs as the building will be occupied
• Unit is more noticeable to potential tenants
• We can adapt our plans if you have a plan besides re-letting eg proposed refurb 

4) Why use Healthy Planet & what are its forthcoming plans?

Charities offer a better deal than commercial rates mitigation solutions due to their 80% relief.  Only certain charities have a charitable reason to occupy retail and other space on a large basis without a non-financial benefit in tune with the charity's mission, the relief will be refused or even withdrawn retrospectively.

Healthy Planet's mission of helping the general public make greener, healthier choices uniquely meets the criteria in an energising way that generates footfall and positive attention for the landlord.

Books for Free, Stuff for Free and partnerships with Volunteer Centres, Recycling-Reuse groups, Lions Clubs and Rotary Groups are growing.     

5) What are Healthy Planet's Empty Space scheme's credentials and risks?

Clients & awards include:

• Landlords (PRUPIM, Land Securities); and retailers (Barclays, Blacks, Sainsbury's, McD, Nationwide) with excess space of their own or leases awaiting surrender.
• Asset managers (AXA), agents (CBRE); and small organisations (private landlords/pensions)
• The publicity shy; and those who rave about working with us (LandSec-BBC).
• RBS 'Trailblazing Newcomer' Social Enterprise Award 2011
• BCSC Gold Awards - Best Design/Shop fit finalists 2011

Risks:

• Worse off if you let the space within 5 weeks of start date
• Nil saving to you if we do not get the charity relief*

* But you will be no worse off compared to paying empty rates.

Full event information here