It was fantastic last week to be back in Nottingham at the Charity Retail Association Conference. After a really tough year for everyone, it was good to catch up, share experiences and celebrate all that our sector has achieved.
We wanted to talk about some of the key themes emerging from the sessions and how Charity Retail Learning can help you make the most of them, so here goes..
Sustainability
This was the overall theme of the conference and it was fabulous to see so many suppliers and retailers making positive steps in this area.
We’ve put together a short course on Green Credentials for Charity Retailers. It gives context to the global growth of secondhand and practical ideas about how you can communicate your sustainability messages. Charity retail has a fantastic and authentic Green story – let’s shout about it!
Resilience
The fact that the conference even happened, and that so many of you are still standing is a testament to how resilient we are as a sector. But it’s something we can’t take for granted. Focusing on mental health, wellbeing and resilience is something everyone should be doing now, to help us deal with the impact of the pandemic.
We were delighted to hear from some of the charities who’ve already signed up for our Resilience for Charity Retailers course about how it’s made a measurable and immediate difference to their teams.
Brand & Communications
Wayne Hemingway, the sector’s old friend and ally, told us in no uncertain terms that we all need to work hard to develop our brand and stories. The work he’s done with Shelter is a great example of using retail space to promote the charity’s goals. Social media is a huge part of communicating this too, reaching people beyond those who already shop with and support you.
Our Social Media for charity shops course, created by the brilliant Zoe Amar, is a great way to upskill local teams and tell your story.
And our newest course – Charity Retail Community Engagement – will help you build stronger relationships locally, adding value to your community and to your offer.
eCommerce
There was a whole host of sessions on eCommerce of course. We’ve all seen how this growing income stream has positively impacted the sector during lockdown and beyond.
We were delighted to work with Emily Beere from Thriftify to develop an online course on eCommerce. Aimed at entry and intermediate level e-sellers, it gives fantastic insights into how to make good choices in all aspects of your eCommerce operation to reap the best return
We hope you enjoyed the conference as much as we did – and that next year we’ll all be together again, stronger, bigger and even better than this year.
We’ll see you all there.
More About Us
The Charity Retail Consultancy helps charity retailers and other non-profits (including museums and galleries) develop their retail operation, improve their product offer and people, and improve their profitability.
The Charity Retail Academy provides online & face to face training developed by charity retailers, for charity retailers. We work in partnership with the Charity Retail Association to deliver Charity Retail Learning to their members and beyond.
The Charity Retail Coach offers a first class executive coaching service via our Associate, Dan O’Driscoll.
To find out more or to speak to us about how we can help you, please get in touch:
hello@thecharityretailconsultancy.co.uk
Jayne – 07598 243210
Vicki – 07985 574904
Follow us on social media:
In 2019, we published our Top 10 Tips for getting the most from the Charity Retail Association Conference.
Now we’re finally able to get back to seeing each other in person again, it felt like a good time to revisit and update our blog, so here goes….
1 Follow the COVID recommendations to keep us all safe
We know we’re all tired of hearing it, and most of us will be double-jabbed, but the most important message for 2021 has to be for us all to do everything we can to prevent passing on the virus. Happily for us, the brilliant folk at the CRA have provided a Risk Assessment for us to look at and adhere to over the 2 days. Please make sure you read and comply with this – the last thing our sector needs now is for a whole bunch of charity retailers to have to self isolate….
2 Get there early and stay ‘til the end.
There’s so much to see and do that it’s foolish to leave early. If you can, make sure you get there as soon as you can and don’t leave before the last session – you never know what you might miss if you do!
3 Network
Some of the best things to come out of the conference might not be from a formal session or workshop. We are a sector which loves to share – meeting and chatting with fellow charity retailers will give you some great new contacts and ideas to take back to your shops.
4 Go to all the sessions you can
If you’re lucky and there’s more than one of you from your organisation going to conference, make sure you all go to different sessions so you can cover as much information as possible – then make sure you build in time when you get home to share everything you’ve learned with each other. If you’re there on your own, go to a wide range of subjects to give yourself the broadest view.
5 Visit the Exhibition
We know we’re a bit biased, but honestly – some of the suppliers to our sector are the bee’s knees. They are there to help you do the best you can with your chain, so make time to visit all the stands and see what they can do for you. And whilst we’re on the subject…..
6 Enjoy the freebies!
Most of the suppliers will have great little giveaways on their stands – from chocolates to bags, highlighter pens to mini dustbins, they have it all! We’re doing our bit and bringing our recycled plastic “I Heart Charity Shops” eco keyrings with us this year, so make sure you visit us at Stand 21 to get yours.
We’ll also have a free Green Credentials for Charity Retailers course available at our Charity Retail Learning stand, plus our Visual Merchandising Associate, Kat Maclennean will be sharing her tips and display techniques in the Atrium, so do pop by and see her. We’re really grateful to Morplan for providing the shop equipment and Essex & Herts Air Ambulance for providing the stock for Kat’s display.
7 Vote in the WOW! Awards
There really is some first rate talent in our sector and the WOW! Awards are a chance to see the best of it in action. It’s great to be recognised for your good work, so voting supports your sector colleagues – and it gives you lots of great ideas to take back and try in your own shops too.
Pic: Shelter, Coal Drops yard
8 Stay hydrated and eat your lunch
It’s a full on experience at Conference, and often really hot too – so keeping refreshed will keep you at peak condition to make sure you make the most of it – especially on Day 2 after a late night partying at the Awards dinner.
9 Remember the notes are available afterwards
Don’t feel you have to scribble everything down during all the sessions – more often than not, the lovely team at the CRA will make them available on their website after the event. This means you can concentrate on what’s going on, instead of worrying about what you might have missed
10 Have fun!
It’s a brilliant event and the one time in our year we can all get together and have a really good catch up. Enjoy the sessions, the networking, the Exhibition – and of course the Awards dinner. We’ll see you on the dance floor……
Pic: CRA
Creative, innovative, and unique….
…that is what our customers look for, and in return this is what I am on the hunt for when recruiting.
Think about it…it is not the charity shops that do things well or ordinarily that we remember but its stores like: Barnardo’s Vintage, Marylebone CRUK, CHS Scotland or the Mary’s Living and Giving which are known around the world. Of course, there must be a mix of stores in the market and even of product within those stores, but it is the flair, vibrancy and unusual that sets these apart from some 12,000 charity shops in the UK.
Pic: Barnardo’s Vintage, Cheadle
I have been fortunate enough to work within organisations that have supported, encouraged, and harnessed all that is unusual and my endeavours to be different from the norm.
Too often our industry thinks “this retail principle is the way” and so we all colour-block similarly, put our ladies fashion at the front and de prioritise the low-income products. We give our teams budgets and stretch targets and KPIs that focus narrowly on what we know works in retail. Yet we miss the essential – we are not mainstream retail – we are, and have always been, creative, innovative, and unique.
Yes, of course we can learn from and should base our decisions in fact and “tried & true” methods but that is not what draws forth new customers or stretches our organisational reputation across the world.
A different approach?
Imagine the growth, excitement, and true ability to reflect local community if our staff had KPIs not only focused on income but on how many customer names they remembered, how many local community events they participated in, how unique their store is from others on the street, even how often they engaged with the other managers from ‘competing’ charity retailers.
I wonder if we asked how many mentions their store received in local press or about their ability to work with and connect to local government and community organisations if we would see not only a stronger industry but a workforce more connected to arts and community engagement and less like the retail and fashion machine, which we know is having to reinvent itself to stay relevant.
Treasure troves
We have seen industry change from small, church-associated “dumping grounds” to High Street grooves filled with young people discovering treasures. Along this journey as an industry, we have utilised the implementation of retail strategies but have often forgot to have vibrancy and edge – uniquely reflecting our local communities.
Pic: Highland Hospice shop, Fort William
Success is in never turning away from the creative, innovative, and unique – the free champagne, the drag performances, the morning yoga, the pop up at a world-famous museum, the instore sewing class – these are the reasons while I am still in this industry.
Drag queens help open East Lancs Hospice’s first boutique | Lancashire Telegraph
The budgets, and KPIs we can all get from any mainstream retailer.
Jacob Miller is “the brain behind […] the most stylish thrift emporium in the southern hemisphere!” and Retail Operations Manager for Hobart City Mission in Tasmania, Australia.
In the second of his series of blogs for us, Jacob Miller, Retail Operations Manager for Hobart City Mission in Tasmania, Australia offers his thoughts on working in Australia and the UK , and in small and large charities.
I have worked in a charm of charity shops.
Charm = my new collective noun for the caves of pre-loved treasures in which I have found myself employed.
Over 30 stores on the eastern seaboard of Australia and across the city of London. Are there differences between the two countries? I am not sure. Are there differences between large organisations and small ones – definitely.
Large not-for-profits play a huge role in the social and health benefits of our communities, and the charity shops associated with them are the enablers as both predominant income streams and the face of the brand. However, for me, and perhaps just for me, they can sometimes step away from the essential ‘x-factor’.
I am not sure what the maximum number of stores an organisation can have before it loses its ‘x-factor’ but employees at all levels and customers have seen and witnessed this loss before. I have worked for networks that have 9, 12, 30, 600 or 1000+ shops and perhaps the magic number is 30, or perhaps it is 100 but something changes.
We all know at a large organisation it can become difficult to connect with local community or to people-manage innovation. Maybe it is the fact that in large organisations the strategic vision sometimes stays at the top with those that are in positions of leadership, and all we remember to pass down to stores is commercially minded and target-focused.
One of my learnings, from working in the UK and with more established charity retailers, is that sometimes targets and commercial focus adds value, but disconnects an organisation from its original vision and mission.
This seems counter-intuitive. Staff at charity shops are employed as retail staff and often thrive on KPIs, but it is the balance – the ability to connect to community and use their creativity combined with those targets, that brings success.
Let us all strive to balance the scales of fun and enjoyment with targets and profit.
Over to you
What’s your experience?
Is it harder to stay connected with the cause in a large charity? Or is it totally possible to keep inspiring your team – and in turn your supporters and your community – with your ethos and purpose, no matter how big your chain becomes?
We’d love to hear your thoughts.
More About Us
The Charity Retail Consultancy helps charity retailers and other non-profits (including museums and galleries) develop their retail operation, improve their product offer and people, and improve their profitability.
The Charity Retail Academy provides online & face to face training developed by charity retailers, for charity retailers. We work in partnership with the Charity Retail Association to deliver Charity Retail Learning to their members and beyond.
The Charity Retail Coach offers a first class executive coaching service via our Associate, Dan O’Driscoll.
To find out more or to speak to us about how we can help you, please get in touch:
hello@thecharityretailconsultancy.co.uk
Jayne – 07598 243210
Vicki – 07985 574904
Follow us on social media:
When I started in the industry over 15 years ago my job interview consisted of “Here is the key…can you open on Saturday?” The store was interesting with a plethora of preloved threads and objects, but the vibe was yet to be revolutionised.
The charity retail industry in the past two decades has gone from our customers shyly accepting compliments on their preloved outfits to “Oh, I know it’s fabulous – I got it at the Op shop*”. People from all walks of life run to the doorsteps of op shops, and sales have skyrocketed. Yet the revolution has been bigger than simply an increase in demand. Op shops have emerged from small, church-associated “dumping grounds” to High Street grooves filled with young people discovering treasures. As an industry we have gone from back streets to High streets, and we compete with mainstream retail.
But what makes us different from them? What is it that makes us viable, attractive, and relevant to customers? It can no longer be the fascinating tableau of products, or the concept of recycled textiles. This is now being challenged from every angle, with online platforms offering curated and interesting goods and major fast fashion houses bringing to the fore a focus on recycling.
For me there are three things:
- Our connection to mission – being organisations that are both mission aligned and mission driven;
- Our desire to connect to community and be hubs of local engagement; and
- Our constant yearning to be creative, innovative, and unique.
With all our revolution, the advent of the commercially focused charity shop, the increased demand and public acceptance of second hand, and then Generation Alpha desire to make less capitalist and more holistic shopping choices – it is the above three dot points that keep us relevant, in-market and the future leaders and stylists of the world.
*Op Shop – Opportunity Shop – the Australian term for charity shop. Dubbed opportunity for many reasons: the opportunity to find a bargain and the opportunity to give back to community.
Jacob Miller “is just addicted to Op Shops” and is the Retail Operations Manager for Hobart City Mission in Tasmania, Australia.
More About Us
The Charity Retail Consultancy helps charity retailers and other non-profits (including museums and galleries) develop their retail operation, improve their product offer and people, and improve their profitability.
The Charity Retail Academy provides online & face to face training developed by charity retailers, for charity retailers. We work in partnership with the Charity Retail Association to deliver Charity Retail Learning to their members and beyond.
The Charity Retail Coach offers a first class executive coaching service via our Associate, Dan O’Driscoll.
To find out more or to speak to us about how we can help you, please get in touch:
hello@thecharityretailconsultancy.co.uk
Jayne – 07598 243210
Vicki – 07985 574904
Follow us on social media:
If you would like to write a guest blog for us, please get in touch – we’d love to hear from you
At The Consultancy, we’ve been reflecting over our pandemic journey recently.
It’s been really hard work, emotionally, mentally and physically. It’s also brought out the best in us both, as business women as well as in our personal and family lives. Like many others, we’ve worked really hard in less than ideal circumstances and we want to acknowledge that. And encourage others – especially women who often put down or underplay their achievements – to do the same.
We’re really proud of what we’ve achieved in the past year or so.
From the start, we wanted to support the sector as much as we could, so we offered free phone advice, worked with others to create helpful resources, supported the Charity Retail Association in its fantastic response to the pandemic and shared advice, information and stories via our growing social media presence.
We trained ourselves in how to run a website, how to blog, how to manage social media, register a trademark, become a Limited company, deliver the same quality of work online as we do in person and much, much more.
We flexed our already successful business to meet the challenges we were all facing. We developed Lockdown Learning – a simple, video based training suite – and it was a huge success. From there, we devised the concept of The Charity Retail Academy and brought a new arm of our business to life. From designing the logo to planning and devising the courses, from building our website to creating the Charity Retail Learning partnership with the Charity Retail Association – we did it all together, from the corners of our homes.
We also supported dozens of charities in our Consultancy work – including a 3 day week Director of Retail maternity cover post for 6 months – and we know from our clients’ feedback and our continuing relationship with many of them that we did a great job every time.
Now we’re all moving into the next phase of this pandemic journey, it feels right to stop and reflect. People are tired, there has been so much sadness around us all for such a long time and many people have been alone with that.
So it’s really, really important to notice the things you did well. The things you feel proud of.
Let’s take a moment every day to reflect on a good thing we’ve done – and ask others what they’re the most proud of too, so you can help them celebrate themselves as well.
And don’t forget to share those fantastic stories and achievements online! #GoTeamMe
_______
Thank you
We couldn’t have achieved any of this without the help, support and partnership of our partners, family and friends, and many other businesses large and small, including: Patrick Hostler (logo & design), Jay Taylor (website), Dan O’Driscoll (Engagement Consultancy), Business Gateway (digital training), Robin Osterley, Julia Edwards, Susan Meredith and the team at the Charity Retail Association, Catherine Shuttleworth (sage advice and support), Anj Handa and her Inspiring Women Change Makers, the Lloyds Bank Foundation.
And of course all our Charity Retail Learning tutors – Zoe Amar from Zoe Amar Digital, Emily Beere at Thriftify, Sarah Baggaley, Ngozi Lyn Cole from GLT Partners, Billy Farrell from DEBRA, Michael Fleming and all the team at Nisyst, Kat Maclennan from Dot to Dot, Minoti Parikh at TPL Experiences, Pete Thomas at Lodge Service, Anne Webb and Ailene Young from RNLI.
Finally thank you to all our followers and friends on social media. We always appreciate you being there.
More About Us
The Charity Retail Consultancy helps charity retailers and other non-profits (including museums and galleries) develop their retail operation, improve their product offer and people, and improve their profitability.
The Charity Retail Academy provides online & face to face training developed by charity retailers, for charity retailers. We work in partnership with the Charity Retail Association to deliver Charity Retail Learning to their members and beyond.
The Charity Retail Coach offers a first class executive coaching service via our Associate, Dan O’Driscoll.
To find out more or to speak to us about how we can help you, please get in touch:
hello@thecharityretailconsultancy.co.uk
Jayne – 07598 243210
Vicki – 07985 574904
Follow us on social media:
It’s been a long year.
In charity retail, as in all other aspects of life, things have been tough. As retailers we are used to being active, sociable and customer facing. The last year has seen for a large part our teams either furloughed at home or super busy at work, trying to juggle a myriad of different tasks under incredibly difficult circumstances.
Now more than ever, as we head towards reopening, it’s vital to make sure teams’ wellbeing is a top priority. Many people will be feeling nervous, vulnerable and disconnected. Some will have been ill themselves – and some will have lost loved ones.
What’s clear is it’s vital to focus not just on the practicalities of PPE, managing donations and covering shifts. We must also spend time thinking about how it feels emotionally to return to business, and how our teams’ mental health can be cared for too.
That’s why we are making our “Wellbeing leads to well doing” session free for anyone who needs it. This is a recording of a webinar we held towards the end of the first lockdown, looking at how restorative practice can help charity retail teams have a safe and healthy return to work. Run by Restorative Practitioner Sarah Baggaley, the session provides insight and practical tips on communication, support, self care and good mental health.
You can access the course for free here.
We hope you find it useful – and wish you a safe and successful return to trading.
We are thrilled to be introducing the services of John Hodgson to The Consultancy.
John is a highly experienced retailer who has developed some fantastic new tools to help plan and deliver an effective, efficient and profitable charity retail offer.
John has worked with Barnardo’s, Sue Ryder and Essex and Herts Air Ambulance Trust (EHAAT) amongst others, so understands our sector well.
We are proud to have exclusive access to John’s work for our clients – so if you think this sounds like something you’re interested in for your team, please do get in touch.
We’ve invited John to tell you all about his work:
John Hodgson – Horizon Productivity Consultancy
Now more than ever, charity retailers need to be using data to drive business decisions.
I set up Horizon Productivity Consultancy after 35 years in commercial retailing.
Specialising in Management Information Reporting, Retail Operations and Productivity Fields, I bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the charity retail sector and have been working with both national and local charities to build management information tools that help drive businesses forward.
My reports have been designed to provide valuable information for all levels of management, encourage retail team competitiveness and focus attention on the key performance areas of your business.
I will work with you to ensure the reports meet your charity’s needs and give you the information you need to manage your business as effectively as possible.
Budget Hours Model
This report provides a workload-based guide to the hours required to complete all store tasks, resulting in the right hours being used, in the right place, at the right time
The hours are calculated using carefully researched charity sector time standards and store specific profiling and base data, with a split provided for both paid and volunteer hours
Ideal for:
- establishing the most appropriate paid and voluntary hours base for each store
- budgeting
- maximising productivity
- setting new store hours
- developing a good understanding of the time taken for each task assigned to the stores
Retail KPI Report
This report aims to motivate the store teams by sharing key information and constantly pushing to improve the selected KPIs
It is presented in a colour coded league table format over set periods, making it accessible and easy to understand for all retail teams
Ideal for:
- comparing key performance stats across the chain
- identifying ‘champion’ teams to establish and share best practice procedures
- creating focus on areas for improvement
- tracking improvement over a set period
- informing, enabling and motivating shop teams
HR KPI Report
This report helps senior managers see at a glance their retail teams’ HR performance, benchmarked against other stores
It is presented in a colour coded league table format over set periods, making it accessible and easy to understand
Ideal for:
- tracking take-up of mandatory training
- providing an overview of other completed training
- monitoring sickness and absence
- tracking annual leave
- controlling overtime costs
Store on a Page
This is your go-to report for the retail teams and is designed to capture all store performance data on one page
Suggested data can include:
- Departmental Weekly & YTD Sales v last year and budget
- Departmental sales / space comparisons
- Key Metrics such as Gift Aid, average price, average transaction value
- Paid and Volunteer hours used per week
- HR Information including wage costs, staff turnover, absence etc
To find out more about any of the above reports please get in touch:
John Hodgson
Horizon Productivity Consultancy
07514 618 909
We are thrilled to welcome Dan O’Driscoll to The Charity Retail Consultancy as an Associate Consultant where he will be providing executive coaching services to our clients. Dan runs his own business called Engagement Consultancy where he works as an executive coach and consultant with charities, universities and other non-profit organisations.
Dan tells us more about himself here:
“Over the past 15 years, my career has led me to work across different sectors in a variety of senior leadership roles, working for organisations such as Oxfam GB, the University of Birmingham and The Royal Bank of Scotland.
I’m a qualified executive coach through the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM Level 7) and an associate member of the European Mentoring & Coaching Council. I’m also qualified as a Mental Health First Aider.”
What’s involved in coaching?
Coaching is a confidential, one-to-one conversation with a trusted outsider. Conversations are typically focused on knowledge, skills and work performance. It provides a sounding board for a leader to have an unbiased conversation with someone outside of their organisation.
Coaching involves focused 1:1 work to help achieve your goals, challenge assumptions, provide resources and build confidence.
How can coaching help charity retailers?
Having been at Oxfam GB as Head of Volunteering & Engagement Dan knows what it’s like to work for a charity with a retail operation. He worked in the Trading Division for 7 years setting the tone and strategic direction as to how Oxfam engaged with volunteers, staff and shop teams. He understands the realities that senior leaders in retail face. Working with the Charity Retail Association and the Charity Retail Consultancy this year during Covid-19 Dan is acutely aware of the pressures that senior retail staff and their teams face.
Having that external voice to listen to what’s happening in your shops, working through difficult decisions and focusing on self improvement can be invaluable, especially during this challenging period.
Who would benefit from coaching?
Dan works with Senior Managers up to Directors and CEOs, either on an individual basis or as part of the senior team to facilitate group coaching.
How long does coaching take?
Typically you would have 6 sessions that last 90 minutes at a time. The approach is to listen to what you want to get out of the time together, explore what you want to achieve and then develop a bespoke programme around that to work on together. Session notes are written up with actions and sometimes work for you to complete.
If required, you can also book in a one off session.
What have Dan’s clients said?
“Dan really helped me to identify my future goals (as although I was aware of them, I struggled to communicate them effectively!) and offered some great ideas/steps to work towards them. I felt that the approach Dan took with me really challenged my mental blockers I’ve put up by way of deferring looking into a future career path/goals – his out of the box thinking, and through the use of deadlines, really motivated and excited me to work towards these goals. I left the session feeling really positive and excited about my future and feeling as though I had the tools/resources to work towards it.”
Sophie, Senior Project Lead
“It goes without saying that Dan has been a crucial sounding board for me over these last few months. Working with him has been extremely rewarding, proactive and career-changing.
I don’t know of anyone in this industry that could offer such dedicated support and guidance in the way Dan does, and I know I wouldn’t feel as confident in my future career path and way forward without having worked with him in these tricky times.”
Penny, Senior Curator
“I am incredibly grateful for Dan’s time and expertise throughout our sessions. I think one of our biggest successes was our ability and willingness to communicate openly with each other, and Dan being confident to push and challenge me through various situations. One thing I really enjoyed was that our sessions were never the same and Dan ALWAYS took into account my goals to tailor our sessions. I feel like I learned something professionally, and about myself personally, in each session. And not small things, but things I will continue to reflect on and use to develop in the years to come.”
Erin, Head of Alumni Relations
If executive coaching is something that you’re interested in finding out more, then get in touch with Dan to have an informal conversation.
Email: hello@thecharityretailconsultancy.co.uk
LinkedIn: Daniel O’Driscoll
Website: Mentoring & Coaching – The Charity Retail Consultancy
Tel: 07515 395683
Jayne and Vicki were both very happy to join in with a brilliant virtual walk through charity shop history this week.
Shopping for a cause
The session was part of the brilliant Being Human festival and was presented by Dr Georgina Brewis, Associate Professor in the History of Education at UCL, Dr George Gosling, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Wolverhampton and chaired by Lauren Bravo, journalist and author of How To Break Up With Fast Fashion.
We already knew about the ‘official’ first charity shop, run by Oxfam on Broad Street in Oxford, and that British Red Cross had actually had something similar prior to that during the war. But this session taught us that charity shopping – albeit a bit different to how we know it today – was actually happening as far back as the 1700s!
We were so enthralled by the session that we asked if we could share the recording with you here – and very kindly The British Academy who put it on said yes.
So – find a comfy seat, put on your best charity shop slippers, pour yourself a drink in your best charity shop mug and enjoy an hour of indulgence in the history of our wonderful sector….
Watch the video here
