MBS Inspiration
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The MBS Group is
one of the world’s
leading executive
search firms operating exclusively in the
Retail and Consumer industries, and the
most successful
sector-specialist firm
in the UK.
Taking an experience into retail
As you all know, I am always on the look-out for new store concepts and (at last!) something totally fresh has just hit the high street: Hed Kandi. What I love about it is how a music brand owned by Ministry of Sound began life as a record label specializing in house music. Ministry then did what it does best and moved Hed Kandi into events and parties around the world- they are famous for their club nights in Ibiza. Cleverly, they have now extended the brand onto the high street, opening their first store in Bluewater and another on its way in Liverpool.
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Retail in America
I have just returned to the UK after nearly three weeks in the USA and, I must say, the trip was extremely enlightening. My sense is that the world’s largest eceonomy is not yet out of recession and that business is tough for many, if not most, retailers. There seems to be a low level of consumer confidence, very little job growth and, depressingly, very little that was new and innovative – except, of course, for some amazing restaurants!
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New York, New York: Chicken and Rice on 53rd and 6th
The great US entrepreneurial spirit has always reigned in New York. And never more so than at the most incredible site on 53rd and 6th! On three corners of this busy junction are three carts with a veritable troop selling halal beef and chicken, with rice and a vegetable sauce for only $6,00! You can smell the aroma from afar, and the food is delicious! It opens at 7 a.m. and closes at 4 a.m. The most amazing sight is the queue, literally snaking around the block, most of the day and night.
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Finding the magic in LA
I am on my annual trip to the USA, where I am looking at new concepts, brands and stores, and visiting clients. Always on the look-out for something special, as my first week drew to a close, I had yet to find it. I was beginning to worry: is L.A. beginning to lose its mojo? Don’t get me wrong – the merchandising and service never cease to inspire me here, but it’s the magic that I was after… and I finally experienced it last night at a restaurant called Mozza!
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Cosmetics as a serious business
The business world is changing at an incredible pace and the place of women in it is constantly evolving. No matter which industry you operate in, the world of work is increasingly being shaped by a new generation of women who have careers rather than jobs and who are unafraid of success.
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Inspired by Daniel Galvin Junior
Last Saturday, as a birthday treat, I had my hair cut at the new salon recently opened by Daniel Galvin Junior. I’m no expert, but for me it was just fabulous! The salon is luxurious and so well laid out, with friendly and helpful staff, groovy music videos playing on a state-of-the-art TV, and the most comfortable leather massage chairs, in which I had a luxury hair-washing and hot steam treatment. Daniel has been doing interesting things for a while now, and this flagship store really does demonstrate his talent and vision.
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A slice of Tokyo in Market Place
Toilet humour is not my stock in trade, but do you remember when I wrote last year about the Gucci of lavatories, the Japanese-designed Toto, in Colette in Paris? Well, yesterday I was delighted to discover that the Toto can now be found this side of the Channel, in the newest and, to my mind, best Yo! Sushi restaurant, just off Great Portland Street, in central London.
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The legacy lives on
Who said that when big companies buy niche brands they usually destroy them? There are actually some very good examples of global companies that have managed to retain the spirit, integrity and authenticity of the niche brand they acquire. Just look at Ben & Jerry’s. From a consumer’s perspective, it’s hard to believe that it is not still being run from a renovated gas station in Vermont, instead of from Unilever HQ! As I have mentioned before, Unilever has also managed to take the brand’s corporate sustainability to another level – testimony to a great heritage. Which brings me onto The Body Shop.
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Burberry leads the way with 3D advertising
Moira tells us how the boundaries between fashion, technology, art and music are blurring, in connection with Burberry’s latest online campaign.
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Corporate Responsibility as the key to future success of community and business
On Monday night, I had the privilege of listening in, along with sixty others, on a conversation between Moira Benigson and Jamie Oliver. As I surveyed the daunting audience littered with CEO’s, Presidents and important-looking business people (Terence Conran amongst them) I felt intimidated merely sitting on the sidelines.
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An evening with Jamie Oliver
On Monday night, at a central-London hotel, a group of 60 guests and I had the pleasure of hearing from Jamie Oliver, in lumberjack shirt and flip flops, on his plans to improve the health of our nation. The simple and shocking statistic is that the children in school today are the first generation in the last three who will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. Why? Obesity, stemming from poor diet.
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food revolution, obesity, corporate social responsibility
Beyond window dressing
This week, I had the pleasure of meeting one of the leading lights in Unilever. As an FMCG giant that touches over two billion people daily (that’s how many people buy or use their products!), Unilever embraces the fact that issues such as poverty, malnutrition, climate change and water scarcity are not just academic issues, but real challenges that need to be addressed, and directly by them.
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Merging and Blurring
On Tuesday I hosted a tea with Nicola Copping of the FT for 12 high-powered women in London’s Cocomaya Chocolate Lounge. The topic for discussion: “Merging and Blurring”. With delectable finger sandwiches aplenty, the most voluptuous currant scones with clotted cream and rhubarb jam, white chocolate cheesecake and almond croissants, Cocomaya (www.cocomaya.co.uk), a shop with both an aesthetic and human touch rarely found in London, was the perfect venue.
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A seamless plan
It’s been a dramatic week in the world of supermarkets. Sir Terry Leahy has to be congratulated on delivering a seamless succession plan. His boots are certainly big ones to fill, and the way he has done it is, to my mind, ingenious: he has, effectively, replaced himself with a formidable team – new group CEO (the redoubtable Phil Clarke) and several divisional, geographically-focused CEOs (Richard Brasher, Trevor Masters and David Potts), creating a new deputy CEO into the bargain (Tim Mason).
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How to grow big by thinking small
Launched to critical acclaim in Soho in January 1997 by Simon Woodroffe, a rock ’n’ roll stage designer, YO! Sushi was a great concept from its inception. The business was soon rolled out into less successful locations, however, and Robin Rowland was hired to put it back on track. Twelve years on, Robin has long since turned the business around and in a private breakfast hosted by The MBS Group, we gathered to listen to his story.
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