Each week we share with you our pick of the best stories on charity retail, shopping secondhand and the circular economy from the UK, Ireland and around the world.
Here’s our pick from the past 7 days:
News from Oxfam on their ecommerce and retail strategies
Oxfam is overhauling its retail operations in a bid to reach more online customers and supporters around the world.
Oxfam announces retail strategy overhaul to boost online focus | UK Fundraising
Barnardo’s second superstore opens in Bradford
We know that lots of you loved the look of this Barnardo’s store from the response to the pictures we shared on our LinkedIn page. Here’s the full story:
Barnardo’s opens superstore at Bradford Forster Square Shopping Park | BBC
A different kind of charity retail
We were delighted to see our friends at Age UK Sheffield open their cafe in Hillsborough Park in Sheffield this week after many years planning and working on it. We wish them every success in their new venture.
Age UK Sheffield’s Old Coach House cafe set to open after £1 million renovation | The Star
Plans to restrict disposal of unsold goods in Scotland
This proposed ban from the Scottish Government on disposing of unsold, durable goods could mean charity retailers benefit from new stock sources.
Destruction of unsold goods could be banned in Scotland | BBC News (ampproject)
Raising money, delivering services
This new shop from Lotus Sanctuary shows how charity shops can be so much more than a shopping experience
New hub ready to help empower people and raise funds | expressandstar
ForSight open their first store in Omagh, Northern Ireland today. ForSight are the sister organisation of NCBI who already operate over 130 shops in the Republic of Ireland.
ForSight unveiled as Northern Ireland’s newest chain of charity shops | msn
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:
Each week we share with you our pick of the best stories on charity retail, shopping secondhand and the circular economy from the UK, Ireland and around the world.
Here’s our pick from the past 7 days:
International Women’s Day 2022
We loved these blogs for International Women’s Day from Kate Heaps, CEO at Greenwich and Bexley Hospice and Lily Caswell from Florence Nightingale Hospice. As a sector with so many brilliant women in all kinds of roles, it’s wonderful to take the time to acknowledge their contributions.
‘Breaking the Bias’ in charity retail | Charity Retail Association
Celebrating International Women’s Day 2022 | Charity Retail Association
Shopiago Online Charity Award winners announced
We were thrilled to be on the judging panel for Shopiago’s first online charity awards. The winners were announced this week, with good news for British Heart Foundation, Marie Curie, British Red Cross and Highland Hospice
Shopiago Online Charity Award Winners | Shopiago
Yet another reason to join the Charity Retail Association
As if the service our sector receives from membership body, the Charity Retail Association wasn’t good enough already, charity retailers can now access free professional Employment Law, HR, and Health & Safety advice there too. It’s membership renewal time this month too, so make sure you sign up.
The Charity Retail Association adds value for members with new WorkNest partnership | Bdaily
First edition Harry Potter book bought for 50p in a charity shop could sell for £3K
When faced with the volume of books donated into charity shops it can be easy to miss the special ones – and this edition has a child’s drawings in it too, so might have easily been thrown away. It just goes to show how important it is to check everything before putting it out for sale.
Harry Potter bought for 50p in charity shop could sell for £3k | BBC News
Designer clothes, designer prices?
What do you think of this article about “eye watering” prices in Wimbledon charity shops? We know those items are worth that price – and so does this shopper, but she’s not prepared to pay them. Does her article help or hinder?
More younger people volunteering in charity shops
Some really encouraging research into volunteering from the British Heart Foundation
Latest Statistics Show Significant Increase in Youth Volunteers – The Oxford Student
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:
Each week we share with you our pick of the best stories on charity retail, shopping secondhand and the circular economy from the UK, Ireland and around the world.
Here’s our pick from the past 7 days:
Charity retail at the heart of London Fashion Week
A great piece from Salvation Army Trading on their observations from the front row of London Fashion week
London Fashion Week Rundown | LinkedIn
7 good reasons to work in charity retail from the Irish Charity Shops Association
Some great points made in this piece from ISCA that can help you to promote your charity retail vacancies
Why work in Charity Retail? Here are 7 good reasons. | ICSA – Irish Charity Shops Association
Managing your reputation when closing a store
Closing a shop can sometimes have negative repercussions within its community. St Luke’s Hospice in Plymouth shows us how to engage and communicate well through this piece in The Cornish Times
Working with bloggers and influencers
Our good friends at St Barnabas Hospice in Lincoln opened their new superstore called The Warehouse recently. They invited a group of Lincoln Bloggers to a preview event and got some fantastic coverage as a result. A brilliant example of partnership working in social media
Mystery books initiative launched
We loved this idea from Demelza of selling a mystery bag of books via their online shop. Have you tried anything similar?
Sustainability offer from mainstream retail grows
More and more mainstream retailers are jumping on the sustainability bandwagon – which is great for the environment. But how might it impact on charity retailers? Do schemes such as this one, launched by Rab this week, mean our supply of quality donations will become eroded?
Outdoor brand Rab announces a new rental scheme | Runnersworld
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:
Each week we share with you our pick of the best stories on charity retail, shopping secondhand and the circular economy from the UK, Ireland and around the world.
Here’s our pick from the past 7 days:
Charity retail in a post pandemic world
A great blog from Harry, online manager at Brandon Trust, on their journey into selling online
Charity retail in a post pandemic world | Brandon Trust
35 best online thrift stores
Think you know all the secondhand platforms out there? Think again! Here’s a round up of 35 sites focusing on preloved goods. From handbags to denim, designer wear to value bundles, it’s all covered here:
35 Best Online Thrift Stores For Affordable Vintage Clothing (In 2022) | thevou
Year round stock campaign from Age UK
It’s good to see Age UK taking a proactive approach to generating stock. We’ll watch with interest to see how the campaign develops over the year – and if others follow suit.
On stock generation – we are working with Esther Pugh from Leeds Beckett Uni on some research around protecting the sector’s source of quality stock in the light of the huge growth in private resale. We’ll keep you posted!
Age UK launches its first year-long charity shop stock appeal | UK Fundraising
Dublin’s finest charity shops
Vicki was working in Dublin last week and visited some of their fabulous charity shops, including Irish Cancer Society, St Vincent’s and Oxfam. Here’s a round-up of the best city centre stores according to Dublin Live
Best charity shops in Dublin city centre | Dublin Live
Take One Leave One – an extension of charity retail?
The campaign to help homeless people, rough sleepers or anyone in need stay warm in the winter is encouraging charity shops to take part too. Would your shops be interested in hosting a TOLO rail?
Homelessness project urges charity shops to join its campaign | Civil Society
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:
This is a guest post by Billy Farrell, Assistant Director of Retail at Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland
The finances of the population of the UK are being increasingly stretched. The Office of National Statistics recently revealed that consumer price inflation had been the highest since 1992. Our disposable income is being squeezed tighter and tighter from tax rises, energy price rises, food price rises, travel price rises and most other things we pay for as these rises affect businesses who have to pass the cost to the consumer. The money in our pockets to spend on clothes and homewares is disappearing. However, for charity retail, the pressures on people’s finances provide an opportunity for growth if a clear strategy is designed for pricing.
Making money go further
After the financial crash of 2008, the years of austerity that followed drove more people to buy second-hand clothes due to the very economically friendly pricing structures. Back then, people were already considering the environmental impact of the clothing industry and how recycling and reusing clothing was more sustainable than always buying new. However, with funds being stretched, like they are now, people found a way to make their money go further in the world of charity retailing.
As much as there was a growth in new charity shops opening and an increase in sales, the profit levels did not grow in unison. Third sector retailers are not immune from the rising costs. Our charities have rent, rates, utilities, consumables, transport, staffing, taxes, pensions to pay, just like all other reputable businesses. However, our mainstream competitors ability to set prices on every item to deliver a profit is far superior to ours. To make the most of this next growth opportunity coming our way, we must have a strategy to raise prices to stay ahead of the rising costs.
Average prices count
With the average transaction value in a charity shop only £4.89 (2019), this is a fantastic offer for the customer, but there will be challenges for charity shops to remain profitable with it remaining this low. There are many options to mitigate against the rising costs, but a pricing strategy can be implemented immediately with no cost.
Pricing in a charity shop is a balancing act. Price is too high, and you may sell less. Price is too low, and you need to process even more to keep up with the demand. There is always an argument for what constitutes “too low” and “too high” as this is subjective without good data. A professional POS system that captures categories and their selling prices will be vital to creating a robust pricing strategy.
A new strategy
There are many ways to design a strategy to price for your store’s area. Every charity will have its way of doing this, but if all stores are on board and follow the strategy, the whole organisation will influence its profits.
To increase prices with confidence, have great store standards, provide excellent customer service and know your products. Having quality brand names on the shop floor in good condition drives more donations of the same ilk. Donors are more likely to drop in the best items to stores they know will be treated with care, where they will achieve a good price for the charity and are thanked for the donation.
Visit competitors in your area, both charity shops and mainstream retailers. See what is currently fashionable and take note of the prices. Be confident in pricing higher for the items you know are on-trend. Your customers will still be getting a bargain without you giving it away.
The challenges facing us are significant, but sound commercial decisions will influence your beneficiaries’ profit.
Good luck with the new season.
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:
We know that it’s tough to recruit staff just now for everyone – including for charity retailers.
Our survey
We recently conducted a survey amongst our clients that told us the following:
- It’s a real struggle to recruit to all paid posts just now, but especially Shop Manager roles, with 50% of respondents saying this was an issue for them
- This impacts in many ways on the retail operation, including:
- Having to close for one or more shifts
- Team members becoming disgruntled at carrying extra work
- Retail strategies cannot be achieved
- Retail sales are lower than forecasted
- There’s less time to recruit volunteers
- Respondents feel the top 3 reasons for the shortage of good applicants are:
- Increased competition from hospitality and other sectors for staff
- Terms and conditions of roles they are advertising
- Worries about retail job security from potential candidates
- To counter the challenges, charity retailers are trying the following:
- Creating retail placement roles such as Kickstart roles and interns
- Recruiting less experienced candidates into development roles and training them to reach the role requirements of the post
- Increasing salary rates
- Offering non-financial incentives (e.g. employee assistance and/or wellbeing programmes)
- Having an always open application process
Free recruitment support
To help you meet your recruitment challenges, we’ve created a free webinar with our People, Governance & Interim support Associate, Anne Webb.
Anne talks you through ways to attract and retain good staff in the light of the current situation – you can watch the webinar here.
Charity Retail Association People Conference
Also – don’t miss the Charity Retail Association People Virtual Conference on 1st – 3rd February. We’re proud sponsors, alongside our friends at Shopiago and Team Kinetic, and will be delivering sessions on staff retention and Equity Diversity and Inclusion.
Jayne will also be chairing a session on out of the box thinking on recruitment, featuring bloggers Lucy Smith-Butler and Phoebe Boateng, alongside successful charity retail recruiters from White Rose and Acorns Hospice.
We look forward to seeing you there – and don’t forget to reach out to us if you want support with your recruitment. We’re here to help.
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:
There’s a new kid in town…..
The Charity Retail Consultancy has today launched a brand new You Tube channel which will celebrate all things preloved.
Jayne Cartwright founded the Consultancy in 2010 and is a lifelong charity shop fan. She said:
“Charity shops are a huge part of all our lives nowadays – and as the most sustainable retailers out there, there’s so much to celebrate about them. Our new channel will share content that will appeal to anyone with an interest in buying, donating or selling preloved goods through charity shops – either on the high street or online.”
Vicki Burnett, Senior Consultant with the Consultancy added:
“We’ll be sharing our own videos – like the one we made with the Charity Retail Association on the history, trends and statistics around charity retail today – and those made by our friends and collaborators from the sector. We hope to share great ideas of how to find the best charity shop buys, tips on how to upcycle your latest pre-loved find, ways to improve your operation if you’re a charity, and much more.”
To keep up to date with all things charity retail subscribe today.
And if you’d like to share your ideas, thoughts, finds or tips with those who really love charity retail, please do get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.
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 a fact: Charity shops are the most environmentally friendly retailers, both on the high street and online. So, we think it’s high time we made that known and especially during COP26 fortnight. If you agree, and want to shout about your green credentials but don’t know where to start, then read on!
Buying second-hand instead of new cuts pollution, reduces water consumption and stops textiles going to landfill; charity shops in the UK alone save 330,000 tonnes of textiles from ending up in landfill or an incinerator each year. Our charity retail sector can make a bigger contribution to reducing GHGs if we educate our communities to understand and embrace preloved shopping.
What is COP26?
It’s the 26th Conference of the Parties, the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Between 31st October and 12th November 2021, the Glasgow conference is being attended by over 200 world leaders, and focuses on climate change and what can be done to tackle it.
What does COP26 represent?
The last decade was the warmest on record; the world is getting warmer due to fossil fuel emissions, all caused by us humans. Polar icecaps are melting, sea levels are rising and we are seeing more extreme weather events around the world because of the effects of climate change. Governments globally agree that urgent action is needed both individually and globally tackle the climate crisis.
What can we expect from COP26?
COP26 is the biggest summit the UK has ever hosted and has been described as the most significant ever climate event. The world hopes that its leaders can use it to make new decisions on how to cut greenhouse gases (GHG) and carbon emissions.
Some commitments made in Glasgow could directly affect our daily lives, such as driving electric cars, moving away from gas heating, eating less red meat and taking fewer flights.
Why is COP26 important to charity shops?
Here’s a shocking fact: The fashion industry emits 10% of all global carbon emissions and releases 20% of all waste water. Whether it’s from growing cotton, making polyester (from oil), shipping or making clothes, buying new fashion has a dramatic effect on climate control. But all of us who are involved in the charity retail sector know that that we have a huge part to play in raising awareness of how consumers can combine the feel-good factor of thrifting with the bigger warmer fuzzier feeling of reducing the fashion industry’s impact on the environment.
What can charity retailers do right away?
- Make sure you’re fully informed by taking our Green credentials for charity retailers course. At only £20 it covers:
- An introduction to fast fashion issues and the growth of the global second hand market
- An overview of the sustainable fashion revolution
- The role of charity retail within sustainable fashion
- Practical examples and ideas as to how to promote and maximise the impact from your green credentials
- Create dramatic shop windows and instore displays which link preloved shopping with COP26 and beyond. Use this fantastic opportunity to let your communities (and the world’s leaders!) know about the importance of the charity retail industry in the fashion economy, and in doing business that puts people and planet first.
- Measure what you can do – set a single shop or collective ambition to promote the integral role and impact of the charity shop industry in addressing net zero and climate change goals.
- Use shop receipts, price tags, posters and your teams’ voices to remind your customers that every time they donate to or buy from a charity shop, they are helping protect the environment by giving items a second life.
- Create a stock generation campaign showing how items can be given a new life, reduce landfill and C02 emissions.
#sustainable #secondhand #ecofriendly #sustainablefashion #sustainable #zerowaste #sustainableliving #recycle #environment #cop26 #climatechange #togetherforourplanet #climatecrisis #shopsecondhand
If you want help with talking about your green credentials, or undertaking a sustainability audit, get in touch.
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 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
