23

9th January 2015

Knowledge is

power, but

enthusiasm pulls

the switch.

The Beales Resolution.

Start of a New Year…….normally

means resolutions, plans and

promises.

It is highly recommended to have

as few resolutions as possible;

too many and they get ignored,

forgotten, or are missed! My

single resolution for the business

in 2015 is for it to continue with

the progress that has been

established and started during the

last two years. What does this

mean?

My second anniversary of being

CEO takes place at the beginning

of February; I set a personal

target of two years to get Beales

back to where it belonged. Where

it’s heart is and where it is most

respected. “A local high street

department store in the heart of

the community”.

Year 1 was about changing the

culture of the business, almost

taking it backwards to move

forwards. Year 2 has been about

the Beales team working

collaboratively and in alignment. I

dare to suggest we have

succeeded on both counts. Year

3, 2015, is about continuing to

work in this same manner and

building on the solid foundation

we have all laid during the last

two years. Securing the

resources, financial, human or

intangible to achieve this, is my

immediate job in hand.

“There are many ways

of going forward, but

only one way of

standing still ”*, remember that?

We cannot stand still, Beales

cannot rest and take a breather; it

will get passed by all the other

retailers looking on, copying our

lead or changing themselves. We

have played catch up for the last

two years and now we need to

pull ahead of the rest. It is there

for the taking.

Whatever personal resolutions

you set for yourselves, I wish you

well with them; could you also add

Beales resolution to your short list

and continue to work alongside

me to take the business forward.

Michael

* US President Franklin D.

Roosevelt

“A local high street

department store in the

heart of the

community.”

Happy New Year to

you & lets make it a

good one !!

As I am writing this we have just

completed the analysis on the

last and most crucial 2 weeks of

trading. Most stores achieved

some great results and those that

didn’t have written regarding their

reasons. Any business leader at

any level has to ensure they take

appropriate action to deliver on

their Job Description-In stores

that is to maximise sales &

profits! As a Store Director and

Store Team you need to ensure

that you are fully engaged with

driving further sales and

delivering great customer service

during the following crucial sale

weeks.

Some stores have got it just right

with great stock holding and

fantastic sale execution-Take a

look at your Store again and

make sure your store is fully

engaged in all aspects of the

sale.

The Trading Team here at

Bournemouth are now engaged

in Buying for AW15; and, at the

same time reviewing what did not

work over AW14 to get it right

next time. There have been

some great results and it just

goes to show at times we have to

hold our nerve and not constantly

chase after discounts.

We are becoming really excited

now for the launch of SS15.We

have some fantastic new product

supported by some really new

and exciting ideas for POS.-I

think you will like the results.

Remember too we launch

Juniper in 3 stores for

Womenswear and Becky is also

working on the re-launch of

Beales collection. These are key

initiatives if we wish to grow our

Ladies OBT Fashions.

Menswear will also see a new

launch of an improved B&B

Range which will look great and

also the new launch of Howarth

which will replace James Aubrey.

So for now let’s keep driving

those sales and get into a plus

on Budget

Good Luck

Tony

Let’s make 2015 a good one

“Ensure you are fully

engaged with driving

further sales and

delivering great

customer service.”

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE NEW!

It’s a New Year, a new start and we have lots of “new

things” going on! We are currently preparing for 3 new

brands to join the business this month (selected stores

only) – Juniper (Womenswear), Haworth (Menswear) &

Farah 1920.

We’re also nearly ready to show you the Spring/Summer

2015 campaigns for the upcoming months, but as a

taster, (pre-guidelines!) we’ve included this little sneak

peek to the right…

We hope you like it. Guidelines will be out in the next

few weeks.

Shopping for Juniper shop kit!

Spring Summer 15

So, what a Xmas trading periods its been . . It started with: UK enjoys last warm weekend during unseasonably hot

Autumn.

The much awaited John Lewis £1m Xmas TV advert.

Then Black Friday!

The result of Black Friday.

Sales online increased in 2014, which caused

Christmas delivery issues! (Good news for the High

Street!!)

OUR RESULT:

•We held our nerve

•We pulled together

•12% ahead of LY & 6% ahead of budget!

•BOOM!

So, here’s to 2015, welcoming in new season

stock, launch of new OBT brands and much more!

Tash’s Top Tips for 2015. 1. When you are offering the scheme,

believe in the scheme and sell the

scheme! What advantages will our

customers gain if they sign up today?

2 Points for every £1, cash-value

vouchers twice a year, invitations

to the most exclusive events,

money-off events.

2. Interact with our customers, make

them part of our customer experience,

they won’t bite!

3. Unfortunately not every customer will

be eligible for a voucher – please

don’t make them this promise.

4. Remember cards can take up to 5-6

weeks to arrive, not less!

5. When speaking to our customer

service team at LaSer, always get the

name of the person you’re speaking

to.

6. Always get as much information as

you can when dealing with a Love

Rewards complaint/Query. THINK:

Name, Card Number, Address, Old

Address (If Applicable)

7. If a member of staff would like a staff

discount card, all application forms

need to be sent to Natasha Russell in

Marketing.

8. Any member of staff wanting a partner

card will have to fill out a separate

application form , these will also

need to be sent to Natasha Russell in

Marketing!

9. Green, Green, Green is what the Love

Rewards team love to see! Keep an

eye on your targets and try to achieve!

Here’s to a New Year!

Christmas Market in Saffron Walden.

Well done to Linda from Rochdale for

winning a Precis voucher.

Festive cake decorating demo in

Rochdale.

Well done to Maddi from B’mouth for

winning the Alfie Bear Hunt Competition.

ELF and Safety in Poole; love the

jumper Ashlee (HSCP)

The Brunts Academy join Mansfield.

Insight into Click & Collect Over the next couple of months we’ll be using the web page in DIFFERENT to give a bit more of an insight into

some of the web processes and terminologies. Last month, we looked at the ‘dispatched’ status. This month

we’re going to look at Click & Collects.

A Click and Collect order is an order where the customer has chosen a store as the delivery address for their

purchase, as opposed to their own address.

How do we get the stock to the right store ?

This means that whenever a customers order cannot be fulfilled by the C&C store, stock needs to be transferred

into the C&C store. This can be very time-consuming but letting the CSS Web Team know as soon as it is

dispatched, and as soon as it arrives helps us manage the customers expectation.

You should also try to pick your Click and Collect orders FIRST. This is because if the order is being collected

from your store, and you have the stock, the customer will be able to pick up their stock within a day of order –

and if you are providing the stock for another store they’ll appreciate you getting it out the door to them asap.

Does Click & Collect store have the stock?

YES

NO Fulfilment

Store

CSS Web

C&C store emails CSS web stock avail

CSS Web email customer stock avail C&C Store

Internal Transfer

1.1st Avenue – is still our main brand to

focus on – this month’s trend is called

Purple Haze. This is your introduction to

the summer season with transitional

pieces in stripes, spots, geometric and

floral prints. Please look at layering new

collections on mannequins during this

cold period to help entice customers to

buy. Please also use any NEW SEASON

signage so the customer is aware of new

product’s coming in.

2.Everyone will be getting EDC this

season – great price point basics – inc

jeans for £29, leggings & vests for £10.

Perfect basics to help with outfit building

& up-selling.

3.VM standards need to be improved so I

shall be working on guidelines with the

VM team to send out to the business.

4.Weekly best sellers will also be sent out

so you will be aware of what is a key

focus each week.

Happy New Year everybody –

we hope you had a great

Christmas! Here’s to a very

exciting 2015 on Womenswear,

1.Well done to Bournemouth,

who have taken a whopping

£3.2k up for wk 9! Well done

team!

2.The robin jumper was one of

our best selling line’s for the

season!

1. A new year a new colour in

Amourette 300 – this season’s colour is

flashy pink. This is an all store line with

top stores receiving sizes up to 38J!!!

This is a trial to see if we can sell

fashion in the bigger cup sizes.

2. Also coming in this season is Lepel

Fiore in Electric Blue so we have some

real colour pops on departments this

season!

3.Swimwear will be going to ALL stores

for SS15 – first drop will be in feb but to

make you aware now so you can plan

space, further details to follow.

4.Feb promo buys in Lingerie are the

Bestform styles Tessalia & Calvi –

these will be 30% off.

5.We have some great Nightwear

promo buys for feb. Perfect pieces to

keep you warm and cosy. We will be

taking 30% off these too!

Happy Selling!

1.Peterborough had a great week

on Lingerie in wk 9 +22%! Well

done team!

2.Lepel Bridgette was our best

selling bra & briefs so if you still

have stock give it one last push!

The last 2 weeks sales have been

great! Well done to you all!

Keep up the momentum - Please

see the below. MENSWEAR WEEKS 8&9 THIS YEAR - £541,109 LAST YEAR - £441,233 VARIANCE - £99,876 VS. LY YEAR- +23% BUDGET – £456,421 VARIANCE - £84,688 VS. BUDGET - +19%

Replenishment will be delivered to stores

from this week onwards.

SS2015:- January New Deliveries to

stores:

Brand Order No:

January Deliveries:-

Ben Sherman 129572 & 129576

Crew Clothing 124022

Duck & Cover 121436

D555 124043A

D555 124050A

Esprit 129582 & 129583

Jack & Jones 124011 & 127258

Joules 121422 & 121427

Levis 127249

Timberland 121406

Tommy Hilfiger 121408 & 124015

Barbour 124001

Farah 121417

Haworth 121441,121447 & 121480

Calvin Klein 124017

Note:- Exiting James Aubrey for SS2015

D555 – Check short sleeve shirt & T-shirt combo

D555 – Core line plain assorted colour jersey t-shirts

D555 – New season jersey, shirts & light jackets

Well our Accessories Ladies definitely love a

bargain – Winter Sale has seen the figures

soar!!!

Fashion Accessories and Hosiery finished

Week 9 +34%: an excellent achievement, well

done to all the teams out in stores driving

sales.

Cumulatively vs. LY the following stores are

positive:

Hexham, Poole, Southport, Bolton, Yeovil,

Kendal, Tonbridge, Worthing, Horsham,

Rochdale, Beccles, Bishop, Keighley, Kings

Lynn, Lowestoft, Mansfield, Peterborough,

Redcar, Skegness, Spalding, St Neots and

Wisbech. Congratulations and keep up the

good work

And the shining stars, up vs. budget and last

year are as follows:

Hexham +3%, Kendal +7, Tonbridge +6%,

Beccles +2%, Bishop 1%, Keighley +24%,

Kings Lynn +13%, Lowestoft 3%, Mansfield

4%, Redcar +2, St Neots 10%

Amazing and some of our stores not on the

list are so, so close!

Replen and Sale Top Ups - These

will be arriving thick and fast over

the next few weeks as we try to

replenish and recover from such a

strong sales performance. If you

need any additional stock, please

contact a member of the Buying

Team to request.

Feb Promos due in for Price

Establishment:

KS Brands Fleece Animal

matching glove and scarf set

Sirco Handbags

Radford Scarves (Selected

Stores)

Wellies (Selected Stores) .

Thank you all for your help and

support over such a crucial trading

period, long may it continue!

SALES 1st December - 24th December : 144 Small Leathers 0% 145 Handbags +17% 147 Soft Accs +19% 124 Hosiery +13%

SALES 1st December - 24th December :

144 Small Leathers 0%

145 Handbags +17%

147 Soft Accs +19%

124 Hosiery +13%

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

At the Store Director conference I said that I would award a

hamper of goodies to the store who put the biggest increase on

between the conference and year end. I am pleased to announce

that the winner is: Hexham who finished +22%! Congratulations

to the Fashion Accessories and Hosiery Team in Hexham –

prizes will be with you ASAP.

•December numbers were flat in the

end so well done we picked up the

loses from previous weeks at the very

end.

•Mac – A special mention as they

exceeded all expectations with a

massive double digit growth for the

month of +17% taking 40k per week in

each of the last 2 weeks.

•Bobbi Brown also had a strong

December taking £42k.

•Other Highlights included Best Sellers

Benefit Mascara – 841 Units, Lauder

Blockbuster 521 Units , Clarins Hand

Cream 457 Units – Well done to all.

•Clinique Incentives – Beales excelled

last year with the prizes our teams won

in Bournemouth, Worthing, Hexham

and St Neots – lets beat it in 2015.

It`s all about Spring and What`s New

– we want to focus on Valentines and

Mothers Day earlier, bigger + better

this year.

The Buying Team are working to

rush new product and basics to you

asap – look out for Emma

Bridgewater Toiletries and New Lily

Of the Valley from Heathcote.

A New Collection called Julie

Dodsworth will be trialing in 6 stores

and then rolling out soon after.

In January it`s all about the Clinique

GWP starting on the 22nd – see

attached visual. A very colourful print

should look great on counter – Good

Luck.

Regards, Linda, Clare + Shobha.

Happy New Year to All from the Cosmetics Team – thank

you for all your hard work and here we go Again !!

Christmas!!! Make sure it is all out and we

are pushing as much as possible. More

markdowns to come to add into that 70%

OFF offer. Please WAS and NOW as soon

as those markdowns come through. Ensure

the WAS price is the top/first price so the

customer can clearly see the full saving.

Gift food – sell by dates. We don’t want to

end up in the same position we had this time

last year so keep your beady eyes on the

dates, particularly on bulk stock from Mrs

Bridges and Muircroft. Our margin is now

better on gift food so well done to everyone

for getting this back to where it needs to be.

Replen Ranges – we have just re-ranged

LC Design clocks and Sixtrees frames, ready

for SP15 and the figures are improving week

on week. Both ranges were up last week.

Please ensure you refer to the guidelines

from VM and have one sample out and the

rest in boxes behind. If you are struggling to

get all the options out, let us know and we

can look at cutting out some options for you.

The 2 x main Christmas weeks were

strong for us (week 8 and 9) on the

Christmas departments. However we

haven’t managed to pull back to deficient

for the total season. We do have more

stock than this time last year so a

stronger offer for our Winter Sale. Some

areas had a big increase on last year

(crackers +8%, wreaths +62%, candles

+89%, Baylis and Harding +101%) but

some areas pulled us back (Beales Bear

-35%, Tree Decs -41%, Cards -13%). In

the majority of ranges our GP was better

than last year so this is a real positive.

WOW! The Wax Lyrical Candles and

Reed Diffusers have been AMAZING this

season!!! Thank you to everyone who

pushed this range. The sales were +59%

VS LY, with an increase of 40K. We have

now gone to 60% OFF to clear so please

ensure it all out in bulk and still looking

strong, you will be surprised how many

we will still sell.

Happy New Year! From the Gifts and Stationery Team!

Top 3 Performing Stores

Saffron + 28%

Winchester +8%

Wisbech +7%

Top Performing Categories

Garden furniture +835%**

Boards & WTS +62%

Table Linen +42%

Storage +30%

**no, your eyes are not deceiving you,

some stores are managing to sell Bistro

Sets in the depths of Winter! Let’s all

make the most of this rather unusual

selling opportunity by ensuring these sets

are represented in bulk in your Winter Sale

area.

Bestsellers

Personalise Your Own Laptray £7.7k

Juno Entertaining Set £5.1k

Salisbury 24 Piece Cutlery Set £5k

Christmas Stock – thanks to everyone

for the amazing sell through achieved on

Housewares Christmas lines. Just a tiny

little push needed by all to get the last bits

and bobs sold please!

Replenishment – we have just completed

running the entire Housewares

replenishment schedule and sent the

orders to Suppliers. So, when this stock

starts arriving in the next one to two weeks

please make a special effort to quickly get

your shelves nice and full, clean, tidy and

neat, especially your Glassware

departments which may be looking a little

low on stock.

Peggy Wilkins Core Table Linen – this

range consists of the Prelude and Torino

designs in red, white and champagne and

is now being replenished (see previous

point), so please ensure it is separated

from the Peggy Wilkins Christmas Table

Linen residue and displayed appropriately,

preferably hanging.

These sets of three Renberg

Frying Pans from AIS are made

from superior quality aluminium

finished with a black, speckled

effect, durable non-stick ceramic

coating and have vibrantly

coloured, soft touch handles. They

will be promoted at 50% off.

We’ll be getting these RHS Mugs,

as well as new Alex Clark Mugs

from Churchill and come promotion

time, they’ll all have over 30% off.

To boost and refresh our mug

offering even further we’ve bought

a selection of The Leonardo

Collection William Morris and

Autumn Fruits Mugs which will also

be promoted at over 30% off.

We’ve re-bought this Kitchen Craft

Pancake Pan with recipe in time

for Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day)

on 17 February. They are going to

be Was £18, Now £12.

Finally, we have a two ranges of glassware from Tradestock. One is

called Alternato which has a striking bubble in the base giving it a

contemporary look. The other range is called Helsinki which has a

hammered effect look.

FEBRUARY OFFERS . . .

Top Performing Stores:

Yeovil +45%

Horsham +39%

Tonbridge +29%

Best Sellers in December:

TVs

Digihome 40” LED TV 40272SMFHDLED

£15.5k

Digihome 32” Smart TV 32272SMHDLED

£4.5k

Samsung 32” LED TV UE32H5000 £3.5k

SDA

Morphy Richards 48822 Stainless Steel

Soup Maker £7.7k

Dyson DC25 Animal £4.9k

Morphy Richards 732000 Supervac £4.6k

MDA

Bosch WAE24063GB Washing Machine

£5.9k

Hotpoint HULT943P Washing Machine

£5.8k

Hotpoint RFAA52P Fridge Freezer £5.5k

Winter Sale - Winter Sale for Electrical has been live since 24th December. Please keep a copy of the Winter Sale Promotional Pack in the Electrical department for reference and promote those Hero Lines. Clearance - Now is the time to focus on clearing those old electrical stocks including lines from the Christmas promotion and selling through those TVs! Please make sure the TVs are prominently displayed within the department with clear pricing. Floorcare Driveline for January Morphy Richards 732000 2in1 Vacuum Cleaner Key Features: Can be used as a cordless upright vacuum cleaner or a handheld (simply un-clip the handheld from the front of the machine); Bagless and easy to empty; Lightweight at 4.9kg; The handle folds back on itself for easy storage (see photo); Sits on a small charging stand with indicator light to show when fully charged; run time of approx. 20 minutes. This product has been successful in the last few weeks; if we all get behind it we can achieve huge sales! Please have a play with the machine and get to know its facilities so you are well equipped with the knowledge required to sell it!!

HIGHLIGHTS OF MONTH

KEY FOCUSES

Grampian Stag: This has been our best

selling sale buy since I started at Beales!!!

In the first week we took over £4.5k in

sales with some stores selling all their

stocks within 2 weeks, AMAZING!!!!

Face Cloths Packs: A new offer for

Beales and has proved a success taking

an average of £1k a week which at £5 a

pack is a fab result.

Bathroom Accessories: Sales +15% in

December with shower curtains sales

+34% vs Ly

Bedcare: Sales +13% in December with

sales on our Slumberfleece ranges up

+21% vs Ly

Clearing out of stock rooms – please ensure

you have all linens stocks out of your stock

rooms and that stock is out in bulk on the shop

floor in your designated sale areas. We have

some great offers on our residue lines so let’s

use this opportunity to clear out as much as

possible.

Whitakers Towels – Stores are now fully

stocked of the new Whitakers towels colours but

we are still struggling with sales. Ensure you

have all stocks out and that your back walls are

looking strong.

Bathroom Scales– The new ranges of bathroom

scales are in and selling well. Diets are a

massive focus in January so let’s try and entice

customers into buying scales whilst we are all on

our fitness spree!

Duvets & Pillows – As we start the New Year

customers will want a fresh start with their

bedding so January is the perfect month to push

your Fogarty/Fine Bedding core ranges of duvets

and pillows.

SS15 Range – 2 new bedding designs are due in

from Dreams and Drapes in January called

Kayleigh and Country Journal. As soon as these

designs arrive in stores make sure you get them

onto your display beds.

KAYLEIGH STONE COUNTRY JOURNAL

Well done to you all, 11% up on last year

in Dec, Christmas week 16% up on

budget, great performance all round

Congratulations to the Top 5 stores on

own bought in Dec

- Worthing - Bournemouth

- Mansfield - Yeovil

-Tonbridge

The success of Christmas was built on

Frozen, Live Pets, Radio Control and

Lego with advent calendars being the

best sellers. Construction was the top

category taking 20% of our total with Pre

School at 15% followed by Dolls at 9%

due mainly to Frozen. Fun facts – Chill

factor was number 12 best seller, not

just a summer line, we sold over 2000

Minecraft £2.99 figures in the last two

weeks, live pets bird cage has been our

best seller for the last 11 weeks and we

sold £3000 of penguins in two weeks –

thanks John Lewis!

Replen - Priorities are Galt, Schleich, Top

Model, Big Jigs etc our core ranges, they’ve

taken a battering over Christmas so expect

orders very soon

New Lego, we have a challenging time ahead

of us with the Lego movie being such a massive

success last year, however there’s some great

new products and ranges to come in, none more

so than the Elsa’s Frozen Ice Castle @ £34.99.

New City, Friends and Disney will be delivered

in January – New Classic, Ninjago and Star

Wars in February

Big Hero 6- Release date 30th January 2015,

Top 10 stores -Robotics prodigy Hiro lives in the

city of San Fransokyo, his closest companion is

Baymax a robot whose sole purpose is to take

care of people. When a devastating turn of

events throws Hiro into the middle of a

dangerous plot, he transforms Baymax and his

other friends into a band of high-tech heroes.

Seven skus with Action Figures @ £8.99 the

volume line

Sledges - Are you ready for snow? Are your

sledges and snowboards out where they can be

seen

BIG HERO 6

Our top 3 turnover concessions this

month were:

Craghoppers,

Jones Bootmaker

Yankee Candle.

Craghoppers was up £97,580

overall on last year. Apricot was up

£73,681 and Yankee Candle was

also up £54,978!

Performances of the month

Congratulations to Yankee Candle

in Mansfield, who took £19,430

more than last year. Yankee Candle

was also significantly up in Yeovil

and Abingdon.

Well done to Buckingham

Jewellery who were up £8,270 on

last year. Equilibrium also did well

this month, with total sales of

£38,034!

For 2015 we see a lot of New

Openings:

We have had an agreement from

Miss Selfridge to join us in our

Horsham store in 2015.

Dash is replacing Minuet in Bedford.

Urban Beach, Peter Gribby and

Craghoppers - Hexham

Lock, Stock and Barbershop – Yeovil

Peterborough College Hairdressers –

Peterborough

Viz-a-Viz – Skegness

We are also working on the following

for February:

Jones Bootmakers – Southport

Crisca – Southport and

Bournemouth

Viz-a-Viz – Southport

Precis – Bolton and Tonbridge

Carl Scarpa - Worthing

NEW OPENINGS . . .

Pheew! What an amazing run up to

Christmas and then on into the New

Year.

The Catering teams can all give

themselves a massive pat on the

back with Obt Catering finishing the

first 9 weeks at +7%. Now we just

have to keep the momentum going!

We out-Turkeyed last year by 63%, in

other words we sold over 12,000

Christmas lunches – wow, incredible!!

Winning lines were the Cranberry

Twist and Viennese mince pies, with

some great additional sales coming

from our gingerbread Snowman, the

Stollen slice and the new Rich fruit

and Nut cake.

Breakfast with Santa served 1300

children this year with Mansfield

topping the charts with 206! What an

achievement to create the magic for

so many kids, well done to all

concerned for generating such an

unforgettable series of events – even

bigger and better next year!

We now have the new Menu in place

and Katherine will be sending out

guidelines as to how to position and

use the new Menu cabinets. We will

also be introducing new POS which

will allow us flexibility on putting on

‘special offers’ to drive footfall when

trade is slow.

The new promos for January will start

Saturday 10th, with a great link deal –

a regular hot drink and a Danish for

just £3 – and don’t forget you get your

discount too! Or try our Jacket Potato

offer, 2 for only £8.

Here’s wishing that 2015 is fruitful

and bountiful for us all!

To a fruitful and bountiful 2015

Despite December usually being a month Services keeps a low profile, to let the stores focus on taking the money, this year it has been full on! We moved H.R. to the 4th floor in Granville and in anticipation of leasing out the 1ST floor we completed a thorough repair and maintenance programme throughout, including ensuring all data and phone connections were active and in place. The Payroll department was also moved from the Bournemouth store to Granville to join HR. High level lighting repairs have been completed in Winchester, new data and telephone cabling installed in ‘In Time’ in Poole, and lighting repairs concluded in Horsham and Bournemouth.

We held an H&S Committee meeting during December which highlighted the need to review the use of Maintenance books – we are on the case! But the main focus of our attention has been Accidents and the prevention of them. The new forms for both reporting and investigating accidents are now on the Connect system with full guidelines explaining why we need to do what we need to do and how to do it! Please take the time to have a look as it’s important we all know what is required of us when an accident happens. But more importantly – how to stop one happening in the first place! Please ensure you use the new documentation as there have been recent changes to them.

Although the milder unseasonal weather in December hampered trade, it was good to us from a buildings perspective; however, latterly we have experienced some problems with snow and roofs! The good news is that work started on Mansfield this week so we should be able to say goodbye to the buckets in that store! We wish everyone in the business a healthy, safe and happy New Year.

This months update . . .

The next 3 months . . . For the next 3 months, our primary focus will be on

the till replacement project for stores 21-39. As I’m

sure you can appreciate, this is a major task that is

taking up the majority of our time, and giving me

plenty of headaches!

We have an incredibly tight rollout schedule

planned, which at this moment in time, is still

looking ok. During the months of February and

March, the majority of the IT team will be out on the

road completing the installation of new systems in

stores, which leaves limited resources in CSS to

cover the support desk. I would ask that you all

please bear this in mind when calling for support on

any non-urgent issues.

PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance has also

reared it’s ugly head again, and has thrown the odd

spanner in the works….but hopefully nothing we

can’t handle.

Alongside the till project, the BI (Business

Intelligence) server has recently been upgraded

with new storage devices, and the data partitioned

to improve performance and hopefully eliminate

some of the problems colleagues were

experiencing when analysing data. BI is constantly

evolving, frequently presenting new challenges for

us to overcome. Luckily, Sean (our BI Analyst) is

well up for a challenge!

As ever, there are plenty of minor tweaks and

additions to various aspects of the systems

underway, some still in planning stages, some in

the testing phase and others ready to go

live. Combined with the day to day support of all

stores and CSS, it’s just about enough to keep us

all out of trouble!

Have a great 2015, and I’ll see some of you in the

not too distant future with some shiny new tills to

play with!

In addition to processing

£2.5 million of invoices in

the month the whole

department has been kept

busy by the visit from the

external auditors who have

been in carrying out their

fieldwork for the 2013-14

year end.

The statutory accounts are

in the process of being

drafted and will be sent to

the printers in due course

prior to the Annual General

Meeting.

As stores know, Wells

Fargo, our funders, carry

out store visits each

quarter to check the

accuracy of the stock

records – they also visit

CSS each quarter and

carry out a detailed audit,

paying particular attention

to stock and creditors.

Payroll.

This months update . . .

The payroll team have

recently moved back into

Granville Chambers,

having been based within

the Bournemouth store for

the last two years.

Finally, a very big

CONGRATULATIONS to

Sue Murray who just got

engaged!

HR NOTICEBOARD ABCD ACHIEVEMENTS

Anthony Perrin Connie Bristow Sue Kempton Kate Rothman Julie Knight Maxine Chapman

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Back to The Floor - A big THANK YOU to all CSS

Colleagues who spent time working in Bournemouth,

Poole, Yeovil, Winchester & Abingdon stores in

December, your help was greatly appreciated in the

stores and their feedback was very positive .

AR’s - The Annual Review process (AR’s) starts in

January & will all be completed by the end of March.

For those of you due to carry out AR’s for your team -

now is the time to start planning when you will do

them. For those of you due to receive an AR – ask

your line manager when yours will be! .

Holiday -The 2013-2014 Holiday year ends in

approximately 12 weeks, make sure you use your

entitlement in time. Holiday cards for the 2014-2015

year will be issued at the end of February/beginning of

March. .

Contact details - Please ensure that your emergency

contact details are correct.

Expression of wish -You should also ensure that

your expressions of wish forms are up to date if you

are currently in the pension scheme. Its very important

that this information is current

Congratulations to Emma Hardman-Drake who has achieved her ABCD badge

Amy Carter Dorota Szymanska

VACANCIES

Buying Administration Assistant (Part-time) Head Office .

Are you interested in starting a career in Buying? We are looking for an enthusiastic

Administration Assistant to join our busy Buying team at our head office in Bournemouth.

With the support of the Buyer you will process replenishment and raise orders; ensure all orders

are delivered by checking deliveries and chasing suppliers; take a proactive approach to stock and

sales and advise the Buyer accordingly. Working with Accounts you will create and maintain

stock/supplier records accurately on the central database i.e. changes to terms, addresses,

contacts, telephone number etc.

You must be able to demonstrate excellent IT and communication skills, be highly organised, and

show initiative when dealing with a variety of situations, to effectively prioritise your work.

The ideal candidate with have an interest in the retail sector and will be looking to gain experience

within Buying. Previous experience working in retail is desirable.

If you are interested in applying for this role please forward your covering letter and CV to Beckie

Andrews BAndrews@beales.co.uk, please ensure you state the role and store in your subject

field.

DOROTA SZYMANSKA

DURATION: 2 years, 2 months.

FAVOURITE COLOUR: Pink

FAVOURITE FOOD: Enjoy eating food a lot (especially

homemade food) as long as it’s healthy and of course in

moderation.

JOB SUMMARY: First, I started working in the

Bournemouth store in TOYS department and then I was

offered a permanent position in GIFTS which I enjoyed,

but it was hard work. Now I am working as a HR

Administrator which I really enjoy. My new job

role involves dealing with store’s paperwork.

BONUS FACT: My motto is: Keep the faith and do your

best in life.

HR ADMINISTRATOR

EMILY HALE

DURATION: 3 Months

FAVOURITE COLOUR: Purple

FAVOURITE FOOD: Cake, preferably

chocolate.

JOB SUMMARY: Looking after stocks and spends

within the linens department.

BONUS FACT: I’m a self-confessed crazy cat lady!

Assistant Merchandiser - Linens

EMILY QIONG SUN

DURATION: Since 25 November 2014.

FAVOURITE COLOUR: Blue.

FAVOURITE FOOD: Homemade Italian Pasta.

JOB SUMMARY: I’m responsible for the ongoing

updating and maintaining of beales.co.uk. Mainly

taking photos of all sorts of products from the store and

make them look attractive for the website. BONUS FACT: I love to paint and draw, especially painting

watercolours! It has to be my method of relaxation

Web Product Coordinator