welcome [] · many members of retail excellence succeed with their applications to enterprise...

Q1 2020 | RETAIL TIMES 03

elcome everyone to the first 2020edition of Retail Times. I verymuch hope that you all enjoyed arobust trading period over

Christmas. While feedback is mixed, I do knowthat we are now hopefully entering a phase inthe economic and consumer sentiment cyclewhere we can potentially enjoy a period ofnormality without any more shocks andconcerns. I wish all of our home interiors andfurniture members well over the next few weeksin January, for what is their Christmas.

Looking back on 2019, Retail Excellenceachieved a lot, that said, we cannot rest on ourlaurels. e Board of Directors, LeadershipCouncil, Partner Council and Executive teamhave a very clear plan as to what we need toachieve on your behalf in 2020. Looking back fora moment, for me, the highlight of 2019 was thesuccessful launch of the online retail schemewith Minister Heather Humphreys and thegreat team at Enterprise Ireland. It gave mesome personal pleasure to present the Ministerand the EI team with our retail industryadvocate of the year award. is was presentedon your behalf and I am delighted to see somany members of Retail Excellence succeedwith their applications to Enterprise Ireland.While the grant received is not to be sniffed at,the fact that so many members are nowEnterprise Ireland clients is a real win for themindividually, but is also a very significant win forthe retail industry as a whole.

As profiled in this magazine, the retaildestinations across the globe who are breakingthe mould and enjoying like for like footfall andrevenue gains are those that operate acollaborative turnover based rent agreement.Such agreements ensure that all parties have veryactive interest in the commercial success of thetenant. Westfield Shopping Centres in Stratfordand London, UK are a great case in point. Bothlocations enjoyed significant footfall and revenuegains throughout 2019, all down to having apartnership approach to scheme management. Inthat regard the Board of Retail Excellence haveagreed that we will recommence our popularShopping Centre and Retail Park Reviews in

2020. e Reviews will be published annuallyand will celebrate the best schemes in Ireland.ey will also reference where improvements arerequired. Scheme’s who are implementing acollaborative approach with tenants will scorewell. Schemes which simply collect rent, wont.

I note that the main feature in this edition is theremarkable story of how the senior leadershipteam at An Post have turned the business aroundfrom a precarious financial position to one ofsustainable and substantial profitability. Led byDavid McRedmond, the transition achieved atAn Post can teach us all some clear lessons aboutretail and business generally. Retail is alwayschanging, we need to be willing to adapt and ifwe have a clear and focussed plan and adetermined and agile team, we can all succeed inretail.

Looking to the next few months, we are excitedto start our seventh iteration of the highlysuccessful Retail Management DevelopmentProgramme. It is a simply brilliant programmeand a great way to develop talent in yourorganisation. I look forward to meeting all thesuccessful participants when we presentcertificates to so many brilliant retail managerslater in the year.

Another very important event is the 2020 Retail& Digital Summit on May 19th and 20th inCitywest. I urge you all to take some time out ofyour business, come and learn and network withyour peers.

Recent years have witnessed some challengingtrading conditions primarily caused by Brexitand significant political uncertainty. Now thatthe United Kingdom will commence an orderlyexit from the EU, hopefully the future willdeliver far calmer conditions and I wish you all avery successful 2020.

Yours sincerely,

Joe BarrettChief Operations Officer, Applegreen PLCChairman, Retail Excellence

WELCOMEW


IKEA HITS €200M IN IRISH REVENUES

IKEA has reached the €200million mark inIrish sales after ten years in operation here.e Swedish retailer recorded revenues of€203million for the financial year to 31stAugust 2019. According to Peter Jelkeby,IKEA UK & Ireland County Manager thefuture strategy at IKEA is to put a hold onphysical expansion while it focusses onbecoming more accessible by selling a greaterrange of product online. e €203millionmilestone is a €22million rise in like for likerevenues. IKEA’s Irish online sales grew by86% for the period to €32million or 16% ofoverall revenues.

MINISTER HEATHER HUMPHREYS ANDENTERPRISE IRELAND RECOGNISEDWITH AWARD

Following the launch of the very successfulonline retail scheme to enable Irish retailersto take on the world online, MinisterHeather Humphreys and Enterprise Irelandhave been awarded the Advocate of the Yearaward at the recent AIBMS RetailExcellence Awards. Commenting on theaward Joe Barrett, COO Applegreen PLCand Chairman Retail Excellence said: “Everyyear the Board of Directors at RetailExcellence decide on a retail industryadvocate of the year. It is a person or anentity which the Board deems to have

contributed most to the Irish Retail Industryover the past twelve months. In light of thelaunch of the successful online retail scheme,which saw our members being awarded withclose to €1m in grant supports, the Boardunanimously agreed that Minister HeatherHumphreys and the team at EnterpriseIreland are most deserving winners. I wouldpersonally like to thank the Minister, thesenior team at the Department of Enterpriseand Julie Sinnamon and Stephen Hughes inEnterprise Ireland for all their help andsupport. is initiative will see manymembers internationalise their businessesand our award winners deserve ever credit forthe launch of this innovative scheme.”

MORE PROBLEMS ARISE AT TED BAKER

Ted Baker have recently confirmed that thefashion brands stock levels have beenoverstated by between €23million and€29million. e Ted Baker Board ofDirectors have appointed independentsolicitors and accountants to assess thesituation. Law firm Freshfields BruckhausDeringer plan to undertake a review of thesituation and report their findings back toSharon Baylay, the Ted Baker Head ofMarketing who joined the Board recently.

IKEA Ireland hitting theright notes

Minister Heather Humphreysaccepting her Retail Industry

Advocate of the Year award fromJoe Barrett, COO Applegreen PLCand Chairman Retail Excellence

10 Q1 2020 | RETAIL TIMES

NEAR INSOLVENCY

We are now settling into our conversationand I ask Garry to explain how the businessis trading. “We are trading very well” heexplains. “at said it could have been awhole different story. Back in 2015 DavidMcRedmond was appointed as CEO at AnPost and within days of commencing the rolehe realised that the business had a limitedtime left to run before insolvency hit. Davidnegotiated with Government for a loan of€30m. He clearly had the skillset and a plan

to turn the business around. First hestabilised the finances and then set abouttransforming the company.”

“Put it this way, everyyear it is pretty likelythat €10m will be shavedoff our revenue due todeclining stamp salesand reduced socialwelfare recipients”

As I sit back and listen to Garry speak, I amstruck with the fact that a semi-state of thissize was so close to insolvency. I can recallthe media attention in the day with manycommentators stating that An Post wasunsavable. I have prepared for the interviewand was aware that prior to DavidMcRedmond’s arrival the business waspredicted to lose the State €160m a year forthe foreseeable future. I have also read the2018 An Post financial accounts and notethat the business delivered a €40m profit forthe period. I ask Garry how this remarkable

turnaround was achieved. “To be honest thetransformation is constant. Put it this way,every year it is pretty likely that €10m will beshaved off our revenue due to decliningstamp sales and reduced social welfarerecipients. at creates a real sense of urgencyin the business as each year that lost €10mrevenue needs to be found somewhere else.One of the first things David did was splitthe business into two. One division looksafter Mail and Parcel delivery and the otheris our retail business looking after the 950Post Offices nationwide. e two divisionsrequire very different skillsets. GarrettBridgeman is Managing Director of the An

Post Mail and Parcels division and DebbieByrne is Managing Director of An PostRetail. I report into Debbie and my principlerole working with the team here is to driveretail transformation.”

CONSOLIDATION AND CO-LOCATION

Garry continues to expand on the recovery.“One of the first things the RetailManagement team did was to implementtwo Cs - Consolidation and Co-Location.Consolidation saw over one hundred andfifty post offices close back in 2018. ey hadnaturally come to the end of their licenceagreements and the net effect was that overseventy percent of their business transferredto other post office locations. is gave over300 Post Offices a shot in the arm to helpthem build for the future. e secondstrategy is co-location. is involves movingsome post offices from secondary locations tobetter and busier locations. It is remarkable,but at that time over fifty percent of all postoffices were in standalone locations withlimited footfall and no real opportunity totrade. e primary strategy here is to partnerwith local symbol grocery stores such asMusgraves, BWG or independent outletsand relocate the post offices to these busierand more vibrant locations. ese locationsenjoy better footfall and have repeat andfrequent spending customers. I guess it offersa win-win solution to both parties. We accessmore customers and the local store enjoysenhanced footfall of customers who havemoney in their pockets. Over 1.3mcustomers visit a post office each week andannually these customers transact €14bnacross the Post Office counters. is has anobvious positive impact on spending in theselocal grocery stores.”

NEW STORE FORMAT

I am eager to get into the detail of how theturnaround has been achieved and Garry ishappy to share. “We have implemented afour-pillar approach to retail” he explains.“Pillar one is to extend our product mix intoa broader range of financial services. We havelaunched and extended our offerings inpersonal credit cards, personal loans, currentaccounts, foreign exchange and much more.We are also planning to launch SME loansand we are working to be able to offer ourcustomers mortgages in the future. Since welaunched the new An Post branding inMarch 2019 we have started to change thepublic perception regarding who we are andwhat we do. I guess to be successful infinancial services we knew we had to change

“He realised that thebusiness had a limited timeto run before insolvency hit”

The An Post MoneyDebit Card, one ofmany new financial

services launhed


“Consolidation sawover one hundredand fifty post officesclose back in 2018”

Garry Doyle, An PostNetwork Transformation

Director Retail


the look and feel of our network of stores.us, we have commenced the roll-out of anext generation Post Office. In newer officeswe have removed the counters and thebanded security glass. We have introducedSelf Service Kiosks which allow customers toself-serve their own postage and retailpurchases. We also introduced meetingrooms to allow customers consult with ourteam in a private setting in relation to allaspects of our business but especially ourFinancial Services offerings. e new officesare trading very well and allow our teams toconsult with customers, assisted selling if youlike. We do have a huge store transformationprogramme ahead of us. With over ninehundred locations there will be a fair amountof work involved. at said, we are extremelybullish and I am personally delighted withthe results being achieved in urles andNewbridge, our first two stores trialling thenew format design.”

We pause for a moment and I ask Garry toexplain this new way of selling to theircustomers. “We are a very unique businesswith close to two million customers. One ofthe first things I learned when I joined theorganisation is that An Post has a clearstrategic advantage, we know every single one

of our customers by name. is lends itself toa relationship of trust that is priceless. Inaddition to this we are now seeing peoplewho previously never set foot in a Post Officeenquiring about our new range of services.Previously counters and banded security glassprevented us for forging customerrelationships. at is now all changing andour new ways of selling to customers isworking really well. Refurbished Post Officesare seeing growth in revenue, margin and CXoutcomes.”

eCOMMERCE

I am conscious of time as we are an hour inand we still have to chat through the threeother pillars. I ask Garry to explain thesecond pillar. “Our aim is to be the leadingeCommerce business which is the first choicefor business and consumer customers fortheir deliveries and we have a branchnetwork of over 950 outlets that we canleverage to achieve this aim. Basically, weused to be a bricks and mortar retailer butrealise, like the rest of the retail industry, thatcustomers also want to shop online. us, welaunched a number of eCommerce solutionsto make customers lives easier. An example isthat today a customer will receive an alert on

their phone the day before their delivery isdue and choose to deliver a package to theirhome or a convenient place but also to any ofthe Post Offices or to one of our parcellockers. We have twenty parcel lockers inplace but soon plan to announce a significantlocker rollout plan. In addition, facilitatingcustomer returns to the originating retailer isa big focus area for us. We also have our verysuccessful Address Pal service which allowscustomers to shop abroad and we deliver theitem home for them or to their local PostOffice.”

It is at this point that I have to pose anawkward question. e AddressPal servicehas been a point of significant frustration tomany of our members, who balk at the ideaof a semi-state company actively promotingshopping outside the state. I personally agreewith our members on this point. Anytime Isee the Address Pal service being advertised,I also instantly get frustrated with the idea. Iask Garry if he is comfortable with theservice and the potential negative impact ithas on the Irish retail industry. “I understandpeople’s frustrations and I am a hugesupporter of Irish Retail – we provideemployment for over 3,000 people in ourRetail network - however An Post is a

Postmaster Derek Merrins &Debbie Byrne, Taoiseach LeoVaradkar & David McRedmond


commercial entity and we see the AddressPal service as a natural extension of ourlogistics market offer. If we didn’t do it,someone else would.”

GOVERNMENT SERVICES

We move onto the third pillar oftransformation and this is when I sense anelement of frustration creep into ourconversation. Garry goes on to explain: “AnPost provides many important Governmentservices such as socialwelfare payments, dog andTV licences, collection ofcourt and garda fines andpassport applicationprocessing. We see asignificant opportunity toexpand these services anddo much more. ere is noreason why we cannotcollect motor taxes, processdriver licences and supportID verification. We havebeen pushing successiveGovernments to extendour range of servicesprovided with minimumsuccess. It is frustrating aswith over nine hundredlocations nationwide wecould offer significantconvenience to customersby offering these expandedservices.” I suggest toGarry that his plightwould seem to be very similar to that of ourextensive pharmacy membership who are allvery eager to do more for patient healthcarein the community, but Government are slowto change. He agrees. “We should beleveraging our network of post offices better,but for some reason Government don’t seethe opportunity as we see it.”

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTMy time is close to running out so wequickly move onto the fourth and final pillarof transformation. Garry explains: “I guess

this pillar is one that we are investing mosttime in today. At An Post, my team and I arevery eager to support every Postmaster to bethe very best and derive a fair commercialreturn for their work invested. us, we haveestablished a business development serviceinvolving seven Business DevelopmentManagers and seven Business ExcellenceOfficers. eir job is to support our networkof stores and drive them to be the very best.We have recently launched KPIs for all storesand underpin these with supports and

training so that each location has everychance to be the very best it can be.” Isuggest to Garry that this is where histelecommunication industry skills will comeinto play. “Absolutely, I grew up on KPIs intelecommunications and now the time hascome to apply the same supports in AnPost.”

We are wrapping up our conversation and Iask Garry try and give me some sense ofwhat the future holds for An Post. “It issimple really. Our primary objective is to

build a sustainable post office network. To dothis we will continue to expand our productrange, modernise the network and equip ourpostmasters with the KPIs, capability andsupports they need to grow.”

I suggest to Garry that one of the greatestachievements made by An Post is now thatthe Post Offices are changing and theextensive team at An Post are engaging inmeaningful conversations with 1.3mcustomers every week, surely this issomething to be proud of. Garry pauses: “Yes,while there is a significant migration online,for many of our customers the onlyconversation with a person they might havein any given day is their interaction with anAn Post team member. While we can deploytechnology and launch new services, we cannever forget that retail is all about human tohuman engagement.”I thank Garry for his time and as he leads meto the exit of the GPO we chat aboutmeeting up for a pint sometime soon.

I walk out onto Henry Street and dash overO’Connell Street bridge and up to GraftonStreet, all the time trying to avoid theincessant rain. I meet my wife for a coffeeand she asks, “well, how did it go”. I take asip of my second flat white of the day andpause…. “I think I have just heard thegreatest business turnaround story in thehistory of the Irish State.”

“I think I have just heard thegreatest business turnaroundstory in the history of theIrish State”

An Post Newbridge with Martin HeydonTD and An Posts Debbie Byrne


thenumbers100The pounds sterling spent by a local hardware

store in Wales on their Christmas ad. The adwent viral with hundreds of thousands of views

7.2 The reported percentage increase in UKlike for like November 2019 Black Fridaysales according to Barclaycard

23.7 The millions of euro profit recorded bySupermacs in 2018

3.19The euro amount paid by Irish consumers intax on every bottle of wine bought according

to the latest Irish Wine Market Report

10The millions of euro to beinvested by BWG Foods in the

Londis brand up to 2022

20 The number of years ALDI havesuccessfully traded in the Irish market

FISHERSof newtownmountkennedy


“We wanted to offer lots of differentopportunities to all those who havesupported us over the last 40 years. Wekicked off in style with a party in store, ran aseries of workshops and master-classes,fashion shows and talks alongside a wholehost of promotions.” Explained RebeccaHarrison, the current and third managingdirector of the family business. “We wereoverwhelmed with the turnout at the party. Itwas very much a celebration, withentertainment on the night including somelive local music from the award-winningband Carron, a fashion showcase withglimpses of the current looks, a really excitingfashion retrospective, where we showcasedclothing bought from Fishers over the last 40years – a fantastic insight into fashion trendsbut also the durability in terms of bothquality and style of the pieces.

One of our other highlights on the night forthe guests was the opportunity to go awaywith an illustration of themselves. LindaByrne was on hand to do live illustrationsand capture our guests’ style on the night.” Another highlight was their Wine, Rugbyand Menswear evening where guests wereregaled with stories from Irish rugby legend,Ollie Campbell’s rugby playing days alongwith his insights to the current game, hadtheir taste-buds tingled with wine tastingfrom Peter Crosse and Lynn TempleChairman of Magee, that stalwart of Irishclothing, entertained with an amusing insightinto the world of fabric and fashion. eirother events included a Style Confidence ssential Skincare” Masterclasses and fashionshows.

HISTORY

Founded in 1979, by the three Hughessiblings and partners, Fishers of

Newtownmountkennedy has grown from asmall country-clothing outfitter, to an11,000sq ft boutique department store with awide range of clothing and more on offer.e business is now run by Rebecca Harrisonand Charlotte Errity, daughters of two of theoriginal founders.

eir heritage of country clothing now onlyforms a small part of their product offering.It is a hub of retail activity with a menswearshop, ladies boutique, gifts, homeware andaccessories departments and children’sclothing department. ere are 4 otherbusinesses at Fishers adding to theexperience; a hair salon, bed and beddingstore, artists workshop/gallery, an award-winning café, and a self-catering cottage. Alittle bit of something for everyone. “MyAunt and uncle bought out the otherfounders in the early 1980s and grew thebusiness over the next 20 years, introducingquickly a ladies department and thenexpanding their ranges to include morelifestyle collections.” Shares Rebecca.

ey also expanded the business physically,buying the premises and building on severalextensions. In 2000, Rebecca’s parentsbought the company back and further grewthe business through the Celtic tiger years.Expanding the ranges further to offer evenmore clothing with broad appeal andcreating some fantastic experiences andinitiatives for their customers. Rebeccajoined the company first in 2002.“We had a great period of growth and thenof course hit the recession in 2008, turnoverhalved within 12 months and we had to takeserious action to stay in business, it was avery stressful time, especially with 20 staffmembers livelihoods also on the line. We hadto look at every aspect of the business andcut costs where we could, but also look at theway we did business. ere were 2 keystrategic decisions that made a huge impact,both of which we still do today. e first wasto work more closely with our suppliers andwe attracted several concession brands, givingus the access to stock without needing theupfront capital to do so. e other was toattract other businesses on site – givingcustomers more reasons to visit, us a rentalincome and also allowing us to work togetherand pool marketing resources and runningcosts. Both worked extremely well”

But if there’s one constant in Fishers it is thatof change! “ere is constant evolution here,but I think in retail you have to have that,otherwise you won’t survive. We’re lucky tobe small enough to be able to pivot when

e renowned county Wicklow store, Fishers, sawit’s 40th Anniversary recently and used the occasionto thank its loyal customers, team, suppliers and thecommunity that have supported them in reachingthis milestone. ey hosted a 6-week longprogramme of events and promotions.

Boutique Department StoreCelebrates 40 Years in Business

The dynamothat is RebeccaHarrison


necessary.” Over their forty years Fishers hasmanaged to navigate two recessions, a floodthat engulfed the shop, foot and mouthdisease which meant people did not travel tothe countryside at all and a road bypass ofthe village.

SIZE AND DESIGN THEME

e store is a little tardis-like now, theoriginal building was a one room school-house and housed the first shop in its currentlocation, but various showrooms have beenbuilt on and now you wander from oneopen-plan room to the next, offering naturaldivision between each department.

From the entrance through the listedbuilding, through this multi-roomed spacethere is lots of character, a nod to the countryheritage alongside a bright and airy interioroffering a neutral pallet and perfect backdropto display the clothing. e new LEDlighting offers a brilliant back lit canvas withspotlights to highlight where necessary.

ere’s an eclectic mix of fixtures and fittingswith a good solid Wall grid system that fadesinto the background with accents of antiquetables, some fashion quotes and signage thataids the customer.

e brands they stock are prominent and asyou walk through you can see sections for

each one, our eye catches on Magee, BrookTaverner, Bruhl, Eden Park, Hoggs andColumbia in the menswear department andOlsen, Part Two, Joules, Seasalt, Ireland’s Eyeand Bianca in the ladies.

FOOD AT FISHERS CAFE

All routes in the shop ultimately lead to thecafé, Food at Fishers is a cosy café with amouth-watering display of treats and a menuthat is perfectly pitched for the daytimecustomers it attracts. Everything is made onsite daily and you can tell the quality of thefood is what brings people back again andagain.

“We’ve had a café on site for about 25 years,and it’s really important, both to serve ourcustomers but also to attract people to thestore. We’re pretty much full everyday forlunch and get a good crowd in the morning,after school drop off and with differentgroups meeting. And our afternoon tea isreally gorgeous, as I don’t make it, I’mallowed say that!” Rebecca Harrison openedFood at Fishers six years ago, previously thecafe was leased out. “It was a tough decisionto take on another business but one that was100% correct and thankfully the café hasgone from strength to strength since then,my Mum ran a catering and eventmanagement company previously so Isuppose it was in the blood!”

CUSTOMER LOYALTY PROGRAMME & INSTORE EVENTS

As well as the initiatives mentioned already,Fishers like to learn from best practise inother businesses and has always offered morethan just products. ey’ve had a loyaltyprogramme for 35 years and have found it tobe vital to their success. “We communicatedirectly with our loyal customers and rewardthem so they have also rewarded us withtheir business” Rebecca explains. “Ourprogramme revolves around special instoreevents and promotions throughout the year”.

ey host about 8 instore fashion events eachseason with complimentary refreshments forguests which Rebecca says are a veryimportant part of their sales strategy. eyalso offer extra services like personalshopping, image and style consultations,alterations in store and a special-orderservice.

FISHERS OWN-BRAND

Fishers launched the “Fishers InspiredCollection” of own-brand products for their40th Celebrations, allowing for greatercontrol over margin and input into style andproduction, using their 40 years of experienceto create exactly what their customer islooking for. ey will expand this range overcoming seasons.


ONLINE STORE & DIGITAL MARKETING

Fishers.ie is an area of growth-focus this year.Rebecca is pursuing a strong marketingcampaign in this area, using the online storeto increase sales but also drive in-storefootfall. eir social media and digitalmarketing strategy have already made animpact and she expects this to be a key driverespecially with the opportunities in attractingmore Irish online consumers away from UKsites with Brexit looming.

TOURIST MARKET

Surprisingly Fishers are not currentlystrongly attracting tourists, however this is amarket they fully intend on tapping into in

the next year. With a strong location inWicklow to attract tourists, this is a keystrategy for 2020.

SUSTAINABILITY

Rebecca explains “is is another area I’mreally passionate about. At Fishers we havealways focused on durability and the timelessstyle of our collections – we have neversupported disposable fashion! But we arenow very consciously sourcing our rangeswhere there are good sustainability and eco-credentials – using organic and lessenvironmentally impactful materials,renewable and recycled fabrics etc. We’realso encouraging recycling, upcycling or reuseof clothes, we’ve partnered with SVP’s

Vincents charity shop, offering customers a€10 Fishers Voucher for each sack theydonate in store. And at our Fashion shows,demonstrate how to upcycle your existingwardrobe. We absolutely have to lead theway in making a difference, and ourcustomers really appreciate it”

MORE EXPERIENCES

At Fishers they have always seen theimportance of offering our customers morethan just products. “We feel now that we arehalf retailers, half event managers!” quipsRebecca. “We have a whole host of eventseach season, such as fashion shows, stylistworkshops, make up demos etc. But we feelthese events and educational workshops are acrucial part of our growth and we plan onupping the frequency and variety of topics onoffer.”

Number of Employees: 22Year Established: 1979One sentence to describe the store: Fishersof Newtownmountkennedy is an Award-Winning, Family-Owned BoutiqueDepartment store nestled in the Wicklowcountryside offering customers a day out toenjoy shopping their wide range lifestylecollections, and lunch in their renowned café.Owners: Rebecca Harrison & CharlotteErrity

The impressiveFishers Front

Exterior

Some of the teambehind Fisherssuccess


e most recent IWA (Irish WhiskeyAssociation) report states that Irish WhiskeySales show no signs of slowing down. IrishWhiskey is set to continue to be the fastestgrowing whiskey category in world incoming years. From a base of only 4 workingdistilleries in 2010, over 26 distilleries arenow in operation. is represents positivenews for both Irish tourism and retail.

Irish Whiskey exports are once againflourishing and is predicated to takeoverScotch in the US by 2024. e US is thelargest market for Irish whiskey (43.5% of allsales). However, it is not only the US whichattracts Irish Whiskey sales, growth inAustralia, Canada and Central Europe led byGermany, Russia, Poland, Czech andSlovakia – offer strong prospects for nearterm growth also.

Armed with very persuasive numbers and aserious appetite for risk - the initial conceptfor development of a distillery onPowerscourt Estate was born. Two localentrepreneurs Ashley Gardiner & GerryGinty put together a team in order to buildthe business case for a distillery thatembodied the heritage and style ofPowerscourt Estate.

Recognized as the jewel in Wicklow’s crown,the “Garden” of “e Garden County”,Powerscourt Estate is a timeless place ofhistory and exploration. Welcoming over500,000 tourists a year and enjoying a longheritage of dedication and craftmanship,Powerscourt has become one of Ireland’smost treasured estates – an inspiring locationwhere the extraordinary is possible.

Once planning permission was granted forthe project the Slazenger family, owners ofthe Powerscourt Estate came on board asinvestors, persuaded by industry experienceand belief in the project from the other keyinvestors Mike and Alex Pierce. Havingprevious involvement with Isle of ArranWhisky Distillery in Scotland they knewscalability was key for long term success.

e facility embraces one of the oldestbuildings on the estate, e Mill house, datesback to 1730 and like a time portal oneemerges from the ancient entrance buildinginto a light, bright contemporary 20,000sqDistillery and the modern visitor centrewhich has been thoughtfully designed toseamlessly blend old with new.

e emphasis on the Visitor Centre and thecustomer experience in Powerscourt is key to

the viability of the project. According tomost recent figures nearly 923,000 peoplevisited Ireland’s distilleries and brand homesin 2018 and according to the industry, figuresare targeted to reach 1.9 million visitors by2025, making distilleries among the fastestgrowing visitor attractions in Irish tourism.

In terms of the design and fit out of thedistillery, a very classic/contemporary anglewas taken, so that the distillery, wouldcomplement the existing estate. e fit outwhich was project managed by DDC Shopfit& Design and revolves around the customerexperience, with a large retail area, café, bar,high-end AV lounge and six carefullyappointed individual tasting rooms availablefor private and corporate hire.

Overhauling the 19th century venue to meetthe modern functionality for the Distillery’sproduct, tasting tours and corporate eventsrequired an expertise and delicate projectmanagement working closely with the clientto create a uniquely Irish experience. ewhole space exudes an overall feeling oftimelessness, sophisticated elegance andattention to detail, fitting so seamlessly withthe setting of Powerscourt estate and thealready established whiskey brand ofFercullen Irish Whiskey.

Recognizing that many tourists may wish topurchase whiskey, but maybe precluded fromdoing so because of flight restrictions, theDistillery offers an online facility within theretail section where tourists can purchase andship the whiskey directly anywhere in theworld.

What immediately sets PowerscourtDistillery apart from the many newdistilleries opening on the island is theinfluence of master-distiller Noel Sweeneywho is, one of only two Irish MasterDistillers to ever to have been inducted intothe World Whiskey hall of fame.

e Distillery also process producessignificant amounts of hot water in theproduction process. e opportunity wastaken to harness and redistribute this ‘waste’heat, to heat the Distillery Visitor Centre,using an under floor heating system, thusreducing the costs and CO2 Emissions. eproduction facility is complimented by onsitewarehousing that provides ideal conditionsfor maturation and offers another uniqueaspect to a visit to the Distillery and Visitorcentre.

Powerscourt currently produces four lines ofthe Fercullen brand of whiskey. ‘Fercullen’ isthe anglicized version of ‘Fera Cualann’, theancient Gaelic name for the estate and itssurrounding lands. First off the shelves wastheir Fercullen Premium Blend IrishWhiskey, followed by the Fercullen 10-YearOld Single Grain and the distillery’s flagshipFercullen 14-Year Old Single Malt.Powerscourt will added to their range thisNovember with the premium 18-Year OldFercullen Single Malt.

For more information please visitwww.powerscourtdistillery.com

Stats & Innovations • The Project has seen over 20million euro investment- a 22,000 sq. ft. • Powerscourt Distillery has 26 employees. • First distillation commenced on June 13th 2018, and we have been laying down our own stock for over a year with nearly 3,000 barrels resting in our warehouse currently. • The Distillery Visitor Centre welcomed its first visitors in May of 2019• One sentence to describe the business – “Ireland’s leading premium Whiskey experience”

Master Distiller Noel Sweeney


e Supreme Courtdecision Nano NagleSchool v Daly [2019]arose from thefailure of NanoNagle School toreasonablyaccommodate aparaplegic SpecialNeeds Assistant. e

Claimant in the case (which was initiallybrought before an Equality Officer) hadsustained serious injuries having beeninvolved in a car accident.

e Claimant’s role within the school was toprovide assistance to teachers, but she alsohad a number of non-academic functionssuch as light cleaning duties and assistingchildren with their daily routines. In order toestablish the Claimant’s ability to continuein her role, she was examined by anoccupational therapist on behalf of theschool. A report was compiled whichconfirmed that as a result of her injuries, theClaimant would only be in a position tocarry out 9 of the 16 duties assigned to her.On the basis of that report, the principal ofthe school, without consultation with theClaimant, determined that she could not beaccommodated.

e case was initially heard by an EqualityOfficer, who found in favour of the school.e case was then appealed to the LabourCourt, which held that the school had failedto reasonably accommodate the Plaintiff andawarded her the sum of €40,000. e HighCourt affirmed this decision, but it was

appealed to the Court of Appeal andreserved. e case was then appealed to theSupreme Court to consider Section 16 of theEmployment Equality Act. is sectionstates as follows:-

“a person who has adisability is fullycompetent toundertake…anyduties, if the personwould be so fullycompetent andcapable onreasonable accommodation.”e obligations on an employer to providereasonable accommodation are limited so asnot to impose a disproportionate burden onthe employer. e Court found that theobligation on an employer is to consider allappropriate measures which could beundertaken to provide reasonableaccommodation. When consideringreasonable accommodation that should bemade employers should take real steps toidentify their financial and other costs relatedto such accommodation before determiningwhether or not that accommodation can bemade.

is consideration includes the removal of,or redistribution of, certain duties of theemployee. If this could not be done, theemployer would need to demonstratedisproportionate or unduly burdensomepreventing. e Supreme Court held:-

“the test is one ofreasonableness andproportionality: anemployer cannot beunder a dutyentirely to re-designate or create adifferent job tofacilitate anemployee”

It was found that the steps taken by theemployer to consider all reasonableaccommodations had not been properlyexamined by the Labour Court, and the casewas remitted for that purpose.

For Retail Excellence Membercomplimentary legal advice contactSherwin O’Riordan Solicitors call DavidO’Riordan on 01 212 0451 or [email protected]

reasonableACCOMODATION

for employees with disabilities


WHAT IS ONBRAND? A technology platform to empower yourteam to create on-brand, agency standardmarketing across all touch points from socialmedia to printed collateral. We’re on amission to help retailers with multiplelocations to build and scale their marketingefforts. Similarly to how e-commerceretailers “personalise” their marketing, bricksand mortar retailers need to “localise” theirmarketing or continue to lose ground.

YOU HAVE SPENT 3 YEARS DEVELOPINGONBRAND, WHY? Working in retail for the past 15 years, I haveseen literally thousands of missedopportunities for retailers to build theirbrand and grow their business because thehead office marketing team didn’t have thetools to empower other people in theirbusiness to become self-marketers. ere hasalways been a major challenge ensuringbrand integrity and controlling costs, withOnBrand we remove these obstacles so youcan scale marketing initiatives like neverbefore.

WHAT ARE THE KEY BENEFITS OF YOURTECHNOLOGY? Short lead times and fast to market withcampaigns, big savings on agency andmarketing production costs, incredibleanalytics to measure and improve marketingperformance. OnBrand will become your

virtual brand guardian, we know a strongconsistent brand delivers serious long termvalue to your business.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN 2020? In January, we’re launching with Irelandslargest Hardware & DIY Group. 70 locationsusing our platform to manage everythingfrom their social media campaigns rightdown to their price ticketing. We’re alsoexcited to be opening our London office inQ1 2020 as we expand into the UK marketwith a large furniture retailer.

We will continue to educate retailers that thetraditional head-office ‘push down’ marketingapproach is making way for de-centralisedlocalised marketing campaigns.

WHAT ARE 3 BENEFITS OF YOURSOFTWARE THAT MIGHT SURPRISEPEOPLE? With our platform you can set upand manage your entire marketingsupply chain. One really cool featureis a tool to set up group-wideBuying Windows where youcan consolidate orders. We’reseeing savings of up to 40% onmarketing productioncosts with this featurealone.

Using our platform isenvironmentally-friendly!Now stores can order whatthey need, not what head

office thinks they need. We all know asignificant amount of printed collateral isunused and dumped for most largecampaigns.

You can input your entire stock file – imagesand descriptions – and use this data topopulate your designs. Type the product codeand hey presto!

WHO SHOULD BE USING ONBRAND?Any retailer who wants to empower theirteam to do more at store level. If yourbusiness craves more control, greaterproductivity and reduced costs – you shouldinvestigate our solution.

If you want to find out more, contact Tom Ryan: [email protected]

Tom Ryan The Smart Group

why....OnBrand™

is taking the

RETAILindustrybystorm

BUSINESS PLAN

• Cash is king Stress test your financial forecasts to ensure you have sufficient cash to meet your needs in the event of a debtor default or an unexpected increase in your cost base resulting from the current turmoil.

• Diversification Ensure you have sufficient diversification in your business model to cover a concentration risk in terms of customers, regions and products.

PROTECTION

• Keyman and shareholder insurance Insurance only becomes valuable when and if the event insured against occurs. It is only then that the real value of the premiums is highlighted. ese types of policies are designed to inject cash into the company to help deal with the loss of a key person.

• Backstop / rainy day fund When times are good, put aside a pool of assets that will meet the day-to-day expenses should fortunes change. Segregate this capital from the business to ensure that it is protected in the event of an unforeseen event.

SUCCESSION PLANNING

From a tax perspective there are a few reliefsthat allow the assets to pass to the nextgeneration tax efficiently. Meeting theconditions for these reliefs and avoiding anyRevenue tax avoidance rules requires carefulplanning. Some sensible structures toconsider are:

• Separate investment company Having a separate investment company / partnership can achieve the same outcome as the holding company but from an estate planning perspective, it creates a separate pool of assets. It can also ensure the effective transfer of the business to the next generation as many of the tax reliefs only apply to trading assets.

• Pension e pension structure is an alternative to the above and can bring additional benefits such as tax-free growth, creditor protection for trust-based schemes, and the creation of another pool of assets that can assist with the equalisation of estates for the next generation.

SUMMARYFor time-poor business owners, finding theopportunity to address these issues is oftenthe biggest challenge. By working with yourkey advisers in a coordinated way, you candelegate the production of a personalfinancial plan which overlays a business plan.is strategy should allow you to act as aCEO of your overall wealth and ensure you’llmeet your and your family’s objectives.

Brian Walsh is a Director of FinancialPlanning in Davy Private Clients. He workswith business owners and their advisorsto ensure that any investment strategyis considered in conjunction with anoverall financial plan and isstructured in a tax efficientmanner.

Please note that this article isgeneral in nature and is notintended to constitute tax,financial or legal advice. It does

not take account of your financial situation orinvestment objectives. Davy does not provide tax orlegal advice, nor accept liability for it. Prior tomaking any decision which may have tax, legal orother financial implications, you should seekindependent professional advice. There are risksassociated with putting any financial plan in place.The value of investments may go down as well asup.

Davy Private Clients is a division of J&E Davy.J&E Davy, trading as Davy, is regulated by theCentral Bank of Ireland. Davy is a member ofEuronext Dublin and the London Stock Exchange.In the UK, Davy is authorised by the Central Bankof Ireland and authorised and subject to limitedregulation by the Financial Conduct Authority.Details about the extent of our authorisation andregulation by the Financial Conduct Authority areavailable from us on request.

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With the uncertainty of Brexit, the impact of disruptive technologyand the increase of e-commerce, there are a lot of balls in the airfor retail business owners to consider as we start the New Year. It isa useful time to dig out your business and personal plans to ensurethat you are on track to meet both your long and short-term goalsfor 2020. The following are three tips to help you get started.

new-year ...TIPSPLANNING

...for busy retail owners

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