Andy Hall – What’s New?
Andy Hall – Whats New? We’re celebrating our 20th birthday in business. It’s been 5 years since the last “about me” with Andy Hall, our now Procurement Director. We thought it was about time to catch up with those that have changed roles and mixed up their lifestyles! Where are you now“Well with this year being my 20th year with the company I have moved away from the Account manager role within the business and now deal directly with our suppliers to assure we have steady flow of materials which are delivered on time to complete our orders and are supplied at the right price. I am also responsible for FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) which makes sure that the timber products coming into the company originate from well-managed forests, controlled sources, or reclaimed materials.” What do you do in your spare time?“Well my family is really important to me and with two young daughters I seem to spend the week as a Chauffeur to and from a number of sport clubs.I do however get to play golf on Saturday mornings and still have time to play 5 aside football once a week”. If you could give any advice to anybody who’s starting work at the age you did, what would it be?Always remember the following…“Early is On Time, On time is late, And late is Unacceptable!” This or that:1. Cars or Motorbikes2. Films or Music3. Talking pets or talking babies4. Funny story or one-liner5. Silly hats or silly socks6. Loud neighbours or nosey neighbours7. City or countryside8. Letter or email9. Watching sports or playing sports10. Art museum or history museum What’s your favourite childhood board game?“Subbuteo (not a board game I know but never had the patience for Monopoly or Scrabble)” What would you do with your 15 minutes of fame?“Probably waste it and then go back to being normal!” If you could tour with any band, which band would you choose?“Guns & Roses I can just imagine the madness that went on in the late 80’s early 90’s” Thanks for the catch up Andy – see you in the next 5 years! Read about another team member, Scott Sanders by clicking this link
2021 Annual Social Media Round Up
2021 Annual Social Media Round Up As we come to the end of 2021, we can’t help but look back over the past year and notice how much Retail Furniture’s social media presence has grown. We have seen a significant increase in brand recognition across our social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It’s important to us that our company’s reputation presents a high standard at all times whether that be online, onsite or customer interaction. We have gained a whopping 1132 new followers on our LinkedIn page within the past year, which is outstanding considering our monthly gain was only 16 per month back in 2020 and it’s now averaged at 145. With the correct market research and advertising structure we aim to target hundreds more reputable companies within the following sectors: retail, health, rail, education, construction, leisure, finance and commercial in 2022. It is important that we continue to assess key trends within these sectors to anticipate how the market may change throughout the year, this will help our company online strategy thrive. We’re incredibly fortunate that we have jobs pending for January and February 2022, without the continuous support and trust from our customers we wouldn’t have been able to look into the next year. However, this past year has changed people’s mind-sets which could still have a detrimental effect on incoming custom. So, what’s worked for Retail Furniture in 2021? Images of our team manufacturing in the factory Videos of our machinery in actionClose up shots Video walk aroundsTeam introductions – who’s behind the “email” By having a continuous presence on social media it has opened up new opportunities and discussions we may not have had before. What’s new for 2022? Retail Furniture Ltd as we will be celebrating our 20th anniversarySupport more charities through holding various fundraising activitiesExhibiting at Rolling Stock Network show – our first time exhibiting for the rail industryVisiting sites and meeting new customers Different ways to contact us You can find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, so get social with us! Visit our contact us page for more details Direct messaging via website/social media We’re looking forward to a bright 2022 at Retail Furniture Ltd!
Meet the team: Maddie Hodge, Digital Marketing Executive
Meet the team: Maddie Hodge, Digital Marketing Executive Meet the team: Maddie Hodge, Digital Marketing Executive Hi. I’m the one usually behind the “meet the team” profiles, however, this time the tables have turned and the questioning is now on me! I thought this would be the perfect way to celebrate my 1 year anniversary working at Retail Furniture and what a year it has been! I have spent the last 10 years working in Marketing departments across multiple sectors such as Education, Medical (Emergency Services, Pre Hospital), Retail (B2C) and now Manufacturing. I have enjoyed gaining experience in managing seasonal retail campaigns, magazine/newspaper print deadlines, events and various digital elements such as interactive billboards, SMS content creative, email campaigns, radio and B2B website banner advertising. A lot of those heavily involved large data spreadsheets, both internal or externally sourced always making sure the data was GDPR compliant. I count myself incredibly lucky that I secured a job in 2020. It has been such a challenging time due to the global pandemic. In July 2020, I was made redundant due to the demise of my previous employment from the pressures of COVID-19. Although it wasn’t great at the time, the grass was greener the other side. Fast forward to my time at Retail Furniture where I’m their first internal Marketing representative. Learning how to market a manufacturing company is different to what I have done before but I am thoroughly enjoying it. Now, it’s time for some quick fire round questions! What’s your least favourite chore around the house? “Cleaning the top row of tiles in the shower – I can’t reach!” If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be? “A roast dinner, including beef, roast potatoes, my moms homemade cauliflower cheese, all vegetable’s, Yorkshire puddings, gravy and lots of apple and mint sauce” In primary school, what did you want to be when you grew up? “Forensic scientist or a housing interior designer. Two very different things both influenced slightly by my love for either The Bill on a Saturday night or visits with my parents to new build showrooms, a “fun” idea for a Saturday Which 5 people would you like at your dinner table? Matthew McConaughey Dick Strawbridge Alan Rickman David Jason Dawn French Thank you for meeting our team member – Me, Maddie Hodge!
Talking All Things Rail 2021
Talking All Things Rail 2021 Networking With The Best On Thursday 30th September 2021 Heather Forster and Maddie Hodge represented Retail Furniture at the Rolling Stock Networking show in Derby. With over 150 exhibitors and 1583 attendee’s, the event was deemed a great success! The global pandemic caused many events around the world to be cancelled or postponed restricting the opportunity to network with existing and potential new customers. Now that these events are up and running again it gives companies the chance to promote corporate branding and new products. Here we are deep in conversation with the team at Alfatronix Ltd about their AL1-H wireless charger and other rail approved charging devices. Rolling Stock Networking image with Martyn and Sebastian from Alfatronix Ltd – 2021 (RSN website) By attending the event Heather, our Project Development Manager, was able to network with relevant rail professionals to determine the best resources for our ongoing rail projects back at HQ. Heather happily shared – “It was great to see the event so busy again and to have the opportunity to catch up with people who I haven’t seen in such a long time. One of my main aims at the event was to find ways of incorporating customers latest technologies within our product range. I came away from the show excited to continue the development of our rail projects at Retail Furniture”. Since Heather’s arrival at Retail Furniture we are now members of the RFM – Rail Forum Midlands, a national industry body with strong regional connection within the rail sector. RFM offer unprecedented access to the “right people” both customers and other SME’s through an extremely well organised and varied networking and events programme. Heather feels passionately about being a RFM team member “The RFM team collectively have an invaluable insight in to the needs of the Rail Sector for both current and future requirements and are a valuable source of information from supplier engagement activities to access to regional and national funding for R&D work”.
Macmillan Cancer Support fundraising
Macmillan Cancer Support Fundraising Macmillan. Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning At Retail Furniture we to took part in the Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning on Friday 24th September 2021 fundraising for Macmillan. We wanted to raise as much money as possible for the fantastic charity as it helps fund all of their work, helps everyone from their nurses to their financial advisors providing the best care for people living with cancer. Now that the rules have lifted we decided it was perfect timing to hold a Bake Sale and play “Retail Furniture Bake Off”. We still maintained a level of caution – nobody licked the spoon! 5 staff members took part in baking a variety of cupcakes and cakes ready for Friday morning. Delicious treats from Victoria sponges, lemon meringues, chocolate cake and our very own branded Retail Furniture sponge! The competition was hard and they all did brilliantly, however, there could only be one winner! Well done to Luke Elmer, our Workshop Manager who won with his dark chocolate cake with taste, texture and overall look! After a successful day of fundraising £262 was raised for Macmillan! We’re so happy that everybody got involved from baking, buying and eating. It was a great company success and we’re looking forward to the next one. To continue raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support visit this link – https://www.macmillan.org.uk/
Meet the team: Paul Downey, Warehouse Operative
Meet the team: Paul Downey, Warehouse Operative Meet the team: Paul Downey, Warehouse Operative at Retail Furniture. Paul was born and raised in Manchester, until he moved to Telford 8 years ago. He started out working part time front of stage for all the concerts at Manchester Evening Arena. Quite the experience! Paul has seen some fantastic live musicians, sport matches and performance shows during his time working at MEN – especially Kylie Minogue! After working part time, Paul worked as a Stock Controller at the Cookie Coach Company. However, the company was bought out meaning that a job search was on the cards or relocation. He chose to move to Coventry where he was made Warehouse/Stock Buyer. Continue to read below to find out more about our team member, Paul Downey! Paul has been a valuable asset to our Retail Furniture team for over 7 years! His hard work and determination does not go unnoticed. When he first started he worked in the Machine Shop, running the Edge Bander and Bonding Machine. Ensuring all client jobs were running smoothly and on time. Since then, he moved onto Warehouse Driving – a skill which is a lot harder than it seems! Outside of work, Paul enjoys exploring England with his wife. Enjoying coastal walks and browsing around the local tourist sites. Once the pandemic is over and travelling becomes easier, Paul can’t wait to jet off to somewhere hot – mainly to top up his tan! Bring it on! Now, it’s time for some quick fire round questions! If you could be in any movie, what would it be and what character would you play? “John McClane, Bruce Willis in Die Hard, he plays such a lovable character, I just love watching any Die Hard films” You have your own late-night talk show, who do you invite as your first guest and what would you like to know about them? “Piers Morgan. I would like to know if he gets a kick about getting under people’s skin…” Which 5 people would you like at your dinner table? “Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Jeremy Clarkson, Samuel L Jackson, James Corden” Every guest has something unique about them! Thank you for meeting our team member – Paul Downey!
Meet the team: Jon Nock, Sales Manager
Meet the team: Jon Nock, Sales Manager Meet the team: Jon Nock, Sales Manager at Retail Furniture. Our 10th, lucky team member put under the spotlight this month is Jon Nock, our Sales Manager. Jon has worked in the flooring trade since leaving school at the age of 16 where he started in carpet manufacturing, working his way up to sales and management. Prior to Jons employment at Retail Furniture 8 years ago, he was working for a point of sale display company. His transferrable skills came in very useful upon applying for a Sales job position at RF. Especially as Retail Furniture specialise in point of sale bespoke furniture. It was obvious that Jon was definitely the right candidate for the job! When Jon isn’t being the office joker and making people laugh – he loves spending time outdoors shooting, training and working his Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. Continue to read below to find out more about our team member, Jon Nock! If you had a time machine, would you go into the past or visit the future? “Past – back to the ice age, I am not a sun lover!” Alive or dead – which 5 people would you have round for dinner? George Mallory (so that I could ask him the question most mountaineers want to know!)Sir Ranulph FiennesJonny WilkinsonRachael RileyOzzy Osbourne What’s the best advice you’ve ever heard? “Don’t believe everything you read in the newspapers!” Reveal something that people don’t know about you… “I have done a bungy jump over the Kawarau river in New Zealand, I have been to Everest base camp & climbed mountains in Europe, Asia & South America. The highest one to date being Illimani in Bolivia at 6,438m (21,122 ft)” Jon really isn’t afraid of adventure! He’s our Retail Furniture adrenalin enthusiast! Thank you for meeting our team member – Jon Nock!
Independent Convenience Store Transformation
Independent Convenience Store Transformation During the past 6 months Retail Furniture have been working on an exciting, independent convenience store transformation. When working on either small or large projects we always monitor our clients jobs in-house with extreme attention to detail from start to finish. Our fantastic, highly skilled joinery team have worked solidly on manufacturing the convenience store furniture to ensure that this large, specialised project was complete within the clients transformation time frame. Prior to the official opening of The Barnes Pantry on Saturday 8th May 2021, Alex Yorke, the designated account manager for this specific job and Maddie Hodge in Marketing took a visit to the store, Barnes – London. It’s always important for us to build strong relationships with our clients and provide continuous support throughout the project, from start to finish. We really wanted to document the journey process with The Barnes Pantry and ask them questions based on the relationship formed with Retail Furniture. We met with Preeti, a member of The Barnes Pantry and asked her a few questions! See below for the inside scoop! Introduction I’m Preeti, one of the members of the family in this family run business. I do everything back office related and my brother, Sonny, runs the show at the shop front. I left my corporate job 2 years ago to join the business and project manage this refit & rebrand. The project has been a bit of everything, from working with a designer to determine our brand to going to a timber barn to choose what wood we wanted and exactly how we wanted our furniture to be made! How did you come to work with Retail Furniture? And how long have you been in connection with our Account Manager – Alex Yorke I came to working with Retail Furniture through our fitting company, Jordan’s. Mike, our refit manager at Jordan’s, introduced me to Alex at Retail Furniture. I’ve been working directly with Alex for over 3 months now. I couldn’t recommend Mike & Alex enough! They have both been AMAZING at making our vision become a reality! What made you choose reclaimed timber as your statement furniture look? We picked reclaimed timber for a number of reasons. Firstly, sustainability, the wood that Encore Reclamation supplies is taken from churches, scaffolding companies, floorboards, roof boards! So basically we are recycling / upcycling used wood. The wood we used in our shop is a mix of old scaffolding boards and Canadian pine roof boards. Secondly, when Mike showed us photos of finished MDF, it just wasn’t working for us. He suggested reclaimed timber and when we went to the timber barn we were blown away. There are not many convenience stores that use raw timber but we thought that there was something so raw, earthy and beautiful about it. 3 words to describe your store Unique (not your average convenience store in look & product range), Welcoming & Committed How have you found the overall process working with Retail Furniture? We have found the entire process of working with Retail Furniture an absolute joy! Alex our contact has been amazing at keeping us in the loop with each stage of the process and engaging us for our opinions where they were required. We even went to their warehouse and saw some of our furniture being made. This was an awesome experience. Overall we are extremely happy with the service from Retail Furniture and we definitely will be using them for our next project! We are proud to have now added The Barnes Pantry to our Client page! – check out the other large brands we have worked with over the years.
Meet the team: Mark Masters, Production Manager
Meet the team: Mark Masters, Production Manager Meet the team – Mark Masters, Production Manager We’re focusing our attention and meeting another team member Mark Masters, our brilliant team Production Manager. After only being asked to help out for a few months, Mark has worked at Retail Furniture now for 17 years! His dedication and hard work ethos paid off as he is now the manager to 30 staff members in the factory and production office. After digging a little deeper we learnt that his employment journey has gone full circle but his background hasn’t always been in manufacturing… Kick starting his career as an Apprentice Joiner at a local manufacturing company in Telford, Mark also took on the role of PU Supervisor. He then went on to work as a Lab Technician, swiftly followed by becoming a licensee holder of a local Pub. At which point he was scouted by our Managing Director to come and help out at Retail Furniture. The rest is history! Besides being at work Mark enjoys going to the gym, watching the latest movies, going to nice restaurants but most importantly spending time with family and friends. Moving swiftly on, we asked Mark some quick-fire round questions – see below for some revealing answers! Who inspires you and why? “My parents had a great work ethic and did whatever they had to do to provide for the family. This gives me the drive to do the same for my family. Most importantly my eldest son has Dyspraxia so when he went to school it was hard for all of us. Watching him do his best and improve in motor skills that aren’t natural to him but are to others is very inspiring” If you had a time machine, would you go into the past or fast forward into the future? “I’d travel into the past however; I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to place a few bets on sporting events in the future!” What’s one thing most people don’t know about you? “Believe it or not, I’m actually a happy person” Alive or dead – which 5 people would you have round for dinner? Kurt Cobain Alan Shearer David Haye Liam Gallagher Marilyn Monroe
Marie Curie – The Great Daffodil Appeal
Marie Curie – The Great Daffodil Appeal Marie Curie. The Great Daffodil Appeal Throughout March, we have supported the charity Marie Curie. We have raised money by participating in Marie Curie, The Great Daffodil Appeal 2021. Marie Curie is the UK’s leading end of life charity from patient’s diagnosis to their very last day. Over the past 18 months donations and raising awareness via The Great Daffodil appeal has meant more to Marie Curie than ever before. The nurses have been front line of the Covid-19 pandemic providing phenomenal care for those suffering but also supporting loved ones. Retail Furniture In total we have raised £185 for Marie Curie using Just Giving. It would have been great to raise funds outside of the work place, joining in on local activities whilst also setting personal achievements, such as marathon running, swimming galas etc. ActivitiesWe’re still working from the office and factory (following safe Covid-19 measures). We did a “Swear Jar” which was a huge hit. Call it controversial but the jar actually came into great use, it bought a distraction away from conversation topics in the office. Nevertheless, it’s safe to say the jar was not missed! One of the ones thought to be fun was a Bake Off/Cake Sale. Staff would put themselves forward to anonymously bake a cake of their choice. Bakes would then be presented to chosen judges and the winner would receive a prize. Due to hygiene restrictions we have postponed this until later on in the year with donations still being made to Marie Curie. In March we also proudly displayed the Marie Curie sign beside the company logo on the outside of the building, showing our appreciation and support. Future EventThe Bake Sale will take place in Summer 2021. Stay tuned as Retail Furniture will feature the outcome on social media!
