This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
AGENT PROVOCATEUR


The Times They Are A-Changin


O


n a recent business trip to a European destination with Ryanair (no expense spared eh?), I got chatting to a couple of guys from the food industry. It turns out that they had just been bought out by the Americans and were just about to present their 5 year plan


for the company going forward. They are based in the UK and have several factories dotted around the country, and from what I could tell were a little apprehensive about the following days meeting. It seems that the new American owners were a lot bigger than them


and they were more than a little concerned about what would happen to the work force and the manufacturing plants based over here - sounds familiar doesn’t it? It took me back to the days of BSC (British Shoe Corporation for those of you without grey hair) and the like when they started to break up UK manufacturing and move it abroad, but with one main subtle difference, as they are in the food industry, manufacturing has to be done around the area of consumption otherwise the food will go off by the time it is packed and arrives in the shops. So we talked about the similarities of the shoe industry against the


food industry and apart from the ‘time to market’ differences, the rest of our conversation was very similar. It turns out that this particular manufacturer is doing particularly well in the current climate because they tend to specialize in “T.V. dinners” and alike, so they put this success down to the fact that a lot of consumers are not going out, but spending more time indoors entertaining themselves. The fact is if you go out for dinner in a restaurant, dinner plus taxi plus baby-sitter plus wine is in excess of £100 for two, but if you stay in, dinner (from a well know supermarket including wine) plus a DVD = £30, a saving of £70 - just enough money for the lady of the house to treat herself to a new pair of shoes!! Joking apart if this is happening across the country and I think it is, then no wonder our restaurant trade is really suffering. I have a friend (regular readers will realize that surprisingly I have more than one friend), who works for a large famous brewers (lucky bloke) and he says that pub trade is down by silly % and the home market (sales of beer through supermarkets to be consumed in the home) is up the same amount. Consumption has hardly changed but where you buy has. Oh boy our government really needs to do something fast, because if they don’t our high streets will be empty both day and night, supermarkets will call the shots (what happened to the Monopolies Commission?), unemployment and suicide will rocket, and the benefit system is struggling to cope as it is. To think the collapse of the country could be due to TV dinners and the new era of communications via the web…scary. So, getting back to my acquaintances on the plane, it seems that they


are doing very well which is obviously why the Americans bought them, and as long as they specialize and change with the times and prepared to change very quickly when needed, this seems to be the order of the day. Multi-nationals are just like our best football teams – full of foreigners, owned by foreigners and one or two ‘fat cats’ get fatter at the cost of the country. Can this really be said of the footwear industry? Sadly yes it can. On the manufacturing side those who specialize are successful and those that move with the times and change accordingly will no doubt do well. If only independent retailers


14 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • AUGUST 2011


would realise they may be small but the principles and rules stay the same. Instead of hiding their heads and relying on past success they need to keep it fresh. Accepting change and adapting to it is vital. Moaning doesn’t help, but being proactive does! It is the key to success in this very fast world we live in today. So back to Ryanair, if you’ve travelled with them recently you will


know that they offer bucket price flights, but still generate as much revenue as possible from each and every passenger in other diverse ways. Priority boarding is a great money-spinner, it means nothing as at £5 each everyone buys it, but you still get the same seats depending on how fast you run! If you are only 1kg over your 10kg hand luggage allowance there is an extra £40 on the spot charge. My wife being


Multi-nationals are just like our best football teams – full of foreigners, owned by foreigners and one or two ‘fat cats’ get fatter at the cost of the country. Can this really be said of the footwear industry? Sadly yes it can. On the manufacturing side those who specialize are successful and those that move with the times and change accordingly will no doubt do well.


extremely thrifty did toy with the idea of emptying her case and wearing it all just to bring back a bottle of drink, but when I pointed out that the saving was merely £2, that she would be uncomfortable for several hours, as well as looking like a loony and still run the risk of being fined £40, the duty free stayed on the shelf. It doesn’t stop there though. Once you are on the plane you are trapped. Not only are they selling scratch cards, hot food, cold food, perfumes’, train tickets, car hire etc., they even try to charge for toilet facilities. One thing is for certain, the staff are having to work harder as the stewards and stewardesses rush up and down the aisle continually trying to prise money from our pockets….can the same be said of your staff? If not, why not? You only have yourself to blame. It is obviously time to think up ways of making the public shop instore and buy more from you. You could charge them to sit on your furniture, measure their feet, charge for the box/bag the shoes come in, your heat and light, perhaps even wear and tear on the carpet? There are even little fish you could employ to chew the yucky bits off their heels before they are allowed to try anything on! However unlike Ryanair you cannot lock the doors and hold everyone at 30,000 feet, so If you find a solution please share….


www.footweartoday.co.uk


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80