Special - Brian Wiseman of Present Company RE T A IL


After a below-par Christmas and a long wintry spell Brian Wiseman is refusing to capitulate to negativity. He gives his reasons to be positive ahead of Spring Fair


Brian Wiseman P


rofessor Brian Cox’s wonderful BBC series “Wonders of the Solar System” marvelled at the Earth’s temperature and pressure that enables water


to be found in gas, liquid and solid states. I doubt that Gifts Today readers will be sharing his enthusiasm for the frozen form given the sheer bloody disruption it caused up to Christmas. Mothercare, Next, HMV, Clinton


Cards and time critical internet operators all suff ered in the arctic blast and they’re just the ones we know about at time of writing. I fear that the dreadful dislocation will be terminal for some, especially restaurants, pubs and hotels. Present Company had a bit of a tough Christmas, but once again we are consoling ourselves with the realisation that it all could have been much, much worse. Sales 6.2% down on last year were disappointing rather than disastrous. And if it was our worst like for like sales ever, it was only £140 worse than 2006, which was our previous worst. We saw a diffi cult Christmas coming without the complication of snowfall and we had ordered a wide selection of lines in limited quantities. By December we


30 gifts today


Independent retailers are still the backbone of our industry - the best are beautifully presented, quirky and individual.


were reordering from some of our best suppliers. T e result is that we are not at all over stocked in this new year. We shall be at Spring Fair for the full duration and even if our confi dence is a little bruised we are looking for lots and lots of new ranges and products to freshen up our emporium. “A half price Christmas,” barked the


Sunday Express headline on 28 November last - I am very sceptical indeed about this nonsense. Not only is the Express not my fi rst port of call for authoritative and incisive reporting, but I feel that the whole independent trade is somehow disadvantaged by these bogus cut-price shenanigans. Meanwhile, the news that a record 194,000 punters turned up at Kent’s Bluewater Shopping Mall on 27th Dec would seem to indicate that unprecedented prices of petrol and diesel oil are not yet materially changing shopping habits. We have tried to ensure that


customers will notice little change for the VAT increase, but with so many suppliers raising prices, there is much more than just the VAT element to rise. T e VAT rise is undoubtedly infl ationary and once again I am experiencing that déjà vu feeling from the T atcher era c1979. Small fi rms have a right to feel very hard hit by this government. For every £600 that passes through the nation’s home and gift retailers, £100 is destined for the Exchequer as output VAT. Get your head round that.


I dislike pessimism and positively loathe negativity. And I have no desire to play the role of victim. Determined to bring you a new year message of opportunity, I phoned my friend Isabel Martinson, Chief Executive of the Giftware Association for some encouragement. Here’s our agenda for 2011:


• Support the Spring Fair and its


exhibitors. T ere is no better way of sourcing new products and suppliers. Whenever possible, try to commit to ordering there and then, even if you choose to specify delivery dates later in the


year. T is is hugely helpful to suppliers. • Suppliers, return the favour by trying


a little harder to understand the problems of the smaller retailers. Off ering special deals at Spring Fair is a good way of helping. Are you making it easy for buyers to order at the show? Plenty don’t. • T e suppliers and importers that


invest in new lines clearly consistently outperform those who still believe that the defi nition of a new product is an old design in this year’s colours. Fortunate to be a Gift of the Year judge yet again, I am encouraged not only by the substantial number of entries, but also by the quality and imagination evident in so many designs. For the fi rst time the competition is moving to Spring Fair to announce and exhibit the winners, which is excellent news I reckon.


• Independent retailers; you are


still the backbone of our industry. T e best are beautifully presented, quirky and individual. You provide outlets of excellence. Sadly, there are others who are demoralised, badly run, under stocked and needlessly antagonise would-be customers with very short opening hours, absurd “Don’t touch” notices and perverse minimum credit and debit card spending rules.


• And fi nally, take heed sanctimonious politicians and doom mongering media; you’re not helping. Stop talking down the economy and stop causing needless damage to small businesses, which are being expected to take up the slack from a shrinking public sector. T ere, sermon over. See you at Spring


Fair.


Brian Wiseman has owned home and gift shop Present Company in Burgess Hill, West Sussex for 23 years. Brian’s long- suff ering wife Louise is buyer and her acerbic wit is legendary. Upon hearing of her husband’s diagnosis of diabetes just before Christmas, she declared it to be a serious case of both party pooping and attention seeking. brian_presentco@yahoo.co.uk


Brian Wiseman looks for encouragement


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