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TALKING BUSINESS ‘Customer


service will be incredibly


important for high street shops to differentiate from online shopping’


The centre has created more jobs every year, with 38% more people employed in Drake Circus in 2016 than in 2012. Seventy-one per cent of these people live within a PL postcode, demonstrating our commitment to employing local people. We work closely with Plymouth College of Art on a


variety of projects from pop up shops in empty units to fashion show collaborations. Developing the skills of young people is important and we’re pleased to run a young readers programme for school children. Alongside this we also run an annual jobs fair for retailers across the city and work with the Princes Trust to introduce more young people to careers in retail, with a scheme that provides a route to a guaranteed interview for young people. Is there a secret to the centre’s success? We carry out research twice a year to identify what


brands our shoppers are attracted to. This research has shown us in the past that there has been an appetite for brands that we’ve attracted to the centre, such as Joules and Cath Kidston. We use our research and insights to help us better understand our customers to help us further drive Drake Circus’s shopping offer.


What’s next for Drake Circus? We’re very excited about the future and see a lot of growth potential in Plymouth. The Drake Leisure development at Bretonside is very exciting for the city, and as a shopping centre Drake Circus has lots of brands still to attract. We’ve had a really successful first ten years and expect


this to continue into the future. There’s a strong demand for the centre and it’s important that we continue to strive to deliver good service to differentiate our offer from online shopping.


What do you view as the future of retail? Customer service will be incredibly important for high street shops to differentiate from online shopping. The whole Drake Circus team has been through World Host training to enable us to consistently offer strong customer service to our shoppers. There is a need to recognise the importance of this and do it well to ensure that visitors return. Retail is very much about engagement and engaging


with teams, shoppers and communities. Online was a big market, but we’re now seeing the rise in popularity of click and collect services, which are driving shoppers from online into stores. It’s important to recognise the importance of both and for retail brands to harness this as an opportunity.


November/December 2016 Chamber Profile 23


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