( CHN Retailer IN THE SPOTLIGHT ) CHN RETAILER IN
THE SPOTLIGHT This issue CHN’s Clare Tobin chats with Kathryn Jaquet, Director of RB Equestrian
T
rading since 1989, RB Equestrian is a true family business. When Rosslyn,
Kathryn's mother, took a stand on Milton Keynes market no-one could have imagined that 30 years later it would be one of the largest equestrian retailers in the UK.
Kathryn, horses and ponies; how did you start and what are your riding highlights? Like lots of pony mad children, I begged my parents for riding lessons and aſter that there was no going back! The best day was being on the ‘right’ side of William Fox-Pitt in a line up for our rosettes in a show-jumping class – I think I came second and he came third. The fact I was riding my best (only) horse and he was on a youngster is the part of the story I tend to gloss over!
Rosslyn & Kathryn
How did RB start? Almost by mistake really. Rosslyn was asked to cover an acquaintance’s stand on what was the antique/bric a brac market in Milton Keynes. She took some of my old riding stuff with her and got chatting to the market superintendent when she was there. At the time there was a two year waiting list for a stall on the ‘proper’ market but he said he’d find her one almost straightaway if she fancied setting up a stall selling ‘horse stuff’. She went home that night, spoke to my Dad, and decided to give her secretarial job up to become a market trader. That was the easy part. Finding suppliers who would sell to her was a huge challenge, but slowly they came on board and some of those firms we still buy from today.
ou fairly recently refuburbished your shop . It's amazing , and I understand you are offering an on-line service too. What sets you apart from other retailers? Thank you! I think that we’re genuinely interested in the products that we sell and the relationships we have with our customers. A lot of the people who shop with us started when we were on that market stall and we’ve all got old together! We also try really hard to get the balance of products we sell right. It’s
Y
Do you have any other pets? Pippa the lurcher and Sammy the Jack Russell cross.
great to stock lots of the best equestrian brands but we are also looking constantly for things that are new or good value. If we think something we’ve bought isn’t good enough, we won’t recommend it and we won’t buy it again regardless of how ‘exclusive’ the label is! Finally, we do make sure we spend time and money on training and
educating. It’s really important to us that we invest in our team to make sure they can give the best advice to our customers so we spend a lot of time on product education. Safety training is something we’re particularly committed to as a business and we keep over 300 riding hats in stock to try and make sure we can offer the best fitting service possible.
Have you or the business won any awards? Yes we’ve been lucky to win a few. We’ve won the BETA Retailer of the Year award three times and in 2016 I won an Everywoman Women in Retail Award. This was particularly special to me as the equestrian trade is full of hard working and inspirational women; something I think isn’t made enough of.
Who is a "typical" customer for you? There isn’t one. It sounds a bit cheesy but of course all of our customers are unique. There’s no point in offering a ‘one size fits all’ experience – we have to be adaptable and approachable. So whether you’re a non-horsey parent coming to get your child’s first riding hat or you’re an international rider we think we’ve got something to offer everyone.
56 JULY/AUGUST 2019 For the latest news visit
www.centralhorsenews.co.uk
Plans for the summer - will you get away? My mother-in-law bought a house in France a few years ago and we’re lucky enough to be able to go there every summer with all the family. My husband and I have a seemingly endless stream of nieces and nephews though - so it’s always great fun but it’s not very restful!
For further information
www.rbequestrian.co.uk Unit 7 Lower Rectory F
Y our staff are all dedicated equestrians, the levels of service you offer are
well known. How do you and the team keep motivated and ahead of the game? I think we do work well as a team and we try hard to make sure that every team member has a chance to develop their skills. It’s amazing the things you discover people can do when they’re given the opportunity. Some days it can be incredibly busy with customers and it’s lovely to
work in an environment where you feel like the people working with you are happy to help you out. And of course sometimes we don’t feel that motivated, but that’s when you can guarantee Rosslyn will pop up with some cakes or biscuits – the perfect way to perk everyone up!
Finally Kathryn, what are your plans for the future of the business? We’ve got a few things in the pipeline. Our own Gubblecote giſtware range has been a great success and we’re just waiting for our second batch of greetings card designs to arrive. Over the next twelve months we expect this brand to develop quickly and we’ve got some fabulous new things planned for it. We’ve also just been granted planning permission to put in a coffee shop at the RB Equestrian site.
It’s early days because we want to make sure
we get it absolutely right, but watch this space! We’re slightly apprehensive as we know that people can be as discerning about their coffee as they are about their horses. We’ve got a long time of planning ahead of us but it’s something we’re already getting quite excited about…
Favourite famous horse? Milton – probably the reason I willingly had two greys in succession even though the first one was the messiest thing in the world.
Hobbies outside the four legged kind? Skiing is the thing I really love . Unfortunately it’s not the cheapest or most convenient thing to do but if I ever get the chance (or win the lottery) I would love to spend the whole winter in the mountains.
arm, Mill Lane, Great Brickhill, Milton Keynes MK17 9AF · 01908 365335
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