REVIEW Robert Hughes


The retailer panel, led by ERT’s Jack Cheeseman 18


‘Retailers have to future-proof themselves and prepare for change’


The Turning Point Live Conference wouldn’t be complete without a panel of electrical retailers! This year, Darrin Christan, Director of Coopers, Ben Gilks, MD of NE Appliances, and Robert Hughes, Chairman of Hughes Electrical, joined up to discuss the big changes they have made during the pandemic to future-proof their businesses.


same with Fisher & Paykel. Mr Christan began by explaining his vision: “It’s about creating a true


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destination where the customer can value what you offer; it’s not just about the appliance, but what you can offer around that appliance, so after-sales service, demonstrations and the tactile touch and feel. We are aiming to have every appliance in our store live or in demo mode to help with this. “When I bought the business in 2019 I could see that retail was changing.


And working with Smeg has been fantastic and an amazing springboard! Sales are up significantly but more importantly, so is profitability.” Over in Bristol, during lockdown Ben Gilks completely rebranded his


business from Nailsea Electrical and opened a new store as NE Appliances. After initially having the idea a few years ago it was actually COVID that pushed him into activating his plan… He said: “I was sat in my shop and I thought ‘I don’t want to be sat


on the phone forever, how am I going to get out of this situation?’” Mr Gilks built a new website and then in May last year opened an


impressive, brand new 15,000sq ft showroom with around 1,200 appliances on display. “The new premises is more focused towards our growth,” Mr Gilks


explained. “We have staff that are dedicated to the shop floor and everything has its own zone; it all works much slicker than before.” He also talked about the building project at the store, which took


around six weeks during the third lockdown early last year. “We had our setbacks,” Mr Gilks admitted, “and having to socially


distance on site was extremely difficult, but we made it work and what we’ve done I feel is a huge achievement.” He added that he wants to reinject kitchen sales back into his business as well with a new kitchen showroom.


arrin Christan from Coopers in Bath is working with key brand partners to bring his appliances to life and create a memorable shopping experience. He has already set up a sizeable shop-in-shop with Smeg and is now doing the


A cold feeling of dread! Robert Hughes is Chairman of Hughes Electrical, the 100-year-old independent retail chain based in the South East. At the Conference, Mr Hughes spoke about how the pandemic affected his business and whether its size offered any protection during such tricky times. “Reflecting on that moment back in March 2020 when all retail was


forced to close,” he began, “it was such a cold feeling of dread! I think we all knew we were in for a bumpy ride. But thankfully it has actually been a bit of a boom time for home electricals! “The main issue for most of us now is how to maintain that, because it’s


put a huge amount of pressure on our supply chain and delivery channels.” Hughes Electrical is made up of four key pillars – its store network,


online, rental contracts and its trade division. Mr Hughes said that during 2020 and 2021 while some of these parts suffered, the company was propped up and supported by strong business in the other parts – particularly on the online side. He said that sadly the size of the business was no protection during


the pandemic, with so many overheads and its valued workforce to consider. He added that he was just as concerned as everyone else – independents with one or two shops, as well as the multiples. Hughes has continued to invest


heavily on its retail side, with COVID pushing forward the introduction of the ‘Shop Live’ format, which is the one-way live video chat facility (pictured) for customers shopping on the website. They can speak to a store advisor and view products and experience demonstrations from the comfort of their own home.


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