The Children’s Society has changed the culture of its retail operation and is turning nearly 30 per cent more profit than five years ago. Lynne McMahon explains how change was achieved.
Charity retail has changed dramatically over the past 20 years. Long gone are the trestle tables to display the merchandise, biscuit tins for tills and old Christmas cards cut up and used as price tags.
There are more than 6,000 charity shops in the UK today, turning over £762m. Some charities have just one shop and others can have as many as 500.
Our retail chain at the Children’s Society will soon be trading in 100 locations across England and we have been operating for over 50 years, so you could say we are getting the hang of it.
When I arrived in 2009 as a six-month project manager to oversee the retail changes, the team were feeling slightly bruised having been through a restructure and not sure of the direction we would be going in.
One thing was very evident – the team were determined and passionate about the shops and wanted the best for the business.
Back then, our chain consisted of 93 shops and less than half of these had a paid manager. Most were run by teams of volunteers.
It was also evident that, like a lot of other charities, there had been little investment in the properties and there was an interesting mixture of shop fittings and indeed fascias.
This is very important, as a charity shop is sometimes the only thing the public sees of the brand with the name and logo displayed. So it was important to make sure we had a level of consistency across the portfolio.
Brand consistency
If we could get this right it could lead to a cash donation or interest in our campaigning activities so being on-brand and on-message was important and one of the first big changes.
Additionally, many of our shops weren't open at the same trading hours as other shops in the area and many were closed on days that there was no cover. It was estimated we were losing £350,000 in income per year through lost trading hours.
Unfortunately in some cases this has led to us having to close a shop. There is always sadness and some anger when it has been decided a shop will close but when all attempts to turn it around have failed we need to pull out.
Five years on, all our shops are fitted out to a preferred standard, all fascias are the same, loss-making shops are closed down as quickly as possible and in the last year we have opened 18 new shops.
Income and profits up
Income has increased over the years and is on an upward trajectory bringing in much-needed funds to support our work with disadvantaged children. The profit, which has slowed down recently, is nearly 29 per cent more than in 2009.
And our shops have been important in terms of increasing brand recognition and support from the public. Recently 15,000 customers signed the petition for our Fair and Square campaign calling for children living in poverty to receive a free school meal.
Of course, these big changes have not been without their challenges. Many proposals for extra funding have quite rightly been scrutinised for their return on investment and this has required a change in the mindset and culture of over 2,500 volunteers and staff.
It’s important to remember that charity shops are crucial to not only raising funds but representing the cause and engaging support – this may have caused controversy in the past with some of our more edgy window displays.
I am so very lucky to be part of a growing, dynamic department which has used all of its skills, resources and energy to take its place on the high street and win over the hearts of the public and everyone who works for the Children’s Society.
Lynne McMahon is director of retail and trading at the Children's Society
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