Main Conference Points
Listed below are the bullet points from each guest speaker’s presentation. If you have any questions or queries regarding any of the points raised at the conference that did not get answered during the day, please address them to your Area Sales Manager for follow up.
Peter Lucas – Chairman and Chief Executive
- Total BMB Group sales in 2006 / 7 - £91.3 m
- Total BMB Budgeted sales in 2007 / 8 - £92.8 m which does not include new developments.
- Total Overseas Sales in 2006 / 7, without closed stores, $7,623
- Total Overseas Target in 2007 / 8 - $7,751
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Our DNA
- Why are we here ?? - The BMB Group is one of the UK’s largest and most diverse menswear companies operating at most levels of the market.
- The core company activity is in retail, specifically as a concessionaire but also through it’s own stores.
- BMB is also one of the biggest wholesalers in Britain with a national network of showrooms and sales teams.
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Shareholder’s Objectives
- Through organic growth and acquisition to develop the BMB Group into a leading wholesaler and retailer of menswear branded products in the UK and Overseas.
- The retail division should be targeted to produce a 5% return on tax exclusive sales pre-tax and the wholesale division a 10% return on tax exclusive sales pre-tax.
- The retail division should be regarded as a brand builder within the next 5 years and will internationalise it’s brand portfolio.
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BMB Strategy Update
- Our primary focus will be in the Menswear product sector. Continuing the development of our concessions business in the UK and leveraging that skill into overseas concession development and licensing.
- We will maximise the sales and profit opportunities that are now available within the Sportswear Division.
- We will actively pursue brand acquisitions or licenses for both divisions that fit within our strategic development and the extension of our retail format.
- In order to truly reflect the product nature of our company, the BMB Menswear Ltd name will be changed to BMB Clothing Ltd. The initials BMB will now equate to British Menswear Brands.
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Mission Statement
- The BMB Group will be the leading wholesaler and retailer of branded menswear products within the UK and Overseas. As such it will be internationally known as a brand builder and a place of first call for the world renowned brands that wish to distribute their products within these markets.
Bernie Collins & Andy Schofield – Area Sales Manager’s
- Introduce shirts, ties and cufflinks at the same time as introducing the suit/jacket or trousers. This goes for RM and MtM.
- If we had sold a shirt with every suit that we sold last year this would have generated an additional $855,000 in turnover.
- If we had sold a tie with every suit that we sold last year this would have generated $570,000 in turnover.
- Add on accessory sales could equate to a total of $1.4 million in extra $$$.
- Introduce add on sales such as extra trousers, extra contrasting trousers. Vests or weekend jackets – try to sell a 3pce over a 2pce.
- Introduce our own bunches rather than merchants and remember your earning potential now on our cloths is 4%.
- Mail outs, Telephone calls and Emails for EVERY promotion, without fail.
- Eye Catching displays – make them look life like, use newspapers, umbrellas, briefcases etc.
- Keep displays well dusted and appealing to customers – these are your silent salesmen when you are not there or busy with other customers.
- Move displays around the department bi-weekly and change the shirts and ties regularly.
- Ask Visual Management about getting displays out into the forecourt or into other areas of the store.
- Move your ready to wear stock and racks around weekly, make the department look different to the eye of the customer.
- Salesmanship - Communicate with your present customer profile and inform them of promotions.
- Communicate with ‘Just looking’ customers – don’t worry about upsetting them by communicating with them. You do not know when the customer will need a suit and remember that by calling them and informing them of the sales we have coming up you are helping not hindering the customer.
- The customer comes first - paperwork is not the priority.
- Be the best at what you do the best! – SALES. You are all salesmen & saleswomen… let’s see it.
- Sell, Sell, Sell!
Graham Walker – IT Director
New developments added onto Oasys:-
- The new look Team Talk has been added onto your Ready to Wear Oasys tree under Data Warehouse, Internet, Team Talk. This also includes the top 10 stores which is updated daily and can be accessed at any time.
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Within the Team Talk are a list of Resources which include:-
- Branch Addresses Europe
- Branch Addresses USA
- Cloth Stocks – updated daily
- Flash Sales Report – updated daily – accessible at any time
- Current Marketing Calendar for 2007/8
- The Employee Handbook
- The Commission scheme is now live on Oasys and your new screen is under Store System HQ, Commission, Sales Commission. Please check the enquiry screen against your hand written claim form for the next couple of weeks. Watch this space for further information regarding commission claims.
- Ready to Wear Weekly Sales Summary is now live on Oasys and you no longer need to complete this manually. You will find it on RM System Store, Processing, Weekly Sales Summary. The sales for each week are automatically lifted from your ready to wear sales entry screen and you can access the information by typing in the year and the week number ie 200807 for week 7.
- Ready to Wear and Made to Measure Invoicing The screens within which you can print the invoices raised in Goole for your weekly RM sales and MTM garments have been relocated and can be found in RM System Store, Invoicing, MM Branch Invoicing and RM Branch Invoicing. These options have been amended to include a year search box and it currently defaults to 2008 which is the current year, this will make the screen quicker to download onto your pc as there is less information to show. Should you wish to see a previous year invoice, please amend the year to 2007 to show all of last year’s information.
- Transfer note numbers We have taken away the transfer note number field on Oasys therefore the manifest number will now be the only reference held against each transfer
- Branch Ranking There is now a new option which allows you to see in percentage terms how you are currently performing against the other stores in your division. This option shows the current week, the previous 4 weeks and the sales to date for the half. The search can be completed on ready to wear, made to measure including shirts or combined sales.
- Sales By Brand Type This enquiry screen shows you by week, your total stock and sales per brand and per garment type, how many weeks cover you are currently carrying based on the sales per week and if you have any GIT (goods in transit). You can access this by entering the year and week number ie 200807 for week 7.
- Store Best Sellers Shows you in any selected week, the best selling lines in each store. If you select by quantity it shows the best sellers in units and if you do not select by quantity it shows you the best sellers in $’s. Refunds are not shown on this screen and products with no sales against them are also not shown.
- The Made to Measure Daily Sales Sheet should no longer be produced on Excel as this is now available to print on a daily basis from Oasys. To print this, access your order payment enquiry screen which is in Mtm System Store, Enquiries, Order Payments. We have added to this enquiry any garments which were collected with no outstanding balance and therefore this should match the existing paperwork that you are producing.
- Made to Measure Returns. If a customer returns a suit once it has been balanced and collected, you can now access the made to measure returns option and you can refund either the full payment or part payment against the order. This will deduct the commission from your store and will re-open the order for either transfer to another store or re-sale. The reference box is mandatory and allows you to put in a reason for the return.
- Order Progress Screen, we have amended the reason codes on the order progress screen. We have taken away the reason code for Transferred to Vilseck as you can now transfer an order via the made to measure returns option. We have also added two new reason codes to this option 020 Refund due to factory error and 021 Refund due to branch error.
- Repeat Orders. When you enter a repeat order for a customer, you will now be given the option to order more items once the order has been validated and sent to the order office. To ensure that the orders are linked in manufacturing please ensure that you use the repeat order screen, this will mean that if we have a query with one of the orders the linked order will also be held. You can also order a suit then a trouser, followed by another suit. You do not have to order all of the suits together and all of the trousers together.
- Order Notes on Repeat Orders You will now find that when you repeat an order that any order notes on the original order will be copied over. You will find this useful if you have amended any of the measurements after release or if we have amended the order as a result of a measurement query in Goole.
- PSO / TSO Email The bunch name has been added to this email.
- Figurations PSB / PSF Pitch Sleeves Backwards and Pitch Sleeves Forward figurations have been added to your order entry.
- Made to Measure Evening Update. The time for the evening shutdown on made to measure has been amended to match the ready to wear which is UK time 05.00am each morning. This should allow all USA stores to complete their sales or order entry prior to finishing for the day.
- Made to Measure Sticky Tickets The ticket on the outer of the suit bag on your made to measure garments has been amended to show the date that it was printed in the factory. This helps prioritisation within our warehouse facilities.
- The Front Page of Oasys will change, all of the links that you currently have on your front page will be replaced by options on your menu tree. This should be checked every day, as we will post messages onto this for you from our Alexandre Support or IT Support Desks.
- Loyalty Scheme We are currently working on this - so watch this space…….
The most important thing to remember with all of the above changes is that nothing actually happens to any of the screens until you input it and you save it. If you make any changes for instance in the refund order section on made to measure, it will show you what happens to the price before you accept it, if when you try it for the first time you don’t see what you expect then reverse it and see what happens.
If you do have any problems with the above please do not hesitate to contact either your ASM, CDM or Alexandre Support for help.
Pat Corker – HR Director
- The staff audit was completed and the results will be published in Off The Cuff later on in the year.
- Staff Discounts – all members of staff are entitled to the following:-
- Ready to Wear 50% off the full marked price on all garment types. Discount is not allowed on permanently reduced garments.
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Staff Suit Vouchers – all members of staff are entitled to the following:-
- The value of a 3 pce suit at Blue Chip level. Higher grades will be charged at 50% of the difference between the retail price of a 3pce suit and the grade and garment combination selected.
- Location Allowances – have been calculated and have been sent to all stores.
- Annual branch gradings will be published to all stores within the salary reviews in October.
Personal Message from Pat Corker to all Managers
THANK YOU
I just wanted to send to you all a big thank you for the kind words and gifts given to me during the conferences in Europe and the USA. I will miss meeting you all at the conferences in the future, but I will be keeping in touch with how things are going through Tracey, Andy and John. Good luck to you all.
Pat Corker
Tracey Roberts – Brand and Sales Office Manager
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Ready to Wear
- Selections were made by all stores for the balance of SS 07, AW 07 and SS 08. As a result of this we have looked at the SS 07 warehouse stock and allocated ranges where possible.
- The Silent Salesman – we will provide the following additions to your ready to wear ranges complete with point of sale material and garment swingers.
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Techno Finish on the Black Venetian suit. From AW 07 this range will have the techno finish added to the fabric.
- So what is it and what are the benefits??
- It is a chemical finish which creates a surface which repels water and oil.
- It uses a chemistry to make little whiskers to repel the liquid. The fabric is treated with acid and polymers are pressed into the fabric prior to baking.
- The benefits are:- It repels stains, Allows stains to wash out easily, Provides long lasting protection, Looks better for longer, Retains natural softness, Allows the fabric to breathe naturally.
- Travel Master – A new range of travel suits will be added to the Spring Summer 2008 collection in a grey red stripe SB2 as modelled during the presentation. The Travel suit has the following benefits:- it is Crease resistant and lightweight, it has a relaxed fit, good shape retention, a comfort waistband on the trouser and is easy care.
- Camel Cashmere Sports Jacket – this new range of jackets will enhance your existing jacket collection and can be worn as a blazer or casual jacket with jeans.
- Cuff Link Sales Generated - $58,000 from November thru April 2007.
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Made to Measure Fabrics and Linings
- New fabrics were shown and the utilisation of these fabrics within the made to measure ranges discussed.
- Our made to measure sales on merchant fabrics remain high and we should endeavour to sell BMB own cloths wherever possible.
- Details of the ready to wear product number and the made to measure cloth number will be given to all stores.
- Fancy linings are to be used on made to measure to increase sales and profitability in stores, sales to date are only $3500 and if we had sold a fancy lining with every made to measure suit sold last year across all 4 areas this would have increased our sales by $81,000.
- Garment labelling, all garments manufactured in our overseas factories will have the country of origin in the back neck going forward.
- Shirt sleeve lengths, we will continue to send out to all stores a series of sticky labels for use on shirts indicating the sleeve length of each collar size.
- Black Trouser Trim Options We were asked at the European conference if a black trouser trim option is available on made to measure trousers. The option is available on the W/B Trim section of the order form, the default trim is white curtain herringbone which gives you all cream internal trim however if you select black trim, the garment will be made with black waistband, black pocketing etc. If you do select this option, please take care when choosing the fabric for the garment as the black trim could show through the cloth.
Kevin Roche – Technical Designer
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Within the new Team Talk option you can now view the following made to measure features:
- Style Guide
- Guide to Measuring
- Guide to Adjustments
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Within the Resources section you can access:-
- Guide to Adjustments
- Guide to Measuring
- Made to Measure Classic Jacket Style Book
- Trouser Styles
- Vest Styles
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Your made to measure Style Guide can be located in the top right hand corner of Team Talk by clicking on the link and within this you can access:-
- Classic jacket, trouser and vest styles
- Specification Details
- Current garment label options
- Classic style option pictures – centre vent, side vent, edge stitching etc
- Style Guide to figurations – this is a comprehensive guide to all figurations which can be used on your mtm orders within this area where you see “Show Faults” you will be able click into the section and view a picture of the fault. This will help with any alterations that the customer requires.
- The above sections can be printed off for use in store or they can be viewed on screen.
- Vest Developments. We believe that the new vest block presented at the conference will be a better fitting and improved garment especially on larger and portly sizes. This new vest will also have a lapel option on a larger range of styles within your classic style book and should be available approximately during mid July.
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New Figurations
- R – Forward shoulders (AKA Leeds Crease), this figuration has been updated to correct the fit on jackets with forward shoulders.
- Details of the above can clearly be seen on the Guide to Measuring, Figure R has a show faults and a photograph to demonstrate the figuration.
- PSB / PSF – Pitch shoulders back, Pitch shoulders forward have been added to your Oasys order form.
- Details of the above figuration will appear on your style guide shortly.
- Half Made Jacket. The new sample shown will be delivered in a size 48” chest complete with a 48” mannequin for display purposes. This new development will be sent initially to the stores who have received the new shopfit concept with a planned 12 month roll out to all stores.
- Short Zips on Trousers, the question about the zip lengths on trousers was raised at both conferences. This has now been looked into and the issue seems to be that shorter rises are being requested on some trousers. The length of the zip is governed by the rise of the trouser, we buy a 100 metre roll of zip and therefore each zip is cut for each particular order, the zips are not bought in at a standard length. If you would like a longer zip,a longer rise should be requested to accommodate the zip.
- Resolution to Full on Fronts – We received very positive feedback from both conferences regarding the full on front and wide sleeve issue which we were experiencing during the previous conference and we are happy that this is issue is now resolved.
- Quality Issues Going Forward – Please continue to forward any quality issues to Alexandre Support who will feed the details back to Technical Design.
Steve Parr – Creative Director
- Marketing Calendar, the new version is now available to view on Oasys for the whole of 2007 – 8.
- Perspex Frames, all stores will now have the new A3 perspex frames which are to be used for your made to measure point of sale from September onwards. A4 frames are to be used for ready to wear promotions.
- Large Generic Posters, 1m x 1m banners will be issued to all stores very soon in the same format at the conference posters with the wording SALE SALE SALE and Alexandre 50% off Made to Measure.
- Shopfit Programme continues to roll out over the next 12 months.
- The Silent Salesman, during the next 6 months when you receive the new fabric developments on ready to wear ie Techno Suit and Travel Master, we will be issuing swingers and point of sale material to advertise the benefits of these products to your customer.
- Shirt Stickers we will also be issuing a series of ready priced sale stickers to all stores for use on your shirts to promote the reductions.
- And Finally …… I asked for feedback from Managers for three things that you would like to see developing on marketing over the course of the next 12 months. I have yet to receive anything from any Manager and I would be grateful for your feedback.
