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B2B Business Support – Harvey Nichols Style

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I spent a great 90 minutes with Brian Handley, General Manager of Harvey Nichols in Leeds, and Lee Hicken from online marketing outfit Hebemedia to find out  a little more about their work in supporting enterprise across Yorkshire and to explore the possibility of helping to develop their role in supporting emerging artists and crafts people.

Now I am no ‘fashion and retail’ guru and struggle to understand why anyone would want to pay £3000 or more for an Italian Leather handbag, but apparently they do, and Harvey Nichols helps to serve that want.  (Not everything in Harvey Nichols has such a price tag.  Apparently a coffee in their restaurant costs the same as in Starbucks, some items in the Food Hall match Morrison for price and some of their makeup too matches the High  St retailers on price.)

But why are those expensive handbags Italian?  Why not British? Or Yorkshire?

  • Are we lacking the skills and talent required to craft leather to this standard?
  • Are we poor at the marketing and brand building work required to compliment fine craft skills to command this top end of the market?  We are simply unable to break the consumers taste for ‘Italian Leather’. Perhaps the Italian High Streets are full of top quality British Leather handbags – I suspect not….
  • Does the Italian craft leather industry receive support from its own Government that allows it to perform at this level?
  • Perhaps the Harvey Nichols buyers have not found the great British products that are out there, preferring instead to go with established Italian brands that they know will sell?

I suspect that it is some combination of the first three that leads to the failure of British manufacturers to compete at the top end of the  luxury leather handbag market.  A conversation with Brian convinces me that they do all they can to source locally wherever possible without compromising on quality.

And I suspect that the absence of high quality business support to help with the development of craft and marketing skills is a large part of the problem.  I can’t recall seeing a single UK regional economic strategy that emphasises the importance of the craft sector.  They tend to focus on ‘high-tech, bio-tech, creative and digital’ but hardly mention the support of traditional craft skills which tend to live of the crumbs from the ‘high growth’ table.

Which is perhaps why Harvey Nichols in Leeds have been able to do so much work with 11 textile mills across Yorkshire, helping to raise their profile.  Absolutely nothing wrong with their product.  They provide felts and baize for Steinway pianos and the worlds best snooker tables.  They provide the fabric for Barack Obama’s curtains in the Oval Office of the White House, and the world’s most expensive suit.  Each of the mills was characterised with an obsessive passion for the quality of the product which had allowed them to move up market and hang on as most textile manufacturing headed east.  But their marketing and branding was weak, and when they came together at Harvey Nichols to see how an association with the store might raise awareness of their product, Brian said it was the first time that all of them had shared a room to explore the way forward.   They had learned a little about how to compete with each other – but very little about how to collaborate.  (Perhaps there is a clue here to the prominence of Italian artisan on British High Streets?).

Why does Harvey Nichols get involved in this kind of work?

Well I don’t think it is pure altruism.  It is self interest properly understood – a thriving local economic ecosystem  is essential for the maintenance and development of the customer base.   A good story is essential for brand building and getting people through the doors.  This is good business combined with a genuine passion for, and commitment to, high quality manufacturing in the region.

This kind of ‘business to business’ business support was once widespread.  In some parts of the world it still is.  But in the UK business support has turned into a government funded industry not primarily focussed on responding to local indigenous businesses but on focussing support on strategic priorities (high tech/biotech/creative and digital).

Perhaps in these straitened times we could afford to let this government backed Business Support industry to just fade away and encourage more employers like Harvey Nichols to play a full part in supporting local enterprise.  The engagement of businesses in this sort of civic society, using their expertise to develop a viable and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem will surely create much more value for society than so many corporate social responsibility projects that end up with Lawyers painting community centres….

…and if you are looking to spend £300 rather than £3000 pounds on a Leather Handbag that is ‘Made in England’ you might try Liz Cox.

The Entrepreneur’s Pledge: Win a Flip Mino Video Recorder

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This from the Kauffman Foundation
The Entrepreneur’s Pledge
  • I am an Entrepreneur.
  • I am following a dream, pursuing an opportunity, taking charge of my own destiny.
  • I am bringing something of value to society, making a job for myself and for others, and creating wealth that benefits my family, my community, my country, my world.
  • I am one of a movement of millions of entrepreneurs and innovators who made America great, and who will continue to keep our economy going…and growing.
  • I am what I am because many people have helped me along on this journey.
Therefore:
  • I will tell my story, sharing my successes and failures, so that others taking the entrepreneurial path can learn.
  • I will strive to mentor an aspiring entrepreneur.
  • I will make my voice heard by those who make policy decisions that affect me and my business.
  • I will appreciate and celebrate my accomplishments, and the accomplishments of all my fellow entrepreneurs.
  • I will give back to the society that helped me to be successful.
  • I will Build a Stronger America.

What would a UK version look like?

Prize of a Flip Mino Video Recorder for the Best (in my opinion) UK Entrepreneur’s Pledge posted in comments.  Closing date: May 31st 2010 at midnight.  Any one can enter but I will only ship the prize to a UK address.

Junior Apprentice and Gekko Breeding

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So Lord Sugar (is he still our enterprise czar?) is working with junior apprentices because it is up to them and their generation to ‘rescue and revitalise’ our country.  Surely it is a simple equation – more entrepreneurs, making more money, leads to a growing economy, more tax take and a better society.  Hmm.  Don’t expect much here about social justice, sustainable economics and steady state economies.  This is a stack ’em and sell ’em business model with no need to worry about the long term.

If we can just breed a generation of Gordon Gekko’s; back-stabbing, blame-shifting, glory grabbing and profiteering then perhaps we can develop a  tax base that will allow us to chip away at the national debt.

  • Is this how to ‘revitalise and rescue’ our country?
  • Is this how to encourage more people, young and old, (wouldn’t an intergenerational version of the apprentice be much more interesting?) to explore and develop their enterprising souls?

Methinks not.

Surely most decent folk would not choose willingly to enter such an environment?

Of course we know that the real world of enterprise is, by and large, nothing like this at all.  It is full of decent people trying to create real value and provide goods and services to the long term mutual benefit of buyer and seller alike, without further shafting the planet and the prospects of future generations on the way.

If ‘The Apprentice’ were a ‘one off’ perhaps it would not be big deal – but nearly all enterprise portrayed in the  media fits the backstabbing/profiteering stereotype.  With PR like this it is no wonder that so many good people choose not to make their living and make their lives in enterprise.

And it is no wonder that many educators continue to maintain stiff resistance to the introduction of enterprise into the curriculum.

Entrepreneurship – Obama’s Foreign Policy?

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These quotes of Barack Obama are taken from the recent Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship:

Why Entrepreneurship?

“A sustained effort to listen to each other, to learn from each other, to respect for one another”… “By listening to each other we have been able to partner with each other, we have expanded educational exchanges, because knowledge is the currency of the twenty-first century.”

“Entrepreneurship because you told us that this was an area where we can learn from each other. Where America can share our experience as a society that empowers the inventor and the innovator. Where men and women can take a chance on a dream. Taking an idea that starts around a kitchen table or in a garage, and turning it into a new business or industry that can change the world. Entrepreneurship because throughout history the market has been the most powerful force for creating opportunity for lifting people out of poverty. Entrepreneurship because it is in our mutual interest…”

“And social entrepreneurship because as I learned as a community organiser in Chicago, real change comes from the bottom up, the grass roots, starting with the dreams and passions of individuals serving their communities.”

“we are forging new partnerships in which high-tech leaders from Silicon Valley will share their expertise in venture capital, mentorships, technology incubators, with partners in the Middle East, in Turkey and Southeast Asia”

The Entrepreneur’s Workshop – A Seminar for Entrepreneurs and Their Advisers

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Workshops are fascinating and dangerous places. In the right hands they can produce things of great beauty and real lasting value.  In the wrong hands they can do great damage and wreck lives.

The Entrepreneur’s Workshop is no different.

True enough; the tools have no sharp edges, burning furnaces or high-speed drills.  They are a set of ideas, principles, practices and habits that, applied with care and passion, can produce a wonderful lifestyle.  Learn to use these tools properly and they will serve you well.  Misuse them and the consequences are likely to include debt, damaged relationships and misery.

This 2 hour session introduces 10 of the most powerful tools that the entrepreneur can use to build a business with real lasting value:

  1. The Truth Detector – How to decide what might work for you
  2. ‘Want to’ or ‘Have to…’?
  3. The Double Edged Sword
  4. Getting Organised – doing what has to be done, and doing it well
  5. Entrepreneur or Artisan?
  6. Have, Do, Become…
  7. Build a Team OR Do it All – the choice is yours
  8. Writing the ‘investment ready’ Business Plan
  9. Situational Enterprise – technique and motivation
  10. Towards the Total Quality Enterprise – a tool to decide ‘What’s next?’

The Entrepreneur’s Workshop is fast paced, honest and highly practical.  Participants will understand each of the tools and be able to use them to build a better business – or to put their entrepreneurial dreams on hold – at least for now.

Who Would Benefit from a Visit to the Entrepreneur’s Workshop?

I have run The Entrepreneur’s Workshop is fast paced, honest and highly practical introduction to 10 of the most powerful tools for entrepreneurs. in many different settings, from a University post-graduate course on Creative Enterprise to pre-start entrepreneurs on a Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) programme. The workshop is relevant and accessible to a wide range of entrepreneurs from pre-start through to experienced business owners.  It has also been well received by a wide range of advisor’s and coaches.

Costs:

If you would like me to run the workshop for a group of entrepreneurs and you provide the venue, refreshments and manage the administration then the cost of the workshop is £750 plus travel and subsistence and VAT.

For more information contact Mike on 07788 747954 or just leave a comment and I will get back to you.

You can see some recommendations of my work here