{"id":46,"date":"2010-02-25T14:52:37","date_gmt":"2010-02-25T14:52:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leedscd.wordpress.com\/?p=46"},"modified":"2010-02-25T14:52:37","modified_gmt":"2010-02-25T14:52:37","slug":"harvey-nichols-as-a-force-for-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2010\/02\/25\/harvey-nichols-as-a-force-for-good\/","title":{"rendered":"Harvey Nichols as a Force for Good?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This morning, the very wonderful, Simon on the Streets<\/a> had bit of a shindig with its supporters in the Fourth Floor Cafe of Harvey Nichols in Leeds.<\/p>\n

Now Simon on the Streets is a magical organisation for many reasons. \u00a0Not only does it do great work with homeless people in Leeds (with bold plans to expand) but it does it with a philosophy of person centredness and respect for service users that is quite beautiful to see.<\/p>\n

But this post is not about Simon on The Streets.<\/p>\n

It is about Harvey Nichols. \u00a0And me!<\/p>\n

I am firmly in the camp that says the economic and social development of Leeds has been far too\u00a0heavily\u00a0dependent on the retail and financial sectors. \u00a0So when Harvey Nicks came to town I was not one\u00a0of\u00a0the first through the door. \u00a0I saw it as yet another step in the grand brand invasion of the city I call home.<\/p>\n

In fact as I queued to get in I commented to a\u00a0friend\u00a0that I had NEVER set foot in Harvey Nicks before, and that I was gobsmacked that it was my relationship with Simon on \u00a0the Streets that had finally lured me in. \u00a0I was\u00a0certainly\u00a0a ‘fish out of water’. \u00a0A one man boycott.<\/p>\n

The event itself was wonderfully managed. \u00a0Simon on the Streets message as ever gave me goosebumps and bought \u00a0a tear to my eye. \u00a0But I noticed something else. \u00a0The quality of the service in the cafe bar was also a thing of beauty. \u00a0They must have served 60 or so hot breakfasts while speeches were being made with barely any\u00a0intrusion. \u00a0No dropped\u00a0cutlery. \u00a0No clanking of china. \u00a0Skilled and efficient waiting staff who\u00a0knew\u00a0their work. \u00a0Not always the case!<\/p>\n

After the event the General Manager of Harvey Nichols, Brian Handley introduced himself to me. \u00a0He had heard me mention that I had never been in before and asked me why. \u00a0So I told him about my one man, informal boycott of ‘up market cathedrals of consumption’!<\/p>\n

I then listened to Brian tell me about many pieces of work that Harvey Nicks do to\u00a0raise money for social enterprise in the city, but perhaps more\u00a0importantly how they use their purchasing power to support Yorkshire based business, their venues to provide showcases for Leeds based charities and artists and their partnership work with 11 mills still making cloth in Yorkshire to help keep them in business. \u00a0He told me about the\u00a0local\u00a0sourcing of produce in the Cafe Bar. \u00a0And he told me about the pride and effort that they put into training\u00a0retail\u00a0as almost a craft occupation. \u00a0He also told me that Prada are a real supporter of Yorkshire textiles. \u00a0Some of my prejudices were well and truly put to the test, and exposed for what they were – prejudices.<\/p>\n

Now I doubt that everything is the Harvey Nicks garden is rosy. \u00a0I expect there are chinks, perhaps vast\u00a0gaping\u00a0holes, in their CSR agenda. \u00a0There must be issues around carbon footprints and food miles. \u00a0I am sure there will be people that will tell me about their bad practices. \u00a0But here was a man who\u00a0clearly\u00a0was proud that he and his employer were doing what they could to make sure that not only does Harvey Nicks provide a great return to shareholders and a wonderful\u00a0retail\u00a0experience to customers, but doing it in \u00a0away that creates as much good as possible and does as little harm as practicable.<\/p>\n

I have written before<\/a> about my cynicism about the self congratulatory nature of some of the social enterprise sector and their demonisation of \u00a0‘for profits’, about how there are simply good businesses, bad businesses and a whole lot that fit somewhere in the middle. \u00a0‘For profit’ does not mean ‘bad’. \u00a0And being a social enterprise is by no means a guarantee of ‘goodness’.<\/p>\n

Here was a partnership working for both Simon on the Street and Harvey Nichols. \u00a0And here was a ‘for profit’ ‘cathedral of consumption’ doing great work to keep\u00a0local\u00a0businesses going and support the third sector.<\/p>\n

It was a useful reminder of my own message that there are just good businesses and bad businesses and sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference.<\/p>\n

And to beware my own prejudices!<\/p>\n