Strategic Planning and change
End of Project Report
Project Title: Forum
From: September 2010 To: May 2012
Author: Debbie Collins
Creation Date: 08/05/2012
Last Updated: 20/07/2012
Version: 0.2
15
Change Record
Date / Author / Version / Change Reference /16/05/2012 / Debbie Collins / 0.1 / Initial draft
20/07/2012 / Debbie Collins / 0.2 / 2nd draft
Distribution
Copy No / Name / Location /1 / Gill Preston / Change Team
2 / Jilly Court / Campus Services
3 / Phil Rees-Jones / Campus Services
Contents
1. Executive Summary 3
2. Project Overview 4
2.1. Introduction 4
2.2. Project Objectives 5
2.3. Project in detail 6
2.3.1. Project scope 6
2.3.2. Changes to scope 7
2.4. Project Resources 8
a) Staff 8
a) Finance 8
b) Support & Training 8
3. Assessment of Project Delivery 9
3.1. Did the project meet its objectives? 9
3.2. Benefits 10
3.3. Lessons Learnt 12
a) Positive lesson learnt 12
b) Constructive lessons learnt 12
c) Opportunity log 13
4. Outstanding Issues 14
5. Conclusions 15
a) Acknowledgements 15
1. Executive Summary
The Market Place was a £500,000 project to create Campus Services a retail shop within the Forum for the University. The retail store, the “Market Place” opened in line with the Queen’s official opening of the Forum in May 2012.
The brief was to create a new and innovative retail store to complement the Forum development and the University’s top 10 aspirations.
Objectives
The 3 main project objectives were as follows:
1) To open the “Market Place” retail shop in January 2012
2) To achieve target turnover and gross profit
3) To offer a quality experience for customers that matches the aspirations of a “Top 10” University
The scope of this project included the following elements:
Shop design specification, Stock, Sales targets, managing a 3rd party provider tender, market research, staffing , marketing, communications, transition planning.
Project resources
The EDS project manager was the only resource expense borne by this project.
Campus Services have agreed to make a contribution towards the refrigeration of £20,000 which will adequately cover the budget deficit of £16, 497.
Benefits
The first 4 weeks of trading saw a surplus of £16,710 above the budgeted turnover.
Main lesson learnt
Working on a site managed by a main contractor on a project of this scale meant that all delays were cascaded and there were too many unresolved issue late into the project.
Opportunities
There are opportunities to develop the delicatessen range, improve the point of sale visibility for advertising special offers and to generally expand the business further as it becomes increasingly embedded.
This project was delivered on time, on budget, the quality and design of the shop complements the Forum project as a whole.
2. Project Overview
2.1. Introduction
The Forum building offered the opportunity to replace the existing shop with a new shop of a significant size, in a high profile building, with a high footfall.
On 21st September 2010 the Campus Services management team presented a business case and a formal presentation to VCEG. The presentation was to bid for the opportunity to manage the 403 sqm retail space.
The business case included a thorough comparision between an in house operation and a 3rd party provider; it was decided to use an in-house provider because the operation would offer the University increased financial return, it would be a more flexible retail model; able to respond to the changing needs of customer more effectively. An RFA for £483,000 was authorised to fund the project.
The brief was to create a new and innovative retail store to complement the Forum development and the University’s top 10 aspirations.
The concept for the new store was based on the following criteria:
· A mini department store knows that customers’ needs vary from students, staff and visitors to different tastes, religions and cultures
· Customers can pop in for a meal deal for lunch or treat themselves to something special from the delicatessen
· A strong focus on green miles and local foods, keeping the carbon footprint to a minimum
· A modern approach to shopping, this new store will set itself as a template for other university retailers who want to set themselves apart from the crowd
· Offering University of Exeter a point of difference with a unique and forward thinking concept, whilst many Universities are choosing to welcome high street retailers
The business objectives for the new store concept were based on the principles set out below which tie into the university’s values:
Experience
Drawing on the knowledge and expertise of the experienced retail team at the University
Continuous Improvement
Better products, great service and innovative store design
Proactive
To meet the challenges of retailing today, by keeping ahead of the competition and listening to the customers
Innovative
Flexible and forward thinking in design, approach and technology
Quality
Freshness and value for money
Service
Professional, friendly, prompt and efficient
Feedback about the appearance of the shop and of the product range has been very positive; many customers have compared the Market Place with Waitrose.
2.2. Project Objectives
The 3 main project objectives were as follows:
1) To open the “Market Place” retail shop in January 2012
2) To achieve target turnover and gross profit
3) To offer a quality experience for customers that matches the aspirations of a “Top 10” University
2.3. Project in detail
2.3.1. Project scope
This project covered the following elements:
1. Specification – Shop fitting design and requirements
2. Stock - reviewing existing stock lines and suppliers
· Sourcing new suppliers
· Set up new supplier accounts
· Create merchandising plan
3. Sales target – creating realistic sales target based on:
· Historic sales information
· Increased shop floor size and footfall
4. 3rd party provider - Book service
· Tender for book service provider – online and “pop up shop” provision
· Contract negotiations
· Service levels agreements
· Customer service facility in the Market Place
- MCR Systems
· The install of Epos tills in line with the Epos Project roll out
· The creation of the products on the supplier’s database
· The installation and set up of scales
5. Market research – capturing customers’ needs
· Forum Retail Show – Supplier trade show – customers were able to try samples of food and vote on products they would like to see in the Market Place
· Big Wave Media carried out a survey that check the planned product range was correct and asked questions about the usage of the existing Bookshop
· The Guild ran a survey on Campus Services’ behalf to ascertain students’ views on the 2 colour schemes – the favoured scheme was implemented
6. People
· Policies, procedures and roles
· Staffing establishment
· Recruitment and training
7. Marketing
· Internal signage
· External signage
· Launch plan
· Point of sale template (Pos)
8. Communications
· Market Place Website
· Book service communications to all stakeholders
9. Transition planning
· Closing the portacabin
· Stripping the portacabin
· Transferring stock
2.3.2. Changes to scope
The decision not to provide a traditional bookshop as part of the Forum initiated a tender process that sought an online service licence as opposed to a lease.
The online service will be supported by: Jilly Court, on behalf of Campus Services, Jess Gardener, to chair the Book Retail Review Group and Alison Ramsden, to manage communications.
2.4. Project Resources
The EDS project manager was the only resource expense borne by this project.
a) Staff
Project Role / Name / Days required or % of timeProject Board / Jilly Court (Project Sponsor), Phil Rees-Jones, Mat Blee and Gill Winsor, Bernard Ireson / Fortnightly meetings (1hr)
Bernard Ireson (20 minutes)
Project Manager / Debbie Collins / 50% fte
Project Manager - EDS / Bernard Ireson / 10%fte
Retail Services Manager / Mat Blee / October 2010 – May 2012 12%
April 2012 100% fte
Market Place Manager / Gill Winsor / October 2010 – May 2012 12%
April 2012 100% fte
a) Finance
No. / Item / Budget / Actual / Variance1 / Shop fitters / £182,533 / £448,514 / - £37,482
2 / Electrical / £70,734 / Included in No. 1
3 / Mechanical / £88,328 / Included in No. 1
4 / Refrigeration contribution / £40,739 / Included in No. 1
5 / Refrigeration connections / £16,000 / Included in No. 1
6 / Network / £2,698 / Included in No. 1
7 / Signage / £10,000 / Included in No. 1
8 / Project fees / £71,968 / £50,559 / £21,409
9 / Other costs / £0 / £424 / £424
Total / £483.000 / £499,497 / £16,497
The variance in the Shop fitters costs (No.1) were due to additional costs for specialised configuration of the refrigeration. Campus Services have agreed to make a contribution towards the refrigeration of £20,000 which will adequately cover the variance.
b) Support & Training
· All new staff have undertaken their mandatory training
· Red door customer service training had to be postponed because of bereavement in the team. Discussions are underway to reschedule.
· Future training needs will be met via the Market Place’s management team and the Staff Learning and Development Team
· Epos training for new staff will be provided by the Market Place’s management team and/or the Epos Administrator
3. Assessment of Project Delivery
The project objectives were as follows:1) To open the “Market Place” retail shop in January 2012
2) To achieve target turnover and gross profit
3) To offer a quality experience for customers that matches the aspirations of a “Top 10” University
3.1. Did the project meet its objectives?
1) The Market Place opened on the 2nd May following the Queen’s official opening of the Forum2) The first 3 full weeks of trading saw sales in excess of 25% ahead of budget. The following 2 weeks noted a deficit against budget due to the end of exams and the related decline of sales; however, a surplus of £16,710 above the budgeted turnover is still apparent.
It is early days but the Market Place is expected to meet financial expectations. (For further information about the budget please refer to 3.2)
3) The Market Place feedback is being captured by a touch screen in store, the criteria being used to measure success is as follows below and is being scored on a scale of “strong agree” to “strongly disagree”:· The store was clean and tidy
· The store layout was clear
· Staff were easy to find
· Staff were friendly and helpful
· Displays were well stocked
· There was plenty of choice
· Everything I wanted was in stock
· Everything was clearly priced
· The deli counter looked appealing
· Bakery products looked fresh
· Special offers were easy to find
· Checkout was quick and easy
And finally, are there any other products that you would like to see in-store?
To date, the Market Place has been scoring highly in the “strongly agree” and “agree” ranges, although customers feel that special offers were not easy to find. This has been flagged to the team by the Business Support Quality Coordinator.
There has been some constructive feedback via the Forum Administration Team which related to the following:
· The 30 minute early closure of the market Place on Saturday 5th May due to staff exhaustion and lack of fresh food for sale. The lack of staff resource has now been dealt with and increased stocks of fresh food have been maintained since
· The shop not opening on weekends out of term time. The demand for the shop to be opened on weekends outside of term was not considered great enough to warrant the associated operational costs. The service being provided by Costa was considered adequate to cater for the demand. Further feedback will be acquired on this matter and the opening hours will be given further consideration by the management team
· The feedback offered via an Exepose article was in favour of the Market Place although they found the range too varied. The sales reports to date have found the ranges on sale to be well received. For those items that do not prove so popular the management information provided by the Epos till system will highlight this and those items will be replaced. Also regular feedback is gained from the customers to find out what is missing
3.2. Benefits
The Market Place is expected to deliver increased turnover of 30% and targeted g.p of 35% (an increase of 2%)The turnover assumptions were prepared working on the previous store’s turnover (before the temporary shop), with the following considerations:
1. 10% increase on turnover per year between the store being demolished and the new store opening (in line with previous years turnover patterns)
2. Followed by an additional 20% increase due to:
a. Increased shop floor space of 248 sqm
b. Longer opening hours
c. Rising student/staff numbers
d. Increased footfall due to location and services in the vicinity
The turnover for the remainder of this year has been pro rated
Updated Budget / Term / Vacation / T/O p/wWednesday 2nd May-Friday 15th June / 6.5 / 31,500.00 / 204,750.00
Monday 18th June - Friday 29th July / 6 / 15,000.00 / 90,000.00
294,750.00
3.3. Lessons Learnt
a) Positive lesson learnt
· EDS support on a project of this scale with a main contractor and multiple subcontractors was invaluable because they understood how to manage a site within a building site and the related issues and regulations
· The shopfitters PDS were second to none. Any issues were dealt with efficiently and effectively. They also supported the team with many deliveries that were outside of their remit. Would recommend PDS in future