Retail Trouble in 2009 – the retailers that will face problems in 2009

Posted: January 26, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: 21 Days, Belfast, Business, Government, Interesting, Northern Ireland, politics, Retail, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

I know I promised this post on 1st Jan, what can I say, its been a busy year so far !

Retail in 2009 is going to be one of the worst years in the history of retail.  We have already seen the failure of big household brands like Zavvi, Woolworths, Whitards, Adams, Viyella, Waterford, Wedgewood and The Officers club.

I predict that the following companies will fall on hard time in 2009.

Arcadia Group – BHS, Topshop, Topman, D Perkins and Burtons.  BHS has seen poor trading figures for 3 Decembers in a row now.  Topshop, Topman, D Perkins and Burtons all sell what I consider to be ‘higher end’ clothes which people have almost stopped purchasing on a regular basis, opting for cheaper stores like primark and saving stores like Burton etc for that few and far between special occassion.

JJB Sports – Another company that has seen its fair share of problems over the years, with more people either buying online or holding off on new sports equipment, JJB could see further major problems in 2009.  JJB has recently announced that in 2008 they made a loss of 10 Million – the writing is on the wall I fear !

The fashion chains Principles, Oasis, Karen Millen and Warehouse – all owned by Mosaic – have had an emergency restructuring team sent in from Deloitte. The stores employ about 5,000 staff whose jobs will be at risk unless a new lender is found to refinance the business.

Golf Retailers – These are usually independently ran, with a down turn in people spending money – I feel that existing golfers will ‘make do’ with their current clubs and new people to the sport, might not bother at all !

River Island, Again a high end retailer with people dropping down a budget rung, people may find River Islands pricing just abit to steep !

Marks and Spencer – Will have to fight hard to hold on to their current status this year with hostile take overs a huge possibility ! Click here for more on this.

Phones 4u – Sold in 2007 by John Caldwell for over £700 million to a group of hungry investors let by management – The American power house that turned Eircom upside down will be wondering if, when and how they are going to see a return, they have already removed around £4Million worth of management – more to come I fear !

Next, is another british institution but its another woolworths in the making – since 2005 it has struggled to keep its head above water with profit warning left and right.  I don’t think this is a brand that will disappear but 2009 will definatly be a struggle with well paid staff, falling sales and high rent !

Thomas Cook – Package holidays are the last thing on people’s mind this year, with the bulk of job losses in England and the bulk of thomas cooks business in England – It all adds up to an unhealthy recipe !

But ….. Its not all doom and gloom, amounst the fear and loathing some retailer’s will actually do fantastically this year !

Primark – have just annouched fantastic trading figures, as have Lidl and Adli, these cheaper brands with just as much quality are all part of what money experts are promoting ! Drop down a budget level ! Very little people sell clothes as good as primark as cheaply as primark so it appears that being on the bottom rung of the ‘retail chain’ is definatly the best place to be !

Making everyday an adventure

Posted: January 26, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: 21 Days, 4wdni, 4x4, Belfast, Business, Do something Now is good, events, Explorer Scouts, Extreme Scouting, Government | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Making everyday an Adventure : One of the 2008 tag lines of the UK Scouting movement and something that I try to run my life by!

Why shouldn’t everyday to be an adventure? are we so caught up in our boring live’s they we cannot do something new, different or exiting everyday ?

Right now, I’m enjoying life for what it is and not letting the doom and gloom that is a deep recesion and a useless Government get me down but rather taking the time to take the senic route to work, going on mini adventures with my wife and daugther, trying out stores that I have not been in before, trying new things and new foods etc.

Life is good, I’m good ! How are you ?

2008 in Review

Posted: January 5, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: 21 Days | 1 Comment

So 2008 is finally gone, what a strange year it has been – The worst year in history for the stock market, not so great either for houses, banks, retailers and pretty much everyone around!

But I had a good year, a great one in fact.

Work

The year started off working for a chain of restaurants and being told that the restaurants where to be packaged up a sold one by one, rendering my Area Manager job – unnecessary !  Straight onto jobsni it was then and I found a great role and a great fit with my new firm, Bitbuzz – Ireland leading Wi-Fi provider as their new Development Manager – responsible for Northern Ireland and eventually the UK.  The work is enjoyable, meeting people and developing relationships is what I do best !

In January I also set up eXtremeScouting.co.uk an online scouting store aimed at reducing the front line cost of scouting to the Scouts, Parents and leaders of the movement – It has traded well in 2008 and in 2009 we are using the money to expand the product offering and sponsor some great scouting events.

Home-Lifeimg_0445

26th March was a day that would change my life forever – It was the day I met my daughter Hannah Elizabeth McQuillan, she is the most wonderful and beautiful person I have ever met, and I am proud to be her father.

In 2008 we also got a new Kitchen fitted and converted our Garage into a temp home office, celebrated our first wedding anniversary, both got new cars and I started off road in my old Jeep.

pict0156Scouting

A busy year was had in Scouting this year, May seen myself and Kai staffing at Northumberlands County Jamboree [LookwideMarra] for the 3rd year in a row.

In August I took my explorer scouts to the 100 year celebration of Scouting in Ireland at punchestown race course, a great camp but when the weather got going, we ended up get flooded and 12,000 people had to be evacuated off site – we spend the last night sleeping in a supermarket ! Great Fun !

September gave us the opportunity to do something really fun – The Scally Rally ! a 1500 mile treasure hunt around Ireland in a car worth no more than £100 – super fun, even tho we completed the last 400 miles of the rally with no clutch or heater (steamy windows)

There was other weekend camps in 2008, nothing worth mentioning – just a load of scouts in tents living simply!

Towards the end of the year I became the District Commissioner for Explorer Scouts in Lisburn – 2009 will see me settle properly into the role as a try to make a difference to scouting for ages 14-18 in Lisburn District.

Other

I started blogging in 2008 after searching on google ‘how to poach an egg’ I thought, thats pretty cool maybe someone would like to read what I have to write, so I set up a blogger account and had reasonable results [1000 hits in 8 months] I then moved to wordpress in mid November and suddenly my traffic, comments and feedback spiked [2500 hits in 6 weeks]

img_0235I’ve started off road driving in me old trusty Jeep, now that its not my every day machine and can do some pimping like adding off road tyres, jacking the height up a bit and ripping more of the interior out to give more storage space for  scouting expeditions, I have competed twice, not done very well but I will get there!

2009 comes with its own challanges but for now, i’m just enjoing the music!

21 days of pain ! Part one

Posted: January 1, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: 21 Days | Tags: | 1 Comment

Now begins 21 days of pain as I begin on a journey which will hopefully lead to a better and happier life.

I currently weigh 16stone 2 and am only 5 ft 8, Its not all muscle I can assure you !

Im going on the theroe that you can develop or break any habit in 21 days, so after this time it will just be a way of life.

I am NOT going on a diet, i’ve tried that – It doesnt work, no I am changing my life, everything that I do and how I do it will change for the better, from Suger in my coffee to a bag of crisps on the way to a client.  Stuctured meals – only one junk meal per week, no cigs, no alcohol (for 21 days anyway!), no red bull, no rubbish !

Its going to be hard ! I have abused my body for over 10 years and its time to turn the table, once I get my eating under control in 21 days time I hope to bring in a new habit – cycling !

Jess started a 21 day running experiment –  3 days later she runs everyday and has ran over 6 marathons, so It can be done!

Wish me luck ! (I will need it )