With the high street recovering but still not out of the woods by a long way, ministers continue to seek ways in which small retailers and trade bodies can receive additional support to ensure the success of their businesses. However, it is not only the government that is concerned about town centres, as an increasing number of independent bodies are becoming interested in the fortunes of these core retail environments.
This week, it was announced that two former City investment advisers will establish a “retail school” in central London to provide financial and business support for entrepreneurs wishing to break into the challenging retail industry.
Matt Freeman, chief executive of business vehicle True Capital, and Paul Cocker, formerly of business advisory firm Deloitte, have gained the support of property firm Land Securities in order to help budding entrepreneurs make their retail business ideas a success.
The programme will be open to those aiming to establish retail firms in which there is potential for an annual turnover of £100 million. At present, the aim is to enrol 20 new businesses per year in its intensive training programme – something which, if successful, will see both the individual businesses and the Retail School profit hugely, as well as boosting Britain’s economy on a regional level.
This intensive training programme, a subsidiary known as TrueStart, will see entrepreneurs receive a minimum £2 million investment over the programme’s six month running period and in return the Retail School will gain a 10 per cent stake in each firm’s equity. With serial entrepreneur Richard Mergler at the helm as chief executive, emerging entrepreneurs will benefit not only from the financial injection but also from the experience of those running the programme.
Although the programme has been accused of excessive optimism in its aim to churn out multiple £100 million companies, Mr Cocker remains confident, claiming that the “entrepreneur accelerator model is well focused.”
He continues; “We’re not like a Dragon’s Den investor making the odd visit to see how our investment is performing.
“We want to provide day to day support over a six month period to help the entrepreneur get the business off the ground.
“Retailing is undergoing a period of dramatic change and it’s going to accelerate – there’ll be a convergence of technology that will be good for investors but there are a lot of people with good ideas out there just waiting to be helped.”
The partnership certainly has a strong track record of success, having developed luxury children’s clothing brand AlexandAlexa during the Retail School’s trial run. An initial £250,000 investment saw the brand gain recognition on the international platform and produced a 70 per cent return for investors upon the selling of their stakes, indicating that there may be a relatively high level of interest from outside investors for entrepreneurs involved in the Retail School programme.
Previous Post
Prologis Signs Japanese Distribution Centre Deal
