The electrical retailing industry came out in force to celebrate Retra’s 80th anniversary at a special evening networking event and attend the trade association’s conference – its first for three years and themed around the Challenge of Change – earlier this month (April 4-5 at the Double Tree by Hilton, Coventry).
At the conference, a heavyweight line-up of guest speakers, including representatives from AMDEA, Sony, the Retail Trust, BSH, Google, GfK and Electrical Safety First, as well as retailer panellists, talked about issues including retailing in the ‘new normal’, sustainability, direct selling and the future of the high street.
In his opening speech, Retra CEO, Howard Saycell, expressed his disappointment that electrical retailers weren’t classed as essential during the pandemic but highlighted how Retra members had excelled themselves during the crisis.
The Retail Trust is more relevant now than it has been in the last 200 years, which is really exciting
“What was really encouraging during the whole pandemic was the creativity of the independents. When some of the big retailers closed their doors – some even stopped delivering and installing – our members stepped up to the plate,” he said.
“Manufacturers and suppliers played their part too, keeping supplies flowing and, in many cases, managing to increase them, even though their supply chains were under immense pressure. I want to thank the manufacturers and the buying groups for the job they did.”
On retailing in a post-COVID world, Mr Saycell commented: “Many independents have not only survived the pandemic but have also prospered because of their hard work and support from the industry. The pandemic also brought about shifts in consumer behaviour. Yes, of course there was exponential growth in online sales, but, at the same time, there was also a shift to shopping locally.”
He added: “It’s sad in one sense that it took a global pandemic for the consumer to realise the value of their local retailers but, having discovered them it’s now up to the local retailers to keep them.”
Guest speakers at the conference included AMDEA CEO executive, Paul Hide; retail expert Mark Pilkington from Fire Brand Consulting; GfK’s client director for market intelligence, Nick Simon; BSH CEO Gunjan Srivastava; Google’s industry manager, Richard Hartigan; Sony UK’s channel head of specialist sales, David Andrews; Chris Brook-Carter, CEO of the Retail Trust, and Martyn Allen, technical director of Electrical Safety First.
Retail panellists were Martin Jukes, head of retail at Avensys; Paul Giles, managing director of Snellings/ Gerald Giles; Paul Mead, managing director of Michael R Peters, and Robert Hughes, chairman of Hughes Electrical and Retra.
Representing the buying groups were Euronics / CIH CEO, Paul Tyler, and Steve Jones, CEO of the Sirius Buying Group.
AMDEA was the main sponsor of the conference, which was chaired by journalist and broadcaster, Declan Curry, who also gave delegates his views on the state of the economy.
The networking evening event, which included an exhibition of Retra memorabilia from the past 80 years, was sponsored by Sony.
For a full report on this year’s Retra Conference, see the summer edition of Alert magazine, which publishes in May.
