This guest blog was supplied thanks to Irena Lane of Live Lagom, an independent fashion retailer who is also the Independent Christmas campaign local activation partner for London Southbank…
JOIN US FOR SEASONAL CELEBRATIONS: Christmas Shopping Crawl at Gabriel’s Wharf and Oxo Tower, Southbank, SE1 9PP, 12th Nov – 24th Dec and enjoy a Glamorous Christmas at Southbank – Bargehouse, SE1 9GY, Sat 24th Nov, 4-9pm. Shop local this Christmas for unique gifts and fashion treats.
The ideal destination – Christmas Shopping in London, Southbank
Independent boutiques not only offer the opportunity to find something special but you will also enjoy the experience more as the service and attention to detail will be tailored personally to you.
Gabriel’s Wharf is the ideal location for festive fun and shopping, the picturesque square between Waterloo and Blackfriars Bridges has a fabulous atmosphere and is framed by a wonderful selection of boutique shops with a variety of products.
Oxo Tower Wharf is another such place offering quirky shops on several floors with fashion, jewellery, home-wares and affordable art.
Support local businesses whilst also doing your Christmas Shopping!
Supporting local businesses is an important and worthwhile activity, knowing you are helping business owners and their teams, but also the local community, improving the local economy and therefore making a big difference where it’s needed most.
On average, of every pound you spend in your local independent shops around 50p goes back into the local community, whereas only around 5p makes its way back when you buy from retail multiples.
Making Christmas shopping fun – take part in a Christmas Shopping Crawl!
To add a little fun to your visit complete our Christmas Shopping Crawl between 12th November and Christmas. Visit all of the participating shops and you will be in with a chance of winning a goody bag full of surprises donated from the stores at Oxo Tower and Gabriel’s Wharf. The prize fund is growing every day and so far includes jewellery, clothing, accessories, shopping and discount vouchers.
Have a Glamourous Christmas at Southbank!
On Saturday 24th November between 4pm – 9pm, join us for a Glamorous Christmas at Southbank. The participating retailers are taking over the ground floor of Bargehouse at Oxo, SE1 9GY for a mini Christmas Market, which will culminate in a fabulous Fashion Show with clothing, jewellery and accessories from the independent shops at Oxo Tower and Gabriel’s Wharf. A bar will offer guests festive drinks and Christmas themed music will provide the wonderful atmosphere.
The event is free for all to attend, but donations are welcome in support of Coin Street Community Builders and Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.
Independent retailers in the Southbank Christmas Shopping Crawl include:
Gabriel’s Wharf: Studio ½, London Bicycle, Mikala Djorup, Ganesha, Skylark, LAGOM, Heads Rule Hearts, Pie Minister, Henrietta Park, Jianhui London, Vendula, Elf, Funki Fresh
Oxo Tower Wharf: JeDeCo, Skylark 2, J-Me, Suck UK, Annie Sherburne, Wagumi
From everyone at Lagom and on behalf of the Gabriel’s Wharf and Oxo Tower boutiques, we look forward to seeing you and celebrating the festive season with you.
For further information, please contact Irena Lane on irena@livelagom.com or 020 7928 4050.
About Clare Bailey
Clare Bailey, The Retail Champion (formerly Clare Rayner), is one of the most well-known and respected retail experts in the UK. With unrivalled knowledge in retail, high streets and consumer matters, she offers unbiased, independent content – whether engaged as a professional speaker, for broadcast media, or for a written feature.
Clare is a business woman, entrepreneur and founder of several small businesses. Having been born into a family of successful business owners, it was inevitable that she’d eventually jump off the corporate treadmill and step out on her own! Today her brand portfolio includes The Retail Champion, The Retail Conference, the Future High Street Summit and the Support for Independent Retail campaign. In addition, she is co-founder of Mobaro Retail UK and a non-exec director of Beed Virtual Assistant Services.
Having started her career as a fast-track store management trainee for McDonalds, she went on to work with leading retailers such as M&S, Dixons and Argos. She moved swiftly into management roles before being headhunted into senior consulting roles with global software giant SAP, and international management consulting brand, Accenture.
Her corporate background in senior retail, consulting and technology roles, coupled with her experience of creating and running her own business, has enabled her to be equally capable whether consulting to global brands or micro businesses. This unique blend has not only positioned her as a leading expert in all things retail, but has enabled her to add meaningful commentary and insight to the debate around the future of the high street, and, how technology is driving fundamental change in the way consumers, and businesses, interact.
Clare has become an influential voice in her field, which has resulted in her becoming a regular media contributor and sought-after conference speaker. Often seen on Good Morning Britain, BBC Breakfast, Sky News, and Chanel 5 (to name a few), Clare speaks on a myriad of retail, high street and consumer issues – but is particular adept when it comes to explaining the context behind retail trading results, newly released data, and government stats, in a palatable and informative manner.
In addition to broadcast and conference speaking, Clare is the proud author of two best-selling business books published by Kogan Page - The Retail Champion: 10 Steps to Retail Success, published July 2012 and How to Sell to Retail: The Secrets of Getting Your Product to Market, published February 2013. She has provided contributions to various academic texts, including Retail Marketing Management (published by Pearson).
With an engaging, conversational yet informative style, Clare writes for press and content agencies, providing features, articles, blogs and opinion pieces as well as contributions to white papers and reports.
However, when the situation demands a more serious style, Clare can deliver - In 2016 she wrote an extensive report for a major insurance and risk law firm, as a retail expert witness, to support a public liability suit. She found that project particularly enjoyable as it played well to her strengths – assimilating large amounts of data and information, identifying the key points and articulating that in an understandable manner.
When not on TV or speaking at conferences, Clare’s “day job” sees her supporting consumer-facing businesses through her consultancy services.
When asked to describe what she most loves about retail consulting it is typically the opportunity to “dig deep”, getting “under the bonnet”, in order to leverage the business data to uncover the insights that lead to “lightbulb moments”. She also loves working on business change programmes that centre on improving the processes and systems to increase profitability by supporting more rapid, better informed decision making, improving the customer experience, or simply by become more efficient and streamlined. In this respect she considers herself a “business engineer” with a brain that works like a relational database! Due to her years of experience, her logical, objective approach, her quick, rational thinking, she is known for being able to cut through complexity, seeing right through to the crux of issues, finding creative solutions that others may have overlooked.
As if all that wasn’t enough, Clare is a working mum, juggling a home life in rural Lincolnshire with her partner, their 5 kids, 4 cats, and geriatric Labrador!
For all enquiries, contact Clare directly on 01727 238890 or email champion@retailchampion.co.uk.
Independent Retail 