Recovery of a branded concession in special measures
Sector: fashion retail concession · Period: March 2017 to January 2018 · Led by Julian Britain
A branded concession had fallen into special measures on sales and standards. A focused turnaround restored performance and took the team to the brand’s highest recognised standard within a year.
A branded fashion concession had been placed into special measures by the host brand after a sustained period of underperformance. Sales were well below target and a store audit score of 13% pointed to serious gaps in standards, process and team management.
A concession in this position typically has one opportunity to prove it can recover before more serious action is taken, so the turnaround needed to show clear progress quickly.
We rebuilt daily standards and store routines against the brand’s own audit criteria, so the team was working to the exact standard it was being measured on rather than a general idea of good practice.
Sales activity was refocused around the product and service behaviours that actually drove conversion in that concession, with regular coaching to embed the changes rather than a one off briefing.
Team performance and morale were rebuilt alongside the operational changes, recognising that a special measures process is demoralising and recovery depends on people as much as process.
95%
Sales recovery within the first year
13% → 83%
Store audit score improvement
Gold standard
Team reached the brand’s gold standard and was recognised in its global top 30 manager awards
- Audit against the exact criteria the business will be judged on, not a generic standard.
- Pair operational fixes with ongoing coaching so improvements are embedded, not a one-off effort.
- Rebuild team confidence deliberately, since a special measures process affects morale as much as performance.
Full Case Study
Download the full write-up as a PDF
Save or share the complete case study, including the background, the approach and the results in full.
The engagements below were led by founder Julian Britain.
Other Case Studies
Digital Publishing & Media
Commercial reset for a print-led publisher
A specialist publisher reliant on print advertising needed a route back to sustainable new business. A focused digital and CRM reset delivered new revenue within six weeks.
Read MoreField Operations & Retail Support
Scaling a nationwide field operations team
A field operations provider needed to grow quickly to deliver a major new contract, without losing control of cost, quality or compliance.
Read MoreE-commerce, Furniture & Logistics
Cutting damage, errors and call times in online furniture retail
An online furniture retailer was losing money and customer trust to transit damage, order errors and slow customer service. A methodical review of suppliers, packaging and process brought all three down together.
Read More
Could Your Business
Be Next?
If any of this sounds familiar, we'd welcome the chance to talk it through with you.