COMMUNICATION
MATTERS
Edition 20
The quarterly in-house newsletter of SATCoL
June 2014
It’s why we do what we do...
As the company rebrands, introducing the new black shop fascias across
the country, we thought this 20th edition of Communication Matters was
the perfect opportunity for a redesign to match. For the keen eyed you
may have noticed the new fascia and World of Sound mixing desk above
and some newly redesigned division logos at the bottom of the page.
This edition follows the annual company conference which this year
had the theme It’s why we do what we do... On 18 March shop and Area
Managers travelled from all over the country, along with head ofice
staff, to the Sheraton Skyline Hotel near Heathrow where delegates
had the chance to hear about what The Salvation Army does with its
donations from SATCoL. Guest speakers included Major Anne Read from
Anti-Human Traficking, Major Margaret Hardy from Family Tracing
Services and Lieut-Colonel Ivor Telfer, chairman of SATCoL.
Ex-professional tennis player and broadcaster Andrew Castle kept the
day on track as master of ceremonies and concluded the day with a
pre-dinner talk.
Exceptional efforts from all of the company’s shops resulted in some well
deserved awards, presented by Andrew Castle and, as we found out in
Trevor Caffull’s talk, a substantial proit for the year.
Evening entertainment was provided by singer Faryl Smith, whose father
Tony works for SATCoL, and SATCoL’s own Richard Phillips provided
the accompaniment. The conference provided an enjoyable day for
all with some informative and moving talks on the fantastic work that
The Salvation Army does every day. Without the support of SATCoL,
The Salvation Army wouldn’t be able to help as many people across the
globe as they do now. With such a large proit for 2013-14, the company
has been able to help the work of The Salvation Army even more. Keep
up the good work and remember: It’s why we do what we do...
For more details and photos from the conference please turn to
pages 14-17.
Neil Brownless
Communication Matters Editor
TRADINGMATTERS
Welcome!
Nick Morton, Head of Retail Operations, reports:
As 2014 moves almost stealthily into June, I am already relecting on
what has been achieved so far this year. The more obvious thought
that springs to mind is the work we have been doing in the shops to
review and change the way in which we price our goods. Ensuring
that we continue to offer the best prices on the high street is
obviously key, but a sensible approach to inding the right levels is
much harder to do than to talk about. I am however delighted with
the work that has been done so far. I want to thank all shops for their
focus and energy as they continue to make the adjustments that will
ensure we remain competitive with all other charities operating with
shop chains.
There are now over 10,000 charity shops in the UK raising over £200
million pounds proit for their respective causes. Our contribution
of £3 million pounds last year may seem small in the bigger picture,
but rest assured that it is a signiicant amount when put into context
with the number of shops we operate.
We are the 12th largest chain of charity shops in the UK and our aim
is to break into the top ive because it is important that the name of
The Salvation Army continues to be seen everywhere by everyone.
Shops provide the very best form of advertising because they are
there all year round.
Open Your Hearts & Wardrobes
By the time you are reading this we will have launched our irst big
donations push for 2014 with our ‘Open your Hearts & Wardrobes’
campaign. Launched in early June the campaign is designed to run for
eight weeks until the school holidays start. As part of the campaign
we’ll be promoting our theme with posters and strong ‘reasons to
give’ messaging and will also give away fridge magnets to all customers
who donate or make a purchase in the shops during June and July.
If you want to open your wardrobes and help out our local shop in
Wellingborough we would love to receive your clothing donations
at the ofice. For more information and to collect your fridge magnet
please let us know (retail ofice opposite the board room) you have
made a donation and we’ll let you have a fridge magnet as our way
of saying ‘thanks’.
Going the Extra Mile
After hearing a talk given by Major Anne Read at this year’s company
conference,Wellington Shop Manager Elaine East took part in a walk
to raise money for The Salvation Army’s ‘Stop the Trafic’ campaign.
Elaine walked an incredible 65.4 miles raising £420.00 which she sent
to Major Read in support of the campaign.This amazing achievement
was supported by staff from the company along with further
support from Oakengates corps and Elaine’s local church where she
worships. A massive thank you to Elaine for her sterling effort. (I
understand that Elaine set her walking target at 60 miles because she
was celebrating her 60th birthday this year – but in any event she
continued for a further 5.4 miles. I think that is the true deinition of
‘going the extra mile’!) Find out more on page ive.
Arbroath Heroes
Finally, we have some true real life heroes in Arbroath where some
timely intervention helped to prevent a serious medical emergency.
Tess Beal, mother of the infant affected wrote in North Scotland
DHQ Facebook;
Tess Beal – ‘I would like to say a huge thank you to Debra and the
team in the Arbroath store today. My little girl collapsed, was sick
and took a seizure while shopping and they were very fast in phoning
an ambulance and keeping my darling and myself as comfortable as
possible. Their response was wonderful and heartfelt and I cannot
express my gratitude enough. Thank you!’
At a time when we are asking our customers to open their Hearts
and Wardrobes it is truly wonderful to see such acts of support and
kindness from our staff who have such big hearts.
Thank you to each and every one of you who cares so deeply and
passionately about the way in which you support the cause. Whether
it be saving a life or walking to save lives, everything needs heart and
that is something we appear to have in abundance.
TOP 6 SHOPS
ACTUAL VERSUS
BUDGET %
1 *St Ives
58
2 Coatbridge
54
3 Prestwick
31
4 *Bilborough
27
= Evesham
27
6 Hanley
26
7 *Leighton Buzzard
23
= Longton
23
9 Outwood
21
10 Highcliffe
= *Loughborough
18
18
12 South Shields
17
= Long Eaton
17
14 Brechin
16
= Cumbernald
16
= Dumfries
16
17 St Andrews
14
= Airdrie
14
= Pickering
14
20 Newmarket
13
= Leith
13
= Forfar
13
23 Birstall
12
24 Leven
11
= Wigan
11
= Ryde
11
* New shops opened in March and April
TRADINGMATTERS
CENTRAL SOUTH
Ace Volunteer!
Area Manager, Julie Wardley reports:
William Starck has been a volunteer in the Ipswich shop for over
three years. His loyalty and commitment to the shop and staff has
New Shops
been invaluable and Manager Becky said; ‘I would not want to be
without him. When William irst started with us as a volunteer he
was very nervous, a young lad with long hair, very little dress sense
and no self conidence. He quickly became part of the family team
and with his desire to learn more about our business, has become
greatly valued by us all.’
William recently became a key holder and has keenly taken on this
responsibility. Not only does William cover the shop when needed,
he also plays an active part in training new volunteers and sorting, is
the best re:bag seller, and will put his hand to anything asked of him.
But to top that William placed four re:ill bins in one day!!!!
Thank you William!
Cluster Manager Julie Jordon and assistant Tracy Fairbrass (above)
enjoyed a very successful opening of the new St Neots shop.
Although it was a very low key opening, with Trevor Caffull leading
a prayerful blessing before the doors were open, customers were
soon lowing through the doors and buying many of the fabulous
items on sale.
Julie and Tracy have had a very busy time as both were involved in
the opening of St Ives 4 weeks earlier. Both shops are doing well, we
welcome Julie and her staff to the company and wish them all every
success.
St Ives shop, brandishing the new Black and red signage
Ace Volunteer William Stark
TRADINGMATTERS
SOUTH LONDON
Area Manager, Justin Frost reports:
Busman’s Holiday?
At the start of April I had the opportunity to visit my sister in
California for the irst time in eight years. Anybody who knows me
will understand I was told that under no circumstance was I to take
my work phone or laptop and to just relax.
I just ‘happened’ to pass one of the huge Salvation Army Thrift Shops
and I couldn’t resist! I thought our Leatherhead shop was a good
size but I could have it about 10 of them into this shop! It was huge
and everything was done on a grand scale. 17 paid members of staff,
nine full time, no volunteers (the Manager looked at me as if I were
mad when I mentioned volunteers) and approx. 3200 items going
onto the shop loor EVERY DAY! However, it must be said that the
items were already sorted, priced and hung for them in a local hub
and they turnover $2.4 million a year! It is the largest turnover shop
in The Salvation Army Western Territory and it was not dificult to
see why.
Justin and Becky
Donors were literally queuing at the rear loading bay, car after car
turned up with everything bar the kitchen sink, although I’m sure
they probably would have had one somewhere in the warehouse!
I was there for around an hour and within that time three huge
Salvation Army branded trucks turned up full of collected door to
door items. Big business.
The huge Thrift Store loor
Stephanie the Manager was very pleasant and we chatted for a long
time about how each other’s businesses differed. The one thing
though that was clearly the same, was the end result. The passion
that her team demonstrated in the quest to help others was fantastic.
As this visit was literally a couple of days after I had attended our
conference it was very heart-warming to be 6000 miles away and
speaking to someone with the same goals and the same mission.
Wicked West Wickham Win (A)Wards!
I was very proud to see West Wickham not only win the area
award at this year’s conference but also the South Regional one.
However, no one was more proud than cluster Manager Julie Reid
who delivered on every KPI across the board. Julie, her assistants
Sharon and Sandra, and the army of volunteers that seem to grow
every time I visit, have ensured that they make the most out of every
bit of stock and every customer that walks in the door. Thoroughly
deserved and congratulations! Same again this year please, no
pressure eh?!
Manager Stephanie (right) and one of her assistants
West Wickham Winners
TRADINGMATTERS
MIDLANDS
Area Manager, Jayne Sargeant reports:
Cannock Shop
In the last edition of Communication Matters we printed a photo of
an empty room. Well folks this is what it looks like inished.
60 Miles in Elaine’s Shoes
On hearing at our yearly conference about
what fabulous work The Salvation Army
does in ighting human traficking one of
our Managers, Elaine East, decided to do
a sponsored walk around her favourite
holiday destination in Wales. Elaine was
60 this year so decided that 60 was a fabulous number and the 60
mile challenge was set!
Here below, in Elaine’s words, is how the three days were achieved:
The opening of Cannock shop brought the number of shops up to
17 in the Midlands, clustered with Rugeley. New full time general
assistant Katie Ward has lots of energy and hopes once volunteer
hours improve we will have a great community store. Supported
by Major Nigel Govier each week with visits and corps volunteers
turning up weekly, this small store will go from strength to strength.
‘I started in Llanbedr at 7.20am and headed for Barmouth, by the
time I reached Barmouth I was wet through to the skin. It was
there I met a lady who, when she found out I was on a walk for The
Salvation Army, gave me a donation for the walk. When I reached
Barmouth my heels were very badly blistered, so I plastered them up
and carried on. I went over the main Barmouth Bridge and headed to
Fairbourn. I realised I couldn’t stop or I would not get going again, so
tried to drink a cup of tea on the move…more went down me than
down my throat. I then started the return journey, but was in real
pain going back through Barmouth toward Llanbedr. On returning
to my friend’s house and taking my boots off my socks were soaked
in blood and the blisters were very deep.
Day one – 24 miles.
Lichield Store
A new store in Lichield opened up with the local corps band
supporting the opening. A high value of clothing into this small 1800
unit holding did Manager David Underwood and new Assistant
Manager Denise, clustered Burton on Trent, very proud.This saw the
shop inish on £2929 for the opening week! Some great comments
in our desk comment book ‘we have been waiting in Lichield for a
high quality charity to arrive and today we have one’.
All I could think about was how was I going to do tomorrow, but
I bandaged my feet up and got blister plasters on, and the next day
went off to start the Mawddach Trail walk which is from the mountain
to the sea. It got easier as the day went on and with the sun out the
views were brilliant, I kept my eyes on the bridge as that is what I
was heading for. Once again through the town and up the coast road
back to Llanbedr. Now my hip started to play up.
Day two over, and another 20 miles under my belt.
I started late the next day but headed in the other direction as I went
up to Harlech and down on to the beach. It was easy going along the
5 miles up to Talsuarni and the beach was deserted, but with my head
phones on it was well worth the walk. On past Portmerion and then
time to return, it was good going back as it was all downhill!
Band playing for the Lichield
opening (above) and the shop’s
boutique area (right)
The shop is also supported by Major Nigel Govier who has already
recommended new volunteers to Lichield – shop number 18 for
the Midlands.
Well done to the shop opening team for getting both new stores
ready in ive days.
On getting back I felt really chuffed as I had managed to complete
it all in the three days, but I did another 5 miles the next day up the
Artro river just to make sure I had really done over the 60, as this
was not just a walk for me but it was what people were giving money
for to help to stop human traficking.’
All the Midlands staff are very pleased in Elaine’s achievements and
the cheque has been sent to give continued support to the fantastic
work The Salvation Army does day in day out. I do know Elaine has
always supported The Salvation Army but I am sure you all agree this
single act is one to be admired. Well done Elaine!
6
TRADINGMATTERS
CENTRAL NORTH
Area Manager, Christine Westwood reports:
Two New Shops
Central North has been busy with another two shop openings, one
on 20 February in Stafford and pictured below is Major Samuel Edgar
who opened the shop. To the left of the picture is Cluster Manager
Mike Payne, who has been promoted within the company from a
stand alone Manager. Well done to Mike.
Longton’s winning window
Pictured below is the bedroom scence that our new Manager Emma
Sutton created to help increase her sales of linen and nightwear.
Emma and her team worked hard on decorating the windows,
making stencils and even making a bed. Great work Emma I’m looking
forward to what you come up with next.
We also opened on 25 March a shop in Loughborough which was
opened by our very own Regional Manager, Jill Sansom. I would like
to say a big welcome to our new sales assistant Samantha Smith.
Keeping it in the Family
May was a month to celebrate for myself as we welcomed a new
addition to our family, my beautiful daughter Amy gave birth to a little
girl on 10 May (day after her own birthday) weighing 7lb 2oz called
Mia Samantha Rutter.
Jill Sansom opening the Loughborough shop
Easter Windows
April was a busy month with all shops decorating their windows
ready for the Bank Holiday Easter weekend. The Central North
winning window was from Longton, with Maureen and her team of
volunteers decorating baskets and promoting re:bags as well.
Mia with her
proud nana (above)
and parents
Amy and James (right)
TRADINGMATTERS
NORTH EAST
Area Manager, Anthony Cummings reports:
A Sad Farewell and a new Beginning
In May Wendy Glaister-Smith, Area Manager for South Tyneside,
sadly took the decision to leave the company. She had worked with
Salvation Army Trading Co Ltd for many years, starting as a Shop
Manager, then Cluster Manager and inally as an Area Manager in
South Tyneside.
Wendy and myself have worked together for many years and seen
a lot of changes, watching the company grow from 40 shops to
over 180. It felt at times as if the only thing we were doing was
shop set-ups!
A farewell party was held for Wendy in the North Shields shop
attended by Managers from the whole of the North East and
needless to say some tears were shed!
The North and South Tyneside areas have now been condensed
into one area and re-named North East area, and my challenge is to
ensure that the new area is the best performing in the company.
I have inherited, from Wendy, some excellent shops and, together
with my existing shops, I hope to take the area forward and give all
the Managers the support and encouragement needed to achieve
their targets and goals for the coming year. We can be the best!
Julie Durnion, Cluster Manager for Wallsend,Whitley Bay
and North Shields and Diane Bailey, Manager, Redcar
receiving their rosettes for their shops from Anthony and Wendy.
Shop of the Year Award Winners
Congratulations to the North Tyneside shop of the year winner –
Whitley Bay, and the South Tyneside shop of the year winner –
Peterlee. Very well done to both shops who achieved and surpassed
their sales budgets in a very hard trading year.
The awards were made at the recent shop Conference and given
to the top shop in each area throughout the country. Although
the Managers collected the awards on behalf of the shops, a huge
thank you must also go to the staff and volunteers in each shop,
as without their hard-work, enthusiasm and commitment to the
Salvation Army Trading Company, the shops (and company) would
not be achieving the success that it is doing today.Very well done to
both shop teams!
This year the two areas have merged into the North East area and as
there can be only one area winner of Shop of the Year, the challenge
is quite simple. Who will be top shop this year? Will it be you?
Improving Your Local Corps Partnership
The Newcastle upon Tyne, Clayton Street shop, recently unveiled
their new notice board which is speciically for the use of the
Salvation Army Corps based in Gateshead.
Wendy with the North East team. L to R: Jill, Susan, Jackie,
Geraldine,Wendy, Leanne, Zoe, Sheena, Sharon, Diane and Julie.
Easter Window Competition
Winners of the North and South Tyneside best dressed Easter
window competition were Wallsend and Redcar. The Managers are
pictured being presented with the winning rosettes for the excellent
displays created in their shops.
The shop and the Corps recently rekindled their working relationship
after a new oficer took over in Gateshead and the local Corps
building had a major reit and rebuild. So it seemed sensible that
the shop had a new notice board itted to help promote the Corps
events and facilities at the new site.
I sent the Corps the picture of the notice
board, being very professionally modelled
by sales assistant Hazel Graham, Newcastle,
and they were extremely happy with how it
looked and the response they’d had from it.
Sometimes even the simplest things just help
to keep that bond going with the local Corps.
Many thanks to Jonathan Peacock who very
kindly brought the notice board with him and
put it up before attending a meeting.
TRADINGMATTERS
YORKSHIRE
Area Manager, Linda Mayers reports:
Open Your Hearts & Wardrobes
Below is Birstall’s ‘Open Your Hearts & Wardrobes’ window where
the staff have put in a lot of effort to make their window vibrant
and appealing. The aim of this national campaign is to encourage
people to have a wardrobe clear out and donate their unwanted
clothes, shoes and accessories to their local SATCoL charity shop.
The donated items can then be put to good use supporting The
Salvation Army’s valuable work helping those in need in communities
across the UK.
Dinnington’s World Cup window
World Cup Fever
The World Cup this year is being hosted by the glamorous city
of Rio de Janeiro, but behind the glitz many people live in terrible
poverty in the city’s suburban slums, called Favelas. The Salvation
Army is doing vital and fantastic work in the middle of a village, Vila
dos Pescadores which translates as ‘Fishers Village’. As the World
Cup kicks off in Brazil football fever hits shops across Yorkshire who
have shown their support by decorating windows with lags, bunting
and shirts from around the globe. Anything ‘football’ has lown out
of the shops over the last week or so as customers get in the mood.
One England shirt has been sent all the way to an avid supporter in
France – Come on England!!!
Shefield Staniforth Road’s display
Meet re:bag Ruby
Staff at Hoyland enlisted the help of ‘re:bag Ruby’ asking their
customers ‘Clearing Out? re:bag It!’
Ruby looking glamorous with her top knot and feather duster!
Swinton lying the lag for England
Meanwhile Clara Wilcox, the new Manager of Dinnington Shop,
enters into the swing of things with an apron made from a re:bag
and a poster encouraging customers to buy ‘the bag that pays you
TRADINGMATTERS
back’. Clara says “Customers think they are a great idea being a large
handy shopper as well as a strong bag they can use to bring in their
donations – the £2 incentive is a real added bonus!”
uniforms, photos of tanks and planes and portraying the local
community hit hard during the Blitz, it generated a lot of interest
and was a talking point for many locals. We will remember them.
Now for something completely different....
Yorkshire is very much on the national scene at the moment with
the start of the Tour de France in Leeds on Saturday 5 July. Yorkshire
folk are very proud of their Heritage – why not try this traditional
recipe for Yorkshire Pudding:
Beat 300ml Milk; 110g Plain lour; 1 egg and a pinch of salt in a bowl
briskly and leave to stand. Place oil, lard or dripping in your chosen
cooking tray and heat in an oven at 425F/gas mark 7. Make sure you
let the oil or fat get nice and hot. Some people like to make lots of
small individual puddings and others like one large pudding.
Clara Wilcox in her re:bag apron
D-Day Commemorations
Passers-by in South Elmsall could have been forgiven for thinking
they had travelled back in time to 1944. The Salvation Army shop
window paid tribute to World War Two Veterans in recognition of
the anniversary of the D-Day landings. With its display of vintage
The secret of a good Yorkshire pudding is to get the oil or fat as hot
as possible before pouring in the mixture. Cook for 20-30 minutes
checking periodically. A traditional Yorkshire Pudding fresh from the
oven should be well-risen, golden brown with a crisp exterior and
soft middle. Enjoy with a rich onion gravy and lashings of Henderson’s
Relish!
South Elmsall’s D-Day display
0
TRADINGMATTERS
LANCASHIRE
Area Manager, Ann Penny reports:
Ladies Day at Ellesmere Port
Ashton-under-Lyne and Hyde re:bag Events
Ashton-under-Lyne and Hyde shops held re:bag events in February
and were very successful, with Ashton selling 34 re:bags and Hyde
selling 44 re:bags on the day. Ashton’s team created a superb re:bag
window and Angela, who is a volunteer in Hyde, created her own
re:bag outit to promote re:bag day. A fabulous effort and results by
both shops!!
Ellesmere Port
window display and
handbag display
Ellesmere Port held a Ladies Day Event on Saturday 3rd May to
coincide with the annual Boodles May Festival held in Chester.
Fascinators, hats, shoes and handbags galore brightened up the
window and shop loor. Ladies enjoyed the array of colourful
dresses and designer hats we offered on the day. One young lady
from Ellesmere Port said: “I love Ladies Day, for me it’s the highlight
of the year”. She was delighted that she could purchase her whole
outit for under £30. Wendy ‘GaGa’ added “I love getting dressed up,
I love the glamour, I absolutely love it. There is a bit of competition
between the girls on the day, especially in terms of the hats, but it’s
a good-natured competition”. The weather didn’t dampen the good
spirit of the day. Many customers complimented us on the displays
and the vibrance and quality of garments on offer.
Angela’s re:bag outit
Ardwick’s Easter Windows
Ardwick’s shop won the area rosette for the Best Dressed Easter
Window and was also awarded the regional winner rosette from
Jill Sansom. Joyce Rock and all her volunteers worked very hard to
create this lovely window and were thrilled to win both the area and
regional rosettes.
Ardwick’s superb Easter Window Display
Wendy ‘GaGa’ and the Ellesmere
Port hat display
Manager Joyce with volunteers Liz and Eddie
TRADINGMATTERS
GREATER GLASGOW
Area Manager, Alan Rankin reports:
A New Cambuslang
It was a great day when the Cambuslang community got to see their
local shop, which they have supported truly over the years, re-open
with not only a fresh new look but lots more space made available to
show off the vast variety of goodies available. Elaine (Shop Manager)
said ‘ It’s brilliant to see the shop look the way it does, the customers
love it’.
Rebecca being presented with Rosette and Chocolates
from Alan Rankin (Area Manager)
Saltire Rewards
It was quite an achievement for young Graham Crossbie, a volunteer
within our Earl Grey St shop, when he recently attended the Saltire
Awards ceremony, a national organised programme that recognises
the efforts and hours contributed by young people within the local
community.
Elaine and her team preparing for the shop opening
with one thing on their mind ‘re:bags’
A Happy Farewell
It was smiles all round when everyone was saying farewell to Maureen
Barrett who was retiring from the Dalry Shop after 20 happy years
of volunteering. Many people turned up to say goodbye, including
Head of Retail Nick Morton, who personally turned up to thank
Maureen for the contribution she has given over the years.
Graham and two other young volunteers from other charity sectors on
stage awaiting their award certiicates
Bellshill Warehouse
A huge congratulations to Bellshill Warehouse Manager Frances
Kerr and driver Mark Stephen, both passed their fork lift driving test
with lying colours and are now the proud holders of a full forklift
driving licence. The warehouse has recently undergone a reit and
looks fantastic.
Nick presenting Maureen with her bunch of lowers
Success Rewarded
It was a nice surprise for Rebecca Mayo (Manager) when she was
presented at Scotland Central’s recent area meeting for Best Cluster
Performance YTD on the company KPIs, where she has managed to
deliver a positive result in every one of her KPIs in both shops.
Mark and Francis with their fork lift licenses
TRADINGMATTERS
SCOTLAND WEST
Regional Manager, Nicola Crawford reports:
Pop Up Events
Pop up events have been the talk of the area and two stores have
already made their mark!
Renfrew held a wedding event in the irst week of April to help with
inspiration and ideas for upcoming weddings. The stock had been
collected over a number of weeks and meticulously catalogued and
stored by the team & volunteers at the store.
Renfrew Toy Window
Prestwick held a vintage event on Saturday 10 May. The team were
dressed to impress and made the most of the day by engaging with all
customers who walked through the door. As with Renfrew the event
has had the magic touch, sales are up a phenomenal 46% on budget
and units are up 28% on last year – well done team Prestwick!
Renfrew’s wedding event
Renfrew also gathered their toys & games to build a fun
illed window for Easter. They’re deinitely doing something
right as sales are up 10% on budget and units are up 7% on
last year – well done team Renfrew!
Prestwick’s vintage event
Team Prestwick in vintage clothing
TRADINGMATTERS
SCOTLAND NORTH
Area Manager, Arlene McKenna reports:
Dumfernline Double
Top Area Sales
Pictured below is Manager Debra Navin, happily receiving her award
for top area sales. Debra unfortunately missed the conference due to
bereavement. Area Manager Arlene McKenna presented Debra with
her award at the Managers area meeting. Debra’s dad was always so
proud of what she does for a living, and rightly so as Debra accepts
her award on behalf of herself and her team.
The Dunfermline duo strike again! Anne Neil and Michelle Bird
(above) did a fantastic job of the Easter windows in the Dunfermline
store. Not only did it win the area rosette but also bagged the
regional rosette too for the second time. The Dunfermline store
pulled off this triumph with their efforts made with the Christmas
window last year. There’s no stopping the team in Dunfermline, their
talents seemingly endless. Let’s see if they get a hat-trick.
Debra accepting the top area sales award
from Area Manager Arlene McKenna
Dumfernline’s winning window
I’m happy to say the whole area team made my choice very dificult
with some amazing windows to choose from.
Medals for Angela
Angela Rennie has been volunteering in the Forfar store for four
years now. Angela took part and won medals in the Special Olympics
last year and also won two medals at the Dundee Disability Sports
last week. She scooped up a Bronze and Silver for soft ball and 60
metre run respectively.
Angela proudly showing off her medals .
A Comfy Sale
The Arbroath store received a fantastic donation of a remote control
bed. When the store Manager called to say the bed had been sold
for £300, I honestly thought I might need a lie down! A very happy
customer, Nick the Salvationist who sells the War Cry in Arbroath
town centre, purchased the bed.This gives Debra a great start of the
year sales igure to help her on her way to winning the award for
top area sales again at next year’s conference. Debra’s Area Manager
is dreaming about her acceptance speech while typing this piece.
‘I know you’re impressed with the clever play on words’. I on the
other hand will be impressed if I do have to help Debra with her
acceptance speech.
An Elegant Donation
Thanks to the supreme, and I do mean supreme efforts of full time
sales assistant for Coatbridge, Lillian Seel, using her powers of
persuasion, a local business, Touch of Elegance donated all of the
left over stock from their gift shop that closed down last month. To
date the stock has raised about £1000 in turnover. Lillian and her
volunteers carried all of this stock by hand, in boxes, trolleys and
by any means they could, working out of trade hours just to collect,
organise and set up took hours of work. Manager Isobel Murdoch
is really impressed with all of the effort and hard work the entire
team have put in to make this happen.The igures for the Coatbridge
store are sitting at a very healthy +49% against budget and +49%
against last year. Keeping in mind Coatbridge won the Company top
store award for sales and are now topping last year’s igure of +33%
against budget and +27% against last year. A huge well done is well
deserved by all.
CONFERENCEMATTERS
SATCoL CONFERENCE
Communication Matters Editor, Neil Brownless reports:
On 18 March 2014 staff from all departments of SATCoL travelled
to the Sheraton Skyline Hotel near Heathrow Airport for the annual
company conference. This was the irst time the whole company
had got together for a conference since the 20th anniversary of
the company in 2011. The hotel proved to be the perfect setting
with a spacious conference room, excellent food throughout the
day, friendly and helpful staff and, for those that stayed, comfy and
welcoming rooms.
‘The Venue for the conference this year was very nice. The rooms were
exceptionally comfortable and classy looking, with tea and coffee available
This was the irst conference for a number of staff, in particular
members of the new Yorkshire region who were introduced to us at
the start of the day. The latest shop opening was also acknowledged,
Cannock store in Staffordshire which opened the week before
the conference. Trevor got the day moving with his company-wide
update on the ‘state of the business’.
Company Update
Two weeks before the end of the inancial year was certainly an
odd time to have a conference but the company was still on a irm
footing to end the year with an above budget proit. This could not
have been achieved without the hard work of every employee in
all departments so the company bonus scheme paid out at the
maximum level.
and the lovely touch of shampoos etc to use. The actual hotel was very
impressive, regarding its superb cleanliness and its professional and polite
staff who were there to help on all occasions. It was also very easy to navigate
around this hotel.
The conference room was excellent and had suficient space for us all which
was really nice. I prefer it when we are all together rather than having split
rooms. Another very good point of this hotel was the lack of noise that
could be heard from outside, despite there being an airport runway very near
to our location. In fact there was no noise disturbance of any description
unless you were outside, which we were not. The food was my favourite
part of this hotel, serving an amazing buffet lunch, evening meal and breakfast
which were all exceptional.
The only comparable venues I have been to in the past for the company were
a hotel near Luton, and Head Ofice, and I preferred this venue. I hope in the
future we can again have a conference at this hotel, and I will remember to
bring my swimming costume next time.’
Rebecca Mutimer
Shop Manager of Ipswich
After a short safety brieing from the hotel the conference began and
we were welcomed by Managing Director Trevor Caffull. As a lifelong
Salvationist Trevor has always been passionate about supporting the
work of The Salvation Army but, as around 95% of people in the
room were not Salvationists, the conference was the ideal platform
to learn more about the work of the wider movement. It’s why we do
what we do was chosen as the theme for the day to relect that the
better we perform as a company, the better the charity is supported
through our efforts.
New Yorkshire Managers are welcomed
This outcome was achieved across the three divisions of the company.
Here are a few of their successes:
SP&S
•
94.25% of our customers rate our service as good to
excellent
•
Uniform supply has been maintained against some very
dificult market conditions
•
Customer returns rates (all reasons) have reduced
dramatically from nearly 8% to less than 2%
Retail Division
•
Like for like sales have risen by 1% year on year
•
Cluster management introduced in all but about 35 shops
across the business
•
Yorkshire Division shops – vastly enhanced proitability
Clothing Collection Division
•
Volumes collected up nearly 5% on last year
•
Export prices maintained
•
Nigel Hanger succession assured
With the recession and the decline of the high street, many shoppers
turn to the internet for their shopping. As a company we need to
move with the times and we were shown three ideas for smart phone
apps that could be used to place SATCoL into the digital world. We
were shown a World of Brass app, which is a digital version of the
catalogue with the ability to click on CDs and DVDs for a sound or
video sample. The second app was of a similar design but this time
for the SP&S catalogue. The third app was for the retail division. It
had a clickable map of the UK to ind your closest Salvation Army
shop and when you clicked on each shop it showed you what it was
selling on its ebay page. This could become a fantastic resource for
the company to help boost sales even more.
Another thing helping SATCoL to achieve such a high proit is the
retail gift aid scheme. In 2013-14 the company achieved an average
of 13% of sales on gift-aided products. This means an extra £500k of
sales are generated without selling any extra goods! Some shops are
working at a fantastic 30% of sales on gift-aided products however
CONFERENCEMATTERS
some shops are only working at 5%. The scheme takes very little
effort and if every shop can increase their gift aid sales, we can
double our performance in this area and generate an extra £500k
for The Salvation Army – why wouldn’t you want to do that?!
‘When I returned from the SATCoL conference 2014 I felt a great satisfaction,
it was a really great conference. The choice of venue was brilliantly thought
out from the conference room to the location. It provided us all with an
ideal platform to network with senior management and Managers from other
Eliza Armstrong was bought to expose how girls at the time were
being sold into prostitution. After her ‘purchase’ Eliza was sheltered
in a Salvation Army home in France from her parents. From this The
Salvation Army set up safe houses for women who were vulnerable
and victimised. Since 1 July 2011 The Salvation Army has been the
prime contractor for managing the support of adult victims of humantraficking in England and Wales. The service supplies support and
secure accommodation to help stop people being sold into sexual
exploitation, forced labour, slavery and to have organs removed.
regions enabling us to share new techniques and processes and how we can
apply them to our shops.
The hotel itself was a high class and stylish business environment which
catered to all our business needs. The staff were polite, helpful, and friendly
which added immense value to the venue, coupled with being able to offer
appealing and appetising food and drink to the attendees.
The conference itself was informative, senior executives delivered the
company statistics over the past year, highlighting outstanding achievements
and best practices in business planning to improve performance for the future.
The idea of employing the celebrity speaker Andrew Castle was certainly an
excellent way of keeping the audience engaged and keeping things lowing
professionally, he was witty and charming. Listening to the guest speakers
The next speaker was Major Margaret Hardy from The Salvation
Army’s Family Tracing Service. In 1882 the irst advert for a missing
boy appeared in The War Cry. As more families despaired about
missing family members William Booth set up a House of Help and
Enquiry in 1885. Florence Booth started the work as Mrs Booth’s
Enquiry Agency to help families locate their missing relatives. Fast
forward to today and the Family Tracing Service have an 88.5%
success rate in reuniting missing family members, that’s eight people
successfully traced every working day of the year! Margaret told us
some very emotional stories about separated family members being
reconciled. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
give us an insight in ‘why we do what we do’ was wonderful. I think we were
all touched by the presentations on Family Tracing Services and Anti-Human
Traficking. I felt totally empowered by watching these videos because it will
inspire us all to continue to do what we do to help transform lives.
I started to relect on why SATCoL was a good organisation to work for.
They invest in their staff because they believe we are their biggest investment,
allow us to feel more integrated into our professional roles as Managers and
reward us for our abilities and our contributions to the company. Believing
when we are recognised for our efforts, we will also continue in our desire
Major Margaret Hardy
to excel and motive others around us.’
Debbie Morris
Shop Manager of Ellesmere Port
Guest Speakers
Trevor handed over to our master of ceremonies for the day,
ex-professional tennis player and BBC tennis commentator Andrew
Castle. Andrew directed the day keeping everything on track and
introducing us to the guest speakers. First to speak to us was Major
Anne Read from the Anti-Human Traficking department.
Due to the retirement of Nigel Hanger, founder and Managing
Director of Kettering Textiles, the company put in place a plan for
succession over the last two years. As part of this Tony Hosking
joined the company in October 2013 and now takes over as Head
of the Clothing Collection Division. Tony gave us a brief talk on his
plans to increase collections from the kerbside, collection banks in
supermarket car parks and community re-use initiatives.
Tony Hosking
Major Anne Read
Anne told us about the work that The Salvation Army does to stop
victims of human traficking being bought and sold as ‘things’. In 1885
Lieut-Colonel Ivor Telfer, chairman of SATCoL, delivered the keynote
speech for the day. This was Ivor’s irst company conference and sadly
his last as he is being posted to Pakistan as Territorial Commander.
Starting with a joke Ivor continued on to tell us some stories about
6
CONFERENCEMATTERS
his experiences of the work and kindness of The Salvation Army.
This included a story about his father taking in and caring for Archie,
an alcoholic, helping him through his time at a Salvation Army Detox
centre and putting him on a path to sobriety. He started attending the
local corps, and after a few months became a soldier. He later met a
nice girl, got married and had two sons. He is still sober, married, still
a soldier and both of his sons have grown up and got good jobs. The
money SATCoL raises helps pay for this kind of help.
the efforts made by shop staff to help raise funds. It was lovely to be able
to congratulate the winners of the awards on their achievements and
to be able to put faces to names too!
The guest speaker was former tennis player Andrew Castle who was greeted
favourably - mainly by the ladies (now there’s a surprise!) His stories of
time spent as a sports personality and later as a presenter on ITV’s GMTV
were very entertaining, albeit a little risqué in places. A few eyebrows were
certainly raised!
Once again the wonderfully talented Faryl Smith provided the musical
entertainment. Her angelic voice was certainly one of the highlights of the
evening and gave me a real lump in the throat moment!
To sum up, this was an excellent conference with many emotional highs. I’m
looking forward to the next one already... and could I selishly request that
it’s at the same hotel please!?’
Marie Boulton
Cluster Manager of Cosham, Gosport & Waterlooville
Lieut-Colonel Ivor Telfer and Andrew Castle
After a break Andrew Castle regaled us with stories of tennis victory
and, with the help of Ivor Telfer, demonstrated the ball throw that
made him realise when it was time to throw in the towel as a pro
tennis player. Earlier in the day Andrew had mentioned one of his
ancestors, Annie Besant, had played a large role in the matchgirls
strike of 1888. In his evening talk he showed us a video, kindly
pointed out to him by Garry Smith, about how Catherine Booth
worked to help improve conditions of the matchgirls and get rid
of the toxic yellow phosphorous that was being used on the match
heads. Andrew was very moved by all that he heard of The Salvation
Army’s work throughout the day and was delighted to ind this family
connection to the charity.
After the talk from Andrew Castle we were served a delicious dinner
of soup, pork belly and pannacotta. During this we had entertainment
provided by surprise guest singer Faryl Smith who, as a friend of
Nigel Hanger, wanted to help the company wish him a fond farewell.
Faryl’s father Tony works for SATCoL and she was accompanied by
our very own Richard Phillips on the piano.
Faryl Smith and Richard Phillips
‘This year’s conference was held at the Skyline Sheraton Hotel, Heathrow.
This venue was excellent! - It was almost like a mini break sitting around the
pool and certainly the best in my ive years with the company.
The conference was titled It’s why we do what we do and the topics covered
made it into a very emotive day.
Anti-Human Traficking Co-ordinator Major Anne Read really enlightened
me about the work that the organisation does with regards to this subject.
Company Awards
Rewarding shops for achievement and excellence has become an
integral part the annual conference. Formally presented to best
performing shops in retail conferences, the winners this year were
proudly presented awards by special guest Andrew Castle and rightly
paraded for recognition by all who attended the conference.
We all see reports on the news but to hear about it from someone with
irst-hand experience really brings the scale of the problem home. From July
to December 2013 399 people received support from The Salvation Army.
These were victims of domestic servitude, labour or sexual exploitation. It is
hard to believe that in the world we live people still use other human beings
in this way for their own gain!
The awards fell into three categories; best area performance, best
regional performance and best in the company. A further award
for outstanding achievement was also presented and this award
recognised the shop team that achieved across a number of
performance areas.
Major Margaret Hardy spoke to us about the work undertaken by the Family
Tracing Service. This is another arm of the organisation that has touched the
lives of many people world-over. Watching a ilm featuring two reconciliations
brought tears to my eyes and made me relect on my own personal story.
With the help of the service, a relative was recently traced after losing touch
with other family members for 47 years following a re-location abroad.
On a closer to home note Lieutenant-Colonel Ivor Telfer spoke about
The area winners were announced one by one by Andrew Castle
and asked to step up and receive their awards which were then
presented to the Manager by Lieut-Colonel Ivor Telfer before posing
for a photograph with the award alongside Lieut-Colonel Telfer and
Andrew Castle. Hearty congratulations to;
Ipswich (Central South Area), Ryde (South Coast Area),West
CONFERENCEMATTERS
Wickham (South London Area), Rugeley (Midlands Area), Long Eaton
(North Midlands Area), Peterlee (South Tyneside Area), Whitley Bay
(North Tyneside Area), St. Helens (Lancashire Area), Largs (Scotland
West Area), Coatbridge, (Glasgow Central Area), Gorgie Road,
Edinburgh (Scotland East Area), Arbroath (Scotland North Area),
Pickering (North Yorkshire Area) and Staniforth Road, Shefield
(South Yorkshire Area).
‘On the morning of the conference the Greater Glasgow area met bright
and early for their light. We lew with British Airways and to our pleasure
we received a breakfast. When we arrived at the airport we travelled by bus
to the hotel which was very nice but the rooms were nicer. I was looking
forward to the conference as it’s nice to meet staff from other areas, and
head ofice, and put faces to names.The guest speakers were motivational and
emotional, it’s good to ind out what The Salvation Army do. In the evening we
all prepared for dinner and I found myself at the top table with Trevor, Nick,
Next up were the regional winners. These shops were the best sales
performers in their respective regions and taking to the stage to
receive their awards were; Sally Whitlow, West Wickham (South
Region), Isobel Murdoch, Coatbridge (Scotland Region) and Linda
Mayers, Area Manager, representing Angela Housley of Staniforth
Road, Shefield (North Region) who was unable to attend on the
day.
Ivor, Alan, Shirley, Andrew Castle (of GMTV fame), Claire and Anita. It was a
most enjoyable evening. On the whole I found the conference motivational,
educational and some parts emotional.
Oh and did I not mention I went up for three awards; best in area, region and
company. The staff and volunteers in Coatbridge were very proud to be the
triple winner. I can’t wait to do it all again next year.’
Isobel Murdoch
Cluster Manager of Airdrie & Coatbridge
There can only be one winner though and the Shop of the Year
Award for best sales in the company was presented to Coatbridge.
For the third time in 30 minutes, Isobel Murdoch was asked to step
forward to receive the shop award for a magniicent performance
which resulted in the shop exceeding its sales target by an incredible
35%. Many congratulations to Isobel and her team at Coatbridge.
‘Meeting all the staff from head ofice was a strange and interesting
experience, being able to put a face to the name that you only normally see
at the bottom of an email but actually feeling as though you know them, it
was a real pleasure to meet them all.
I thought the introduction of a guest speaker was a stroke of genius and
there was a lot of speculation beforehand as to who it might be. Andrew
Finally, there was just one award left to make, the Outstanding
Achievement Award. This deines the shop team that has proactively
managed and achieved in a number of business objectives including
providing a high level of customer service measured by the
achievement of re:bag sales, gift aid sales, re:ill bin placements, sales
performance... to name but a few. It takes leadership and focus to
fulil the business objectives and Bellshill, managed by Anita Hughes,
led from the front for the entire year and very deservedly were
awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award. The Bellshill shop is
no stranger to awards having picked up ive ‘best in’ awards over
the last three years – an outstanding achievement by any standards!
Congratulations to Anita and her team.
Castle was an interesting surprise, he made everyone at ease and kept things
interesting.
It was also very interesting to hear and see the actual facts and igures for the
company as a whole rather than just our region. I found it particularly helpful
meeting other cluster Managers from other regions and sharing experiences
with them which made me realise that we all have the same challenges and
situations within our stores. The presentation of the trophies made me feel
really proud of my fellow cluster Managers and also inspired me to try extra
hard so that maybe next year I could win one.
I thought the whole conference was excellent and very informative and a
pleasure to be part of. I can honestly say I am very proud to be a SATCoL
employee. I came away with a renewed excitement about the job and I enjoy
it more now than ever. Roll on Conference 2015!’
Who will be the award winners next year – check back this time
next year to ind out!
Award winners 2013-14
Nicola Jackson
Cluster Manager of Ashton-under-Lyne & Hyde
RECYCLINGMATTERS
News from the Clothing Collection Division
Head of Clothing Collection Division, Tony Hosking
reports:
Royal Navy Recycles its Unwanted Clothing
Earlier this year we joined forces with The Royal Navy & Royal Marines
to encourage textile recycling among staff at four of its naval bases
across the UK.
Five specially designed SATCoL clothing banks have been placed at
HMS Nelson, HMS Excellent, HMS Collingwood and HMS Sultan for
staff, friends and family to bring their unwanted clothing and textile
items.
Money raised from donations will be shared between the Royal Navy
& Royal Marines Charity, to help provide a better quality of life to
serving and former naval service communities, and The Salvation
Army, to help fund its vital social welfare work throughout the UK and
Republic of Ireland.
Recycle With Michael continues to grow
So far in 2014, we’ve been working closely with local authorities across
the country to expand our growing schools recycling scheme, Recycle
With Michael. Since its launch in 2012, we’ve received a fantastic
response and we’re pleased to have brought plenty of new schools on
board since January.
Haveley Hey Community School in Wythenshawe, Manchester, is just
one of the schools promoting the beneits of textile recycling through
the scheme. A colourful clothing bank branded with the fun kid’s
recycling champion, Michael, was installed at the school last month to
encourage clothes recycling and raise money for The Salvation Army
alongside the school’s chosen charity, UNICEF. To launch the scheme,
the school hosted a special clothing collection week leading up to
UNICEF’s national Day for Change on Friday 7 February. Each week,
pupils at the school are given SATCoL recycling bags to take home and
load up with any unloved clothes to donate to the bank at school.
In March and April 2014 an impressive total of 515kg of unwanted
clothing was collected across the sites.
Local Holiday Resorts Recycle Over 60kg of Textiles
Last year we teamed up with Haven Holidays to place banks at its
holiday sites across the country. Staff and holidaymakers have been
donating their unwanted clothing and textile items to the banks at 34
of the leisure company’s sites across the UK.
Naomi Woodstock, Head of Publicity at Haven, hopes the partnership
will continue to raise high levels of money for charity: “As part of our
environmental strategy, we were keen to reduce our levels of textile
waste and SATCoL offered a partnership we could really engage with
and it’s also helping us to reach our fundraising goal of £300,000 for
BBC Children in Need.
Children from Haveley Hey Community School
In November last year, eco-friendly school Rice Lane Infant and
Nursery became the irst school in Liverpool to sign up to the Recycle
with Michael scheme. After publicising the scheme in its newsletter,
the school has already collected 302kg of donated items, and the
funds raised will be put towards refurbishing the playground. Tracy
Parry, Deputy Head Teacher at the school, said: ‘The scheme supports
our whole school ethos of reduce, reuse and recycle. The school
councillors have driven this initiative to develop awareness of green
issues.’
Recycle With Michael allows schools to encourage textile recycling by
taking a hands-on approach, whilst raising money for their school and
The Salvation Army.
Haven Holiday’s Clothing Bank
‘The SATCoL bank gives visitors and staff at our sites across the UK
a safe and reliable way to recycle their unwanted clothing and other
textile items including household linens and clothing, while helping
to raise money for two worthwhile causes. We have many families
who enjoy visiting their caravans throughout the summer and the
opportunity to recycle using the SATCoL bank helps give a real sense
of community.’
Zero Waste Scotland – Resource Conference
In March we travelled to London to attend Resource – a major
European conference and exhibition about realising the opportunities
of a circular economy. The event was aimed at organisations from
throughout the entire supply chain looking to develop better resource
strategy and security. We were pleased to have the opportunity to talk
about SATCoL’s work to representatives from local authorities, the
private sector and even the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary
for Rural Affairs and Environment. The three-day event was well
attended and the SATCoL stand received a lot of positive interest.
CONGRESSMATTERS
Boundless 0
Next year will see the 150th Anniversary of the founding of The
Salvation Army and the organisation’s leadership has announced that
there is to be a celebration to mark the event at the O2 in London
from 1 to 5 July 2015.
Garry says: “this is a really exciting project and I’m delighted to be
involved. We will be taking over an 1800m2 area at the O2 called
the London Piazza and trading from 08.00 to 23.00 for the duration
of the Congress. We’re currently talking to a number of potential
suppliers to build our pop-up shop and also looking to expand our
range of goods to appeal to the full range of international visitors.”
Salvationists from 126 countries will unite under the theme,
BOUNDLESS: The Whole World Redeeming, and SATCoL has
accepted the invitation to run the Congress shop for the duration
of the event.
He continues: “I am so grateful for everyone’s support and
encouragement so far on this project and there is ample opportunity
for others to get involved at the event itself as we will need a large
and enthusiastic team to deliver this project successfully.”
This event is on a much larger scale and of a different nature to
anything the company has handled before and so an external Project
Manager has been brought in to co-ordinate our work for this event.
The person in question is Garry Smith who is no stranger to SATCoL
having worked with the company a few years ago looking at their
corporate vision and values. Garry is a Salvationist from Chelmsford
Corps where he has just been appointed as the Corps Bandmaster.
He is an experienced Project Manager, having previously worked as
Director of Research & Development for the UK Territory.
If you’re interested in
getting involved, Garry can
be contacted on:
[email protected]
Boundless 2015 is happening at the O2 Arena with SATCoL trading in the London Piazza
0
PEOPLEMATTERS
First Class First Aid
Congratulations go to Neil Brownless, Ali Pearson, Teresa Souch,
Nigel Anniwell and Christopher Taylor who all recently qualiied as
First Aiders. A big thank you to the group for volunteering to train
as irst aiders and then well done for all gaining the qualiication with
lying colours.
Christopher, Ali, Nigel,Teresa and Neil with their certiicates
Denington Road First Aiders:Zoe Cleaver
ext 410
Neil Brownless
ext 484
Teresa Souch
ext 447
Nigel Anniwell
ext 609
Christopher Taylor
ext 203
Tiverton Street Shop:Ali Pearson
CCD
World of Sound
Mail Order
Warehouse
Accounts
ext 281
Good luck to you all in the future and let’s hope your new found skills
are not called upon.
David Hannah
New Staff at HO
In the last few months we have had some new staff at head ofice, here
is an introduction to our new members of the SATCoL family.
Leighanne Bell – Reception
I started working for the Salvation
Army Trading Company at the
end of March this year. Although I
have only been here a short while
I feel I have settled in well. Being on
reception at irst was quite daunting
as I did not know people or their
departments very well, however
with the help of each department, I
learnt fairly quickly how to deal with
each phone call or query in a manner that presents the company
admirably. Being the receptionist here isn’t the mindless job that so
many think it could be. Aside from taking phone calls I have many
other things to be doing throughout the day such as sorting the daily
post, iling, labelling, shredding and archiving documents for various
departments. The role has lots of administration qualities which I
enjoy as it helps me build up my own knowledge of understanding of
how each department operates, as well as helping them. Personally my
interests include photography and design, so although I am a creative
individual, I ind the administration within my role very interesting. I
am initially quite a shy person, however when I started working at
SATCoL I felt very welcomed and comfortable with talking to lots of
different people, improving my self conidence.
Anabel Kanjurs – Human Resources
I am the Senior HR Administrator
working in the Human Resources
ofice
in
Wellingborough.
Previously I have worked in HR for
Tesco and the Austin Reed Group.
More recently I have taken a few
years out to look after my three
young children. I live in Market
Harborough and enjoy spending
time with my family, running and
going to the gym.
John Clayton – Websites Manager
I’m John Clayton, Websites Manager, in charge of redeveloping our
presence on the world wide web, amongst other things. I spent the
last 10 years honing my skills up on the Shetland Islands so nothing the
weather throws at me down here will ever phase me.
When not working on websites or writing code, I cook Indian, Thai,
and Mexican food for my family – wife, ive kids, two cats, and ive
chickens. As a through-and-through geek I’m a big fan of Dr Who
(as my desk will testify), Star Trek and Firely. I’ve played Dungeons
and Dragons on and off for 30 years and don’t understand sport. I
sing in the Greenwood Quire and am – slowly and painfully – learning
the Mountain Dulcimer so I can join in the folk music sessions in my
local tavern.
PEOPLEMATTERS
PENSIONMATTERS
Double Surprise for Denise Waterson at the Glasgow Shop
Denise Waterson was 60 on 26 May. The staff at the shop put on a
surprise birthday party on Saturday 24 May. It was a double surprise
on the day as Jill Sansom, Regional Manager decided to join the party.
Auto Enrolment
New Pension Reform
Pensions & Welfare Manager, Lynn Barker reports:
Happy Birthday Denise from all of the staff and volunteers at
Glasgow.
You are in!
I am pleased to conirm that 364 eligible employees were automatically
enrolled into The Salvation Army Employees Deined Contribution
Pension Scheme, provided by Friends Life.
Denise Waterson (second from the left) and staff at the Glasgow shop
Double Celebration in Accounts
Here at SATCoL we like to take every opportunity to
appreciate people.
As I write this, it is June 2014 and it has been two years since I joined the
company. I feel so privileged to work here and especially to work with
my colleagues in Accounts. Mandy Dowell became Ofice Manager for
our department on 5 June 2013 so as a double celebration I took the
opportunity to have some cakes made for us.
The payments into your pension pot will be:•
1% of your pensionable salary by way of your
contribution of 0.8% of your pensionable salary and the
tax relief will be 0.2% of pensionable salary. This will be
taken directly from your pay.
•
SATCoL’s contribution is an amount equal to 2% of your
pensionable salary
On your payslip, the igure you will see is your contribution and
the tax relief added together. You will also see the Company’s
contribution on your payslip.
You will receive a statement each year from Friends Life showing
how much your pension pot has built up so far and the possible
potential beneit when you reach the scheme’s pension age.
If you so desire, you can have an inluence about how your pension
pot is invested. You don’t have to, but have the option if you so
choose.
More information on the scheme can be found in the Member’s
Booklet and Fund Guide which have already been given/sent to
you.
Mandy inherited a challenging role here as the company continues to
grow and prosper, each day brings us new challenges.
As I begin my third year I am looking forward with expectation and
excitement with what we all can achieve.
Christopher Taylor
WORLDOFBRASSMATTERS
European Brass Band Championships 0
Recording Projects Coordinator, Neil Brownless reports:
At the start of May Scotland hosted the European Brass Band
Championships in Perth Concert Hall. This is an event that is
recorded every year by World of Sound to be released on CD and
DVD by World of Brass. This year’s event saw the introduction of
a live internet stream which was sponsored by British Bandsman,
Yamaha and the Scottish Brass Band Association. This enabled
people unable to attend the event to watch live in the comfort of
their own home.
People from all over the world tuned in to watch the live stream
hosted by percussion virtuoso Simone Rebello. Between band
performances Simone interviewed various people at the event
including; conductors Russell Gray and Philip Harper, composers
Phillip Sparke and Jan De Haan, and SATCoL Managing Director
Trevor Caffull amongst others.
People tuned into the live stream from 20 different countries with
the top four representations being:
- Great Britain (31%)
- Norway (18%)
- Netherlands (14%)
- Switzerland (13%)
There were even viewers tuning in from the Northern Mariana
Islands and Ghana!
Feedback of the streaming was positive with viewers wanting to see
more brass band events streamed. Watch this space...
In Perth World of Brass also had a trade stand open over four days
where a batch of new releases from Black Dyke, Cory, Foden’s and
The Household Troops Band were popular. Brass band enthusiasts
from all over Europe came to visit the stand. For some kilted fans it
was right on their doorstep.
The Highlights CD and DVD of
this year’s event will be available
from World of Brass soon.
Look out for the European
Brass Band Championships
2015 being held in Freiburg,
Germany.
Map of live stream viewers
WORLDOFSOUNDMATTERS
Studio Upgrade
Senior Recording Engineer, Adam Goldsmith reports:
sounds current and fresh. We’re very proud of it and are hopeful that
it opens up a new avenue for both our studio and the SP&S label.
The recording studio here at Wellingborough has recently undergone
a major equipment overhaul to ensure we keep up to the very latest
standards.
The World of Sound studio is now entirely digital with a fantastic
sounding new mixing desk and a brand new mac-based ProTools
system. That may not mean much to most of you but trust us, it puts
us right at the forefront of the recording studio market and we’ve
already started to see the results!
Our philosophy has always been to concentrate on great sound and
getting the best out of musicians. The new set-up is based around
quick and powerful computing power as well as fantastic sound and
this enables us to open up the scope of what we can deal with in the
studio. The irst project was certainly a good test! Having worked
some very long days and nights to ensure the new equipment was
installed, tested and working in time, we had musicians arrive from
Los Angeles and around the UK ready for probably the biggest studio
project we’ve ever taken on.
21st Century Gowans and Larsson is an album of ‘big band’ style
arrangements of songs from old Salvation Army musicals. Recorded in a
very contemporary way, each section of the band recorded separately
to a click track before adding the 16 piece choir and featured vocal
soloists. An entire week of long recording days resulted in a CD which
Recording musicians for the
Gowans and Larsson project
The other high proile use of the new studio has been the world’s
best and also best known a-cappella vocal group, The King’s Singers.
The group had speciically asked to come back to our facility after
recording here a couple of years ago for SP&S. This time it was for
their usual label, Signum records, and they really took advantage of the
studio situation. With double-tracking, overdubbing and an extensive
mix-down process they really wanted that ‘studio’ sound and we
delivered it! The album is due for release in October and will be
called Postcards.
We at World of Sound are very grateful to be part of SATCoL and the
ability that brings to stay ahead in our market. This latest development
is one that opens up a very bright future indeed!
World of Sound’s new Studio Control Room
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31/08/2012 16:33