Paul and James Rice have their eyes firmly fixed on the future of the family-run retailer, having just unveiled the company’s new five-year business plan and mission statement to its 40-strong management team at the inaugural Hugh Rice conference.
That might sound like a huge management team until you consider the company’s network of ten stores including three multi-brand stores and seven Pandora-branded concept stores.
“Sharing the strategy and vision of our company with our colleagues has encouraged ownership and genuine excitement,” says Paul. “We are also launching the Hugh Rice Academy and hope to have 100 sales colleagues participating by the year-end.”
This inhouse training programme will bolster substantial investment already made in externally facilitated training, which has been generating exceptional feedback. Meanwhile, James was lifted by the opening of the company’s latest store in Harrogate, which he says demonstrates the culmination of hard work and dedication across the Hugh Rice family.
Hugh Rice has made key appointments across all departments, while online sales have been driven by the launch of a new responsive website in September, which points to the increasing importance of mobile devices as a sales device.
As a proud Yorkshireman, James singles out the recent announcement that Hull – where Hugh Rice has a Pandora concept store – will become City of Culture in 2017 as a personal highlight of the year, describing it as “a chance to show Hull in the best possible light, with events like the Turner prize already announced as part of the events calendar.”
