Paper No:

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND CHANGE

END OF PROJECT REPORT

Project Title: Forum

From: September 2010 To: May 2012

Author: Debbie Collins

Creation Date: 08/05/2012

Last Updated: 20/07/2012

Version: 0.2

Change Record

Date Author Version Change Reference

16/05/2012 Debbie Collins 0.1 Initial draft20/07/2012 Debbie Collins 0.2 2nd draft

Distribution

Copy No Name Location

1 Gill Preston Change Team2 Jilly Court Campus Services3 Phil Rees-Jones Campus Services

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Contents

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................................................................................................32. PROJECT OVERVIEW...................................................................................................................................................................4

2.1. Introduction...................................................................................................................................................................42.2. Project Objectives..........................................................................................................................................................52.3. PROJECT IN DETAIL.................................................................................................................................................................62.3.1. Project scope.............................................................................................................................................................62.3.2. Changes to scope.......................................................................................................................................................72.4. PROJECT RESOURCES...............................................................................................................................................................8a) Staff...................................................................................................................................................................................8a) Finance..............................................................................................................................................................................8b) Support & Training............................................................................................................................................................8

3. ASSESSMENT OF PROJECT DELIVERY...............................................................................................................................................93.1. Did the project meet its objectives?...............................................................................................................................93.2. Benefits........................................................................................................................................................................103.3. LESSONS LEARNT..................................................................................................................................................................12a) Positive lesson learnt.......................................................................................................................................................12b) Constructive lessons learnt..............................................................................................................................................12c) Opportunity log...............................................................................................................................................................13

4. OUTSTANDING ISSUES...............................................................................................................................................................145. CONCLUSIONS......................................................................................................................................................................... 15

a) Acknowledgements.........................................................................................................................................................15

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1. Executive Summary

The Market Place was a £500,000 project to create Campus Services a retail shop within the Forum for the University. The retail store, the “Market Place” opened in line with the Queen’s official opening of the Forum in May 2012.

The brief was to create a new and innovative retail store to complement the Forum development and the University’s top 10 aspirations.

Objectives

The 3 main project objectives were as follows:

1) To open the “Market Place” retail shop in January 2012

2) To achieve target turnover and gross profit

3) To offer a quality experience for customers that matches the aspirations of a “Top 10” University

The scope of this project included the following elements:

Shop design specification, Stock, Sales targets, managing a 3rd party provider tender, market research, staffing , marketing, communications, transition planning.

Project resources

The EDS project manager was the only resource expense borne by this project.

Campus Services have agreed to make a contribution towards the refrigeration of £20,000 which will adequately cover the budget deficit of £16, 497.

Benefits

The first 4 weeks of trading saw a surplus of £16,710 above the budgeted turnover.

Main lesson learntWorking on a site managed by a main contractor on a project of this scale meant that all delays were cascaded and there were too many unresolved issue late into the project.

Opportunities

There are opportunities to develop the delicatessen range, improve the point of sale visibility for advertising special offers and to generally expand the business further as it becomes increasingly embedded.

This project was delivered on time, on budget, the quality and design of the shop complements the Forum project as a whole.

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2. Project Overview

2.1. Introduction

The Forum building offered the opportunity to replace the existing shop with a new shop of a significant size, in a high profile building, with a high footfall.

On 21st September 2010 the Campus Services management team presented a business case and a formal presentation to VCEG. The presentation was to bid for the opportunity to manage the 403 sqm retail space.

The business case included a thorough comparision between an in house operation and a 3 rd party provider; it was decided to use an in-house provider because the operation would offer the University increased financial return, it would be a more flexible retail model; able to respond to the changing needs of customer more effectively. An RFA for £483,000 was authorised to fund the project.

The brief was to create a new and innovative retail store to complement the Forum development and the University’s top 10 aspirations.

The concept for the new store was based on the following criteria:

A mini department store knows that customers’ needs vary from students, staff and visitors to different tastes, religions and cultures

Customers can pop in for a meal deal for lunch or treat themselves to something special from the delicatessen

A strong focus on green miles and local foods, keeping the carbon footprint to a minimum

A modern approach to shopping, this new store will set itself as a template for other university retailers who want to set themselves apart from the crowd

Offering University of Exeter a point of difference with a unique and forward thinking concept, whilst many Universities are choosing to welcome high street retailers

The business objectives for the new store concept were based on the principles set out below which tie into the university’s values:

Experience

Drawing on the knowledge and expertise of the experienced retail team at the University

Continuous Improvement

Better products, great service and innovative store design

Proactive

To meet the challenges of retailing today, by keeping ahead of the competition and listening to the customers

Innovative

Flexible and forward thinking in design, approach and technology

Quality

Freshness and value for money 4

Service

Professional, friendly, prompt and efficient

Feedback about the appearance of the shop and of the product range has been very positive; many customers have compared the Market Place with Waitrose.

2.2. Project Objectives

The 3 main project objectives were as follows:

1) To open the “Market Place” retail shop in January 2012

2) To achieve target turnover and gross profit

3) To offer a quality experience for customers that matches the aspirations of a “Top 10” University

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2.3. Project in detail

2.3.1. Project scope

This project covered the following elements:

1. Specification – Shop fitting design and requirements

2. Stock - reviewing existing stock lines and suppliers

Sourcing new suppliers

Set up new supplier accounts

Create merchandising plan

3. Sales target – creating realistic sales target based on:

Historic sales information

Increased shop floor size and footfall

4. 3rd party provider - Book service

Tender for book service provider – online and “pop up shop” provision

Contract negotiations

Service levels agreements

Customer service facility in the Market Place

MCR Systems

The install of Epos tills in line with the Epos Project roll out

The creation of the products on the supplier’s database

The installation and set up of scales

5. Market research – capturing customers’ needs

Forum Retail Show – Supplier trade show – customers were able to try samples of food and vote on products they would like to see in the Market Place

Big Wave Media carried out a survey that check the planned product range was correct and asked questions about the usage of the existing Bookshop

The Guild ran a survey on Campus Services’ behalf to ascertain students’ views on the 2 colour schemes – the favoured scheme was implemented

6. People

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Policies, procedures and roles

Staffing establishment

Recruitment and training

7. Marketing

Internal signage

External signage

Launch plan

Point of sale template (Pos)

8. Communications

Market Place Website

Book service communications to all stakeholders

9. Transition planning

Closing the portacabin

Stripping the portacabin

Transferring stock

2.3.2. Changes to scope

The decision not to provide a traditional bookshop as part of the Forum initiated a tender process that sought an online service licence as opposed to a lease.

The online service will be supported by: Jilly Court, on behalf of Campus Services, Jess Gardener, to chair the Book Retail Review Group and Alison Ramsden, to manage communications.

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2.4. Project ResourcesThe EDS project manager was the only resource expense borne by this project.

a) Staff

Project Role Name Days required or % of time

Project Board Jilly Court (Project Sponsor), Phil Rees-Jones, Mat Blee and Gill Winsor, Bernard Ireson

Fortnightly meetings (1hr)Bernard Ireson (20 minutes)

Project Manager Debbie Collins 50% fte

Project Manager - EDS Bernard Ireson 10%fteRetail Services Manager Mat Blee October 2010 – May 2012

12%April 2012 100% fte

Market Place Manager Gill Winsor October 2010 – May 2012 12%

April 2012 100% fte

a) Finance

No. Item Budget Actual Variance 1 Shop fitters £182,533 £448,514 - £37,4822 Electrical £70,734 Included in No. 13 Mechanical £88,328 Included in No. 14 Refrigeration contribution £40,739 Included in No. 15 Refrigeration connections £16,000 Included in No. 16 Network £2,698 Included in No. 17 Signage £10,000 Included in No. 18 Project fees £71,968 £50,559 £21,4099 Other costs £0 £424 £424

Total £483.000 £499,497 £16,497

The variance in the Shop fitters costs (No.1) were due to additional costs for specialised configuration of the refrigeration. Campus Services have agreed to make a contribution towards the refrigeration of £20,000 which will adequately cover the variance.

b) Support & Training

All new staff have undertaken their mandatory training

Red door customer service training had to be postponed because of bereavement in the team. Discussions are underway to reschedule.

Future training needs will be met via the Market Place’s management team and the Staff Learning and Development Team

Epos training for new staff will be provided by the Market Place’s management team and/or the Epos Administrator

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3. Assessment of Project Delivery

The project objectives were as follows:

1) To open the “Market Place” retail shop in January 2012

2) To achieve target turnover and gross profit

3) To offer a quality experience for customers that matches the aspirations of a “Top 10” University

3.1. Did the project meet its objectives?

1) The Market Place opened on the 2nd May following the Queen’s official opening of the Forum

2) The first 3 full weeks of trading saw sales in excess of 25% ahead of budget. The following 2 weeks noted a deficit against budget due to the end of exams and the related decline of sales; however, a surplus of £16,710 above the budgeted turnover is still apparent.

It is early days but the Market Place is expected to meet financial expectations. (For further information about the budget please refer to 3.2)

3) The Market Place feedback is being captured by a touch screen in store, the criteria being used to measure success is as follows below and is being scored on a scale of “strong agree” to “strongly disagree”:

The store was clean and tidy

The store layout was clear

Staff were easy to find

Staff were friendly and helpful

Displays were well stocked

There was plenty of choice

Everything I wanted was in stock

Everything was clearly priced

The deli counter looked appealing

Bakery products looked fresh

Special offers were easy to find

Checkout was quick and easy

And finally, are there any other products that you would like to see in-store?

To date, the Market Place has been scoring highly in the “strongly agree” and “agree” ranges, although customers feel that special offers were not easy to find. This has been flagged to the team by the Business Support Quality Coordinator.

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There has been some constructive feedback via the Forum Administration Team which related to the following: The 30 minute early closure of the market Place on Saturday 5 th May due to staff exhaustion and lack of

fresh food for sale. The lack of staff resource has now been dealt with and increased stocks of fresh food have been maintained since

The shop not opening on weekends out of term time. The demand for the shop to be opened on weekends outside of term was not considered great enough to warrant the associated operational costs. The service being provided by Costa was considered adequate to cater for the demand. Further feedback will be acquired on this matter and the opening hours will be given further consideration by the management team

The feedback offered via an Exepose article was in favour of the Market Place although they found the range too varied. The sales reports to date have found the ranges on sale to be well received. For those items that do not prove so popular the management information provided by the Epos till system will highlight this and those items will be replaced. Also regular feedback is gained from the customers to find out what is missing

3.2. Benefits

The Market Place is expected to deliver increased turnover of 30% and targeted g.p of 35% (an increase of 2%)

The turnover assumptions were prepared working on the previous store’s turnover (before the temporary shop), with the following considerations:

1. 10% increase on turnover per year between the store being demolished and the new store opening (in line with previous years turnover patterns)

2. Followed by an additional 20% increase due to:

a. Increased shop floor space of 248 sqmb. Longer opening hoursc. Rising student/staff numbersd. Increased footfall due to location and services in the vicinity

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The turnover for the remainder of this year has been pro rated

Updated Budget Term Vacation T/O p/w

Wednesday 2nd May-Friday 15th June 6.531,500.0

0204,750.0

0

Monday 18th June - Friday 29th July 615,000.0

0 90,000.00294,750.0

0

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3.3. Lessons Learnt

a) Positive lesson learnt

EDS support on a project of this scale with a main contractor and multiple subcontractors was invaluable because they understood how to manage a site within a building site and the related issues and regulations

The shopfitters PDS were second to none. Any issues were dealt with efficiently and effectively. They also supported the team with many deliveries that were outside of their remit. Would recommend PDS in future

The key suppliers merchandised their areas in the shop which took a lot of pressure off the retail team

The Epos information was added to the system on site which made it far easier to gather required data because all of the products and the related information was at hand

Holding retail shows and service trials were really invaluable to make sure we got things right, for example:

Hawkridge Farm was one of the suppliers that offered samples of cheeses and meats; they now supply the delicatessen counter and farmshop fridge. Also, the service trial highlighted that the shopping baskets with wheels were too heavy for customers to lift to the counter top and also damaged the counter surface

b) Constructive lessons learnt

Working on a site managed by a main contractor on a project of this scale had the following implications:

All delays were cascaded, therefore there was a need to be aware that dates are fluid and have a flexible project plan

It was not made clear at the start the implications of the University’s aim to achieve BREEAM excellence rating for the Forum. (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method)

This meant there was the requirement for the remote refrigeration to be connected to the Forum-wide heat exchange system; requiring specialised configuration and unbudgeted costs. There is a need to fully understand the expectations and implications at the outset to enable the creation of a more detailed design and build specification

The commissioning of the refrigerators was delayed by the main contractors and therefore operational issues were not apparent until the last minute. The knock-on effect was that the Market Place had to open without functioning freezers

Snagging issues were not remedied by the main contractor ahead of handover, therefore outstanding issues had to be escalated to the Campus Services Helpdesk, this has resulted in further delays (see outstanding issues p13) It would have been preferable for the main contractor to have dealt with the snagging issues ahead of handover or for Campus Services Helpdesk to have created specific SLAs relating to types of jobs and their related timescales for completion

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Other more specific project related lessons learnt were as follows:

The tender documentation for the shop fit out was very long winded and we had no bidders. Therefore the documentation had to be reconfigured to make it more users friendly. EDS were then able to run a competition between 2 preferred suppliers

Not all cost information had been added to the Epos (electronic point of sale) system and therefore there have been assumptions made when calculating g.p (5% of items lacking product data remaining as at week ending 2nd June) This was due to lack of resource available to input the information and also due to the fact that additional stock lines had to be introduced that hadn’t been accounted for. There is a need to ensure that future projects make allowance for additional resource to input Epos data

Some requirements seemed to have been “value engineered” out without consent, as a result additional power and network sockets have had to be installed since the store opened. Therefore it is essential to get regular updates of what’s in and what’s out

There was a lack of services in place at the customer service desk in time for opening. Royal Mail had given the impression that the parcel service was easier to manage than it transpired. The Dry Cleaning service was put on hold so they could be launched together, this probably looked worse than launching them independently

Recruitment was staggered to ensure that there were not too many staff employed as the University headed for the end of term, this had the adverse effect of overtired staff culminating with the store closing early on the 1st Saturday as the staff were too exhausted. More forward planning is required in future to ensure the availability of temporary support staff.

c) Opportunity log

The Market Place has development opportunities in the following areas:

Delicatessen

Product range - need to ensure the product range produces the sales and margins necessary to warrant the member of staff managing it

Opening hours and product range – eg. if it is only open at lunchtime then the products should be “lunch” specific, therefore products such as flapjacks should be in a grab and go fridge

Signage

Signage – the exterior shop sign as designed by Thomas Matthews needs further consideration because it doesn’t offer the same level of quality as the rest of the Forum signage. The materials used are transparent and therefore the lighting boxes they are mounted on are clearly defined. It would be advisable to find a material for the signage that would not become transparent

Point of Sale – Feedback has highlighted the lack of point of sale in place to advertise special offers. It is advisable for the team to use the templates created by Kate Concah to signpost special offers more effectively

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4. Outstanding IssuesThere are no on going operational costs that have not already been reflected in the Campus Services’ operational budgets.

The issues below were logged after the Market Place became operational and therefore all outstanding snagging issues must be raised via the Campus Services Helpdesk. Therefore the list below is to serve as a checklist to ensure these items have been completed.

Issue Proposed Action Responsibility CompletedEDSGoods lift handle broken Chase with CaS Helpdesk Gill WinsorDoor between shop & stock room squeaking Chase with CaS Helpdesk Gill WinsorDoor before staff entrance slamming Chase with CaS Helpdesk Gill WinsorFloor covering causing a trip hazard Chase with CaS HelpdeskKey lock to be added to the back door Chase with CaS Helpdesk Gill WinsorHandles to be added to the doors and the handle on keypads are being damaged

Chase with CaS Helpdesk Gill Winsor

Fire doors adjacent to the back to have openers on

Chase with CaS Helpdesk Gill Winsor

Market PlaceOpening times not advertised Meet with Kate Concah Gill WinsorPost office service not launched Launch service Gill WinsorNeed to organize a prep table for the kitchen

Liaise with Jenny Houghton Gill Winsor

Red Door Training was delayed need to re-book

Consult with Yvonne Pinto Gill Winsor

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5. ConclusionsThis project was delivered on time, on budget, the quality and design of the shop complements the Forum project as a whole.

The Market Place’s performance has exceeded expectations since opening, demand outstripped supply initially and the staffing levels required adjustment.

The next phase of staff recruitment is due to begin for the 1st term of 2012/2013 and the team now have 3 months to finely tune the offer in preparation for the new intake of students.

a) Acknowledgements

i. Project Board

ii. Others – Rob O’Connell: Epos Administrator

Author: Debbie Collins

Title: Project Manager

Date: 20/07/2012

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