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Retail Chaplaincy Network Meeting: Solihull 26 November 2008
About 30 retail chaplains met for the day at the Touchstone Shopping Centre.
In the morning there were three speakers:
Fiona from the John Lewis Partnership, anchor store in the Centre. She described how the company operates: all staff are known as ‘partners’ and they all have shares in the business. They are democratically represented at in-store forums where all policies etc have to be approved and adapted to local requirements before being implemented. The JL board itself is mainly ‘partners’ who have been promoted – the chairman is an ex counter-assistant.
Fiona and her colleague are ‘registrars’, whose role is to support and advise partners and to mediate in any disputes. The company will often take positive action to assist partners who may have got into personal financial difficulties. There are company holiday homes, sailing vessels, riding clubs etc where partners can enjoy discounted holidays.
JL have a Golden Jubilee Trust that is devoted to helping local charities. Some ‘partners’ can be released for 1 – 5 days a week for up to 6 months to assist these charities, and their jobs are covered and protected while they are absent. And all ‘partners’ are allowed to take 20 hours out every year to help with their own chosen charity.
The Solihull store has 700 staff and produces its own ‘in-house’ magazine.
JL has a staff turnover of about 15%, half of the retail average. It was interesting that although there are 14 voluntary chaplains in the town centre team none of them visits this store.
Tania from the Touchwood Centre told us that it is 7 years old and that most of her 60 original staff are still there. They are called ‘hosts’ and their aim is to make the centre a great place to work in and to visit. Lendlease, the operators, ask for chaplaincy on their building sites, and it continues once occupancy commences. They also have Quiet Rooms in all of their Centres. She values the work of the local chaplaincy team very highly, and also incidentally gave the JL Partnership a great tribute after Fiona had gone. She wishes that every store was run as ethically.
Solihull Council, College and the Town Centre partnership have 
worked on a training programme in ‘excellence in customer service’ which they hope will be centrally funded and available to all retail employees. (Assuming their employers permit them time off to attend!)
The credit crunch is a challenge, but it has meant that prospective tenants can be more aggressive in their negotiations and some smaller retailers are beginning to take up units that would have been impossible in the ‘good old days.’ This is a welcome trend, bringing more variety to the mall. She believes that Sustainability can only be tackled when people realise the financial benefits as well as the greener issues. New energy-saving lighting in the car park cost £100,000 to install but the cost will be recovered in 2.3 years. The annual tariff was due to increase by 70% but their new system is being run at a 20% reduction.
Her ‘hosts’ in the centre have saved the lives of about 6 people in recent years by prompt first-aid measures. She reports this to her board in the same breath as any financial achievements, as it brings her much more satisfaction.
Andrew, from Principal-Hayley Hotels gave a presentation on how his company is developing its hotels and centres by investing £100 million to become the best Conference and Training Events in Europe. He majored on how well trained and supported the staff are, and the incentives and rewards that are available to them, all with snappy names - Quality Wins, Perfect Training, Principal Hayley Value Cards, VIP (Vitality, Inspiration, People) etc. A Gala Party for achievers: themed evening, free dinner and bar, awards ceremony etc…
The gloss came off a bit when he told us that they pay most of their employees the minimum wage and that because of the recession there would be a requirement to increase their performance considerably. An example: 1 staff member required per 20 breakfast guests at present will be 1 per 25 in the future.
After a short lunch break there was a time of worship lead by 4 of the Solihull team.
The Team consists of 14 volunteers, and they all have their own areas to visit in and around the Centre. They meet up monthly to pray for the work and for each other.
There are also Moslem and Jewish chaplains but they only make themselves available if required; they don’t do any walk abouts.
We discussed the ‘qualification’ required to be a workplace chaplain. A good model was one where each chaplain was commissioned by their own congregation, and the team affirmed annually by Churches Together or its local equivalent.
The implications of the recession for the retail industry were discussed. Will there be a moving away from ‘retail therapy’. Where will people go instead? What changes will there be in Town Centres? There was concern expressed for the unemployed and the young people who hang about the shopping centres. It was agreed that chaplains should not be spread too thin but should concentrate on their own role – to support people at work – and let their churches know about the opportunities for ‘mission’ in these other areas. Unfortunately, those who had done this reported very little enthusiasm for the latter.
An interesting story from one area. They had opened a nearby church for a week at Christmas and invited shop staff to come in for mince pies, coffee, etc – very little response if any. The next year they had taken an empty unit in the Shopping Centre for a week with the same invitation. Very few takers. Last year they got hold of a trolley, loaded it with flasks of hot drinks and goodies, labelled it ‘The Christmas Stress-Buster’ and wheeled it round the smaller units where staff get few breaks and no facilities - with incredible results and great appreciation. I think there might be something allegorical in that story - chaplains go to them while Churches wait for them to come.
Next meetings of the network:
13 May 2009 – Liverpool
25 November 2009 - to be announced.
Due to the hospitality of the Touchwood Centre and the hard work of the local chaplains there was no charge for the day’s conference - a nice touch to send a Scotsman home rejoicing.