British clothing retailers are apparently becoming more interested in making more of their ranges in the UK.
According to The Express, Sir Philip Green, owner of the Arcadia Group that includes Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins, said: “We are looking to do more here and are developing in Britain where we can.” Other retailers apparently trying this approach are John Lewis, J D Sports and Asos.
The report said ‘made in Britain’ is becoming trendy again as retailers react to rising labour costs in China. (more…)
A quick reminder this morning of the dangers of buying on price…
Liz Love is the managing director of Z-CARD, a company that makes, among other things, pocket maps that you can unfold into a large map.
When she was starting her business, she wanted the products to be made by hand but supplier quotes were “astronomical” so she came up with an alternative. (more…)
UK public service is about to enter a revolution – so says British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Writing in The Telegraph this week he outlined the scope of a bill which, if enacted, will see a menagerie of central and local government functions fulfilled by private sector providers. “[The bill] will put in place principles that will signal the decisive end of the old-fashioned, top-down, take-what-you’re-given model of public services,” Cameron said. “The grip of state control will be released and power will be placed in people’s hands.” (more…)
Entrepreneurs and business owners face many challenges in growing their firms, from sourcing finance to growing their customer base.
For many this will involve outsourcing part of the operation to an external company. It can be difficult to know exactly what you will need as your business grows and to assess who will make the best supply partner. (more…)
Two seemingly unrelated subjects were brought to my attention recently that have an underlying connection.
The first story was China’s near monopoly on rare earth elements and its recent imposition of export quotas. The second was the coalition government’s spend data and the observation from one journalist that Capita, one of the largest outsourcing groups, “has accrued unrivalled expertise and economies of scale”. (more…)
Recent talk and trends suggest there could be a move back to more local sourcing in future. Price volatility, the need to adapt quickly to changes, as well as coping with increased risks – such as severe weather or natural disasters – that can hit the supply chain – are starting to be cited as reasons to source closer to home. (more…)
Procurement has achieved great things with the strategic sourcing process. It provided a uniform, robust approach to sourcing which senior management and stakeholders could buy into to purchase most procurement categories inside their organisation.
Its main focus to date, however, has been on cost reduction rather than growth. As a result, it didn’t achieve an automatic invitation into the outsourcing process, which is the critical make or buy decision. For this reason procurement has struggled to make firms’ strategic agenda and the majority of CPOs are still playing catch up to secure a leading role in the outsourcing decision. (more…)
That was the song title that captures procurement, according to Experian’s head of procurement Mark Langrish, featured in My Way To The Top in SM’s latest issue.
But perhaps we should actually be pondering what breed of canine is being offered up for sale. What’s its character? Does it have a tendency to bark loudly through the night? How’s its bite? And when it comes to the bottom line, is it house-trained? Or will it chew up all you hold dear? (more…)
What happens if you threaten to punish an outsourced supplier? Does its performance improve or get worse? For the purposes of answering this question, which I looked at in my MBA dissertation, “punitive measures” should be taken to mean contractual measures to secure adherence or deter non-performance such as service credits.
When an outsourcing contract is first implemented, the outsourcer is mostly viewed as a direct extension to the customer’s internal IT team. This is a hindrance to maximising the business value of deals because experience shows the customer will typically micro-manage the outsourcer. (more…)
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