Successful retail focus

Retail entrepreneur Laura Tenison has been announced as the keynote speaker for this year’s Independents Day (iDay) conference, which will be held at Coventry’s RICOH on 6 November.

Ms Tenison will open the one-day event, which will concentrate on the theme ‘Focus on detail for successful retail.’ As the founder and managing director of independent retailer JoJo Maman Bebe, Ms Tenison has grown her business from a small start up into a prominent specialist retailer within the pregnancy and baby market. With initial capital of just £50,000 when in was established in 1993, the company now has a turnover of £50m and employe more than 700 people.

Speaking about the theme of this year’s event, managing director of Proven Track Record, which organises the annual conference, Nick Atkins, said: “Following the success of last year’s ‘How to be a retail champion’ theme, delegate feedback was to delve a bit deeper into some of the subjects covered.

“And, with the vast majority of independents relying on the bulk of their income being derived from retail product sales, we wanted to continue to delve into what being a successful optical retailer means nowadays. Laura is an inspirational business and motivational speaker who addresses women's groups, business conferences and networking events in the UK and internationally; she will undoubtedly be a fantastic opening to this years iDay.”

iDay will be held directly following the National Eyecare Group Conference at the same venue.

For more information visit iDay’s website.