Gift Focus - May/Jun 2019 (Issue 113)

101 RETAILER INTERVIEW What values are important to the business? I believe that a business should aim to do more than just make a profit and also bring benefits to the community, its team members and the industry that it is involved in. To this end, we have organised community events and helped new suppliers get started. It’s always fantastic to see a new team member gain confidence and experience and we feel we have an obligation to treat team members as well as possible, involve them in decision-making and make everyone feel like a valued member of the team. What have been your proudest achievements to date? Raising more than £25,000 for charities and the local community, winning 17 national awards, such as British Independent Retailer of the Year, playing a major part in keeping retail alive in our town and knowing how highly regarded we are by our customers and the industry as a whole. How important is social media to your business? We do use social media to promote Mantons (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram), but it’s not a magic bullet. Word of mouth is still the most important way for us to gain new customers. Do you attend any trade shows? Which ones and why? We don’t attend many trade shows because of the cost of travelling off the Isle of Man, but we recently attended the Stationery Show London in April. How are you finding the current economic climate? No one would deny that retail is tough at the moment, but in difficult times, people look to support businesses they trust, so our fantastic reputation is a massive help in surviving and in growing the business. Do you have any tips for new shop owners? It’s going to be hard work, so forget about a social life! You can’t expect to make a profit straight away, so make sure you have 12 months’ living expenses available to survive on. What are your plans for the future of the business? We plan to keep improving our product ranges and customer service. We aren’t looking at a second store because of unrealistic freehold and rental asking prices. “The most important thing we look for is quality both in design and manufacture. We take great pride in our stock and love hearing positive customer comments, such as how much they love our pr oducts. Obviously, exclusivity and a decent margin are also very important to us.” Left to right: Debbie Beards, Chris Beards, Gemma Corkish, Wendy Corkish.