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Members are invited to the association's Annual General Meeting at an interesting London venue which will be revealed as soon as arrangements have been finalised. In the meantime, here is a short review of the 2011 event ...
 Nearly 50 members and their guests sat down for lunch at Bluebird Restaurant, Chelsea on 11th May having enjoyed a lively debate during the AGM on the future of exhibitions, Meet the Buyer and networking events, followed by an excellent talk by Tom Nathan, the General Manager of Brent Cross Shopping Centre.
The facts he was able to quote on the demographics of the centre’s audience, their catchment area, the religious and socio economic breakdown, how often they visit, how much they spend. It was all there, even the reaction to suggestions that shoppers might be charged for parking and the effect of Westfield London opening down the road. All were covered with a tremendous enthusiasm.
Understandably, Tom has asked us not to put any of these statistics in print because they are obviously commercially sensitive , but it was revealing how much effort a shopping centre devotes to everything from counting its shoppers to organising focus groups.
He was keen to dispel the thought that the shopping centre should be considered “the enemy” of the shopfitting and display supplier and he was clearly passionate about retailing (having cut his teeth at Marks & Spencer). All together a fascinating insight into the workings of a major shopping centre.
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