Queen of Shops Mary Portas put her money where her mouth is as she turned her dream of starting a clothing line for 40 plus women into reality.
On the first episode of Mary Queen of Frocks, the retail consultant was up against the clock to design and create a collection unique to anything else on the high street, and recruit 12 members of staff to work for her brand.
The first hurdle was to find a backer crazy enough to agree to work with head strong Mary.Marks and Spencer's ignored her and the chairman of Jaeger and Aquascutum said he couldn't do it. A glimmer of hope came when Ms Portas received a call from department store House of Fraser, who agreed to giver her a 2,000 sq ft space in their flagship (Oxford Street). The catch? 'You need to make £2m in the first year', said CEO John King, and create a collection and have the space up and running in six months, a mean feat even for Mary.
Ms Portas' plan-to produce from scratch seven easy pieces, not tweak-ready made collections as House of Fraser had hoped.
Then came the problem of recruiting staff. After a talk with the department store's existing employees, many of whom were told they could loose their jobs as the shop is modernised, only one person applied, Siobhan from Austin Reed.
'I feel like Billy no mates', said Mary. So she took her search nationally and placed an ad in the Metro newspaper, a move which saw hundreds of people apply and Mary Whittle them down to just 12. Among Mary's team of staff, former Biba manager, a camp Northerner and a self proclaimed crazy woman. Siobhan didn't make the cut.
At the same time she recruited a group of 'real women' in their fifties to advise her and enlisted the help of her wedding dress designer.
But with so much more to do before the store can open will it prove too much for Mary and will she crack under the pressure. The pressure of delivering perfect customer service after criticising other brand's' service and making a profit rather than a loss, as most lines starting out do.
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