MITIE, the strategic outsourcing and asset management company has donated a complete refurbishment of the Naomi House Children’s Hospice charity shop in Winchester, transforming it from a traditional charity shop into a store which hopes to attract everyday shoppers looking for designer label bargains.
Naomi House Children's Hospice opened in June 1997 to provide respite care, terminal care and bereavement support for children and families from across the south of England. The charity currently has seven shops that provide a vital contribution to the £2.5million that is needed each year to enable it to continue providing high quality care and support to children who visit the hospice.
The refurbished store in Winchester was re-launched on 29 May 2009 by Khalid Aziz, former television newsreader and now Chairman of Naomi House, and local celebrity Fred Dineage, a presenter on Meridian Tonight.
The re-launch was preceded by three weeks of work by the MITIE team who completely stripped out the shop and transformed it into a modern retail store. But MITIE didn’t stop at just refitting the shop. The MITIE team stayed on after works were complete to put in place an innovative shop design and to assist Winchester shop manager Andrea Balmer with visual merchandising and restocking.
Sarah Radburn, part of MITIE’s team said: “We really wanted to give Naomi House a store which was unrivalled in the local area. Shoppers in Winchester expect prestigious retail environments and we’ve gone all out to provide this. We’ve kept the walls and floors in a simple cream and the fixtures and fittings are finished in chrome to provide a modern and luxurious feel. It really bares no resemblance to a charity shop now and the takings trebled in the first week so we’re really pleased with that – as are Naomi House!”
Since 2006, when MITIE adopted Naomi House as one of its regional charities, it has raised more than £70,000 for the charity through different fundraising events and is also currently helping to organise the 2009 Naomi House Clarendon Walk from Winchester Cathedral to Salisbury Cathedral which will take place on 7 June hoping to raise more than £125,000. On top of all this MITIE has been raising funds for the last eight months to help pay for the refit of the shop.
David Harper, a MITIE director and the man responsible for the idea of raising money to refit the shop commented: “It seemed wrong for Naomi House to spend the money that they raise on repairs and upgrading its shop when they so desperately need to spend the money on the upkeep of Naomi House Children’s Hospice. On the other hand, their shops bring in a fair bit of revenue and we were delighted that we have been able to use the resources and business skills from across MITIE to improve the shop for them, opening up their customer base to include everyday shoppers in the Winchester area.”
Andrea Balmer, Naomi House’s shop manager said: “The difference is amazing. I’m really excited to be running the new flagship store and the volunteers who work here say it’s going to be a much nicer place to work. The shop is now so light and clean and we’re attracting so many more passers-by who would have previously not come in. We’re looking forward to a new beginning at the Winchester store and hope we can take even more money to help the hospice to continue to provide care for children. I would like to personally thank the team from MITIE who made what was a big change really easy and worked their socks off to finish on time.”
For further information, contact:
David Revis, Investor Relations and PR Manager, MITIE Group PLC
T: 020 7034 7306, M: 07979 702465, E: mailto:david.revis@mitie.co.uk
For more info, see www.mitie.co.uk
Notes for editors
What is MITIE?
We’re the strategic outsourcing and asset management company.
What does that mean in practice? Providing everything from strategic consultancy, to world-class delivery on the ground. From long-term infrastructure planning, to facilities management, property and engineering services. Our strategic input can add value at the highest level, while our practical management expertise can save customers money and maximise their returns.
At the same time, it’s not just what we do, but how we do it that makes us different. Our people are passionate about what they do, committed to working in partnership with their clients, and will always look for a fresh answer to a new challenge.
We work with our clients in three ways; some take full advantage of our whole range of expertise by buying the whole suite, others may only need one aspect of what we do:
Strategy and consultancy
+ Facilities and project management
+ Service delivery
In other words, we think, we manage, and we deliver.
The thinking phase is all about finding strategic answers to long-term challenges about assets and resources. Facilities and project management puts those plans in place, and our unrivalled range of services is one of the best in the business.
There’s a lot more to MITIE than you probably think. We’re a big company with big ambitions - a leading FTSE 250 support services business, with 49,000+ people, revenues in excess of £1.4bn, and a reputation for being the best.
