People and business

1.0 Introduction

The company I have chosen is Stead and Simpsons Plc.

Stead and Simpsons has been involved in retail since 1834, this means that this year is their 170th year. Stead and Simpson was a leather merchant and curriers business but soon expanded to include the production of leather and ready-made boots and shoes nationwide. Stead and Simpson moved to the midlands during the late 1840’s and established factories in Daventry and Leicester. In the early 1870’s Stead and Simpson opened its first retail branches in Carlisle, Whitehaven, South Shields and Sunderland and by 1889 the company had approximately 100 branches, this means that Stead and Simpson grew at a very fast rate. The company stopped manufacturing its own products in 1973 and successfully continued growing the retail stores. It was originally a partnership between Mr Edmund Stead and Mr Edward Simpson. There was a management buyout in 1993.

Stead and Simpson is a public limited company, this means you can buy shares on the stock market. The majority of the company is still owned by the ancestors of the original partnership, so is still in the family.

Stead and Simpson target market is middle and lower class families, they aim to meet the needs of the average British family, and supply quality shoes at competitively low, affordable prices. Stead and Simpson group caters for a wide variety of customer needs across the generations, from high fashion footwear to school shoes as well as more casual shoe brands such as Ecco, Hush Puppies and Clarks. The Stead and Simpson group mission is “To be the shoppers first choice for competitively priced footwear for all the family”

The Stead and Simpson group trade as:

Stead and Simpson – principally located in market towns, Stead and Simpson stores offer quality products at value for money prices.
Shoe Express – shoe express is a high volume self-service outlet with high customer traffic flows.
Famous Footwear – Famous footwear are factory outlets, they sell brand named shoes for at least 30% off the High Street price.
Lilley and Skinner – Lilley and skinner retail a large range of footwear supplied by famous brands, from high fashion to formal and casual wear.
Peter Briggs – Peter Briggs stored are ...

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The Stead and Simpson group trade as:

Stead and Simpson – principally located in market towns, Stead and Simpson stores offer quality products at value for money prices.
Shoe Express – shoe express is a high volume self-service outlet with high customer traffic flows.
Famous Footwear – Famous footwear are factory outlets, they sell brand named shoes for at least 30% off the High Street price.
Lilley and Skinner – Lilley and skinner retail a large range of footwear supplied by famous brands, from high fashion to formal and casual wear.
Peter Briggs – Peter Briggs stored are aimed at more mature customers, offering high quality brands with high quality service.
Concessions in Mackays – Mackays sells fashion clothing for the family at low prices, they have a selection of Stead and Simpson shoes in stores to compliment their products.

There are over 450 stores nationwide in the Stead and Simpson group.

This assignment will cover:

The importance of the stakeholders of Stead and Simpson
The organisation of the business, including job roles and working arrangements
Employer and employee rights and responsibilities, including procedures to deal with disputes and Health and Safety issues
Employee recruitment and training
Customer service and customer protection

2.0

The importance of stakeholders

Influence is the extent to which the stakeholders can change the policies of the business organisation. The shareholders have the greatest influence as the directors are subject to re-election every year. The suppliers can stop giving the organisation credit. The employees can go on strike.

Shareholders – these are the people that have a money investment (in the form of a share) in the business. They are interested in the performance of the firm so they can see a return on their investments otherwise known as a dividend.

Suppliers – the suppliers also have an interest in the business as they generate revenue for them. In essence they are their customers.

Customers – have a stake in the business have a stake since they buy their products from them. They need a stable supply of goods and this is where they get them from.

Community – the community expect the company to be responsible and respect the local area and environment. By the local community we mean the community as a whole, including people living nearby, local businesses and community groups.

Positive effects: The business organisation will provide the community with jobs and prosperity.
Negative effects: The business organisation may generate pollution. As Stead and Simpson open more stores - more car-parking facilities will be required - this will generate more traffic - this creates more pollution.

Stead and Simpson is a public limited company (their shares can be bought and sold on the stock exchange) - the shareholders will have the greatest influence on the company (i.e. the shareholders will demand higher sales - more profits - this means bigger dividends can be paid to the shareholders). The company will have to set objectives and devise business strategies that satisfy the requirements of the shareholders.

Shareholders - Positive effects: As the business expands (more sales and profits) the value of shares will rise and the firm will be able to pay bigger dividends to the shareholders. Negative effects: If the business begins to lose market share and performs badly, the value of shares will decline and the firm will pay out reduced dividends.

The community / Employees –

Negative effects: The business organisation may generate pollution. As Stead and Simpson open more stores - more car-parking facilities will be required - this will generate more traffic - this creates more pollution.

Suppliers / Creditors –

Positive effects: As the business organisation increases in size (i.e. more sales) it will buy more goods from suppliers and borrow more from the bank. In such circumstances the suppliers and the bank are both creditors (i.e. they are both owed money by the business organisation).
Negative effects: If the business organisation goes out of existence the suppliers and creditors will lose a customer and are likely to lose the money that is owed to them.

Debtors and Customers –

Positive effects: Keeping the customers happy means more sales. Stead and Simpson do not provide their customers with credit. Therefore, there will be no problem with unpaid debts.
Negative effects: if customers become unhappy with the company products they will switch brands. This would mean lower sales and profits for Stead and Simpson.

Customers

Local Shoppers and consumers are of the uppermost importance to Stead and Simpson because if prices go up, customers have to pay more and may switch to a competitor. Alternatively, if prices fall customers may buy more shoes.

If the store relocated then this would affect the customer. It may have an adverse affect as it may cost more to travel to the new location, therefore people would continue shopping in the area the store used to be. Although, if they relocate to a better location with more shops nearby it may generate more customers, due to it being more convenient for consumers.

If a new footwear retailer opened nearby to a branch of Stead and Simpson it may affect their business. Normally, when new businesses or a new branch of a business opens they promote their business quite a lot. They do this by running special offers, and place many advertisements to attract customers to their store therefore Stead and Simpson have to counteract this by running special offers of their own. This may result in a price war, this is an advantage to customers as they will get the lowest price possible.