Fran Bishop, founder of The Pud Store, star of The Apprentice 2016 and previous winner of the PPSA Best Independent Apparel Retailer, is talking all things retail in an exclusive interview which will be aired as part of this year’s Progressive Preschool Awards 2020.
Talking to Rob Willis, director of Max Publishing and publisher of Progressive Preschool, Fran spoke about her retailing journey, which has seen The Pud Store portfolio grow organically from a one-woman operation to a thriving business which operates across three physical stores as well as an online e-commerce platform.
“We became known as a retailer which did a lot with very little,” she explained. “The only funding we had in the early days was a £15,000 loan from Barclays, everything else has been organic. It’s been wheeling and dealing – someone once called me the Delboy of kidswear, which I kind of like!”
Putting much of her success down to caring about her customers and ‘good, old-fashioned service’, Fran is a passionate advocate for the retail industry and as a BBC News retail commentator and BBC 5 Live podcast presenter has now become well-known for speaking out on various key retail issues, from Brexit to the Government’s approach to the pandemic.
You can see Fran’s interview in full this evening (Thursday 12 November) at the Progressive Preschool Awards 2020. Completely free to attend, the digital event will be held online from 6.15pm onwards via online events platform Hopin.
Click here to register – it takes just two minutes and we’ll send you a reminder before tonight so you don’t miss out on any of the excitement!
Sponsors of the PPS Awards 2020 include: Amscan, Aykroyd & Sons, Azaria PR, BBC Studios, British Toy & Hobby Association (BTHA), CentumBooks, East Coast Nursery, Dr. Gummer’s Good Play Guide, Harrogate International Nursery Fair, Hippychick, LicensingSource.net, Misirli, Poetic Brands, Rainbow Designs, Redan Publishing, RH Smith & Sons (Smiffys), Toymaster, ViacomCBS, Vista PR, Walker Books.
