Summer might be a quiet time for many businesses, but the city centre, and the retail sector in particular, continue to serve their customers every day, all day, and provide a much needed service for the city. This summer the Derry Chamber has been focusing on how retailers can improve performance and give themselves, and therefore our city, competitive advantage over other shopping destinations.

Janice Tracey, Chamber CEO said, "We've had record tourism figures this year, but we live in a competitive world and our shoppers can choose to go anywhere. We want to make sure they keep on choosing Derry - so this summer in the Chamber; the focus has been on Retail. "

The first three events in the Chamber's Summer Retail Training Series have been a massive success. The Series kicked off with a workshop on "Effective Retail Marketing". It explored how to improve performance and competitive advantage through marketing. Jill Beasant from the Wholesale and Retail Training Council (WRTC) led the workshop which was described by one participant as "one of the most effective and interesting seminars I've had the pleasure of attending".

Tom Foley, Chamber Information Officer, commented, "For the last 18 months we have been running a successful Business Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) Service. Funding from the Local Strategy Partnership has allowed us to provide this service free of charge, to both members and non-members. The retail sector is one of the most challenging to operate in and is often forgotten by statutory agencies in terms of support so we were delighted to be able to tailor our service this summer to suit their needs."

After the first event, word spread and there was record numbers at the second. StClair Beatty, also from the WRTC explained how the right mission statement can motivate staff, improve the consumer's perception of the retailer and ultimately, advance the bottom line.

In the third event, renowned motivator Mary Keightley investigated how the focus, in many parts of the retail sector, has changed from price to service. Mary worked with a packed house to outline how retailers can meet this challenge through "The Language of Customer Service Excellence".

The final event, gave retailers and statutory organisations the opportunity to share their views on what policies are required to improve the trading environment. Local expert and city centre guru Stephen Kelly, and Tory Kerley, from Skillsmart Retail - The Sector Skills Council for Retail - facilitated the final session in the series.

Janice Tracey pointed out, "Chamber is a membership organisation, set up to support member companies - but programs like this mean that we can widen that service on a short term basis and non member companies can sample what we offer. We want to work with other agencies to ensure that our retailing community get the best support possible."