Five new members - including the bosses of two of the city’s biggest stores - have been appointed to the board of Retail Birmingham.
Mark Fruin, store manager of Marks & Spencers and Paul Sutton, store manager of House of Fraser join Matt Scriven from Island Bar and The Victoria and Natalie Strachan from The Mailbox have joined 12 other board members at the Retail Birmingham BID, a not for profit company established to support and promote the city’s central retail area.
The fifth appointment is management consultant Claudia Santillo who has been appointed to represent the independent stores that are in the city centre.
Mr Fruin said: “Retail Birmingham works hard to promote the retailers within the city centre. Undoubtedly this has a positive impact on my store and I am keen to work with the board to make sure that this benefits all of the stores within the BID area. As retailers, we have a common aim to bring more shoppers into the city centre and it is important we all work together to achieve this.”
Mr Sutton added: “Being a member of the Retail Birmingham Board of Directors provides a great opportunity for some of the major stakeholders in the city to come together. Our meetings are a platform from which we can make big decisions that ultimately have a positive impact on the city centre.”
Claudia Santillo said of her appointment:
“We have over 100 independent stores in Birmingham who all help to create the unique and diverse shopping experience we have within the city centre. Retail Birmingham work hard to promote these stores and I am looking forward to becoming the important link between the independents and Retail Birmingham as an organisation.”
Retail Birmingham is also currently looking for a new chair after Mailbox boss Alan Chatham announced he was stepping down after three years in the role.
