With the recent addition to the IFL retail organisation of the prominent Oasis store in Main Street the time had come to rethink how best to manage the day to day operations of one of the Rock’s leading retail groups which runs the local franchises of BHS, Oasis and Mothercare.

Stephen Palmer is the man in the hot seat and he arrived in Gibraltar just as the new Oasis store was opening at the start of a busy summer. Stephen comes with strong retailing pedigree: five years with the John Lewis Partnership followed by senior positions at Top Shop and Principles make him extremely well-placed to help propel some of the Rock’s leading retail businesses to their next stage of growth. His arrival comes at a time when their UK brethren are seeing first hand the signs of the credit crunch. So his skills and experience will be much in demand.
Stephen also spent 12 months with Top Shop franchises in Dubai so he is quite familiar with the challenges of working outside the United Kingdom. Asked for initial impressions of Gibraltar, Stephen said: “I think it is a great place to be which strikes the right balance between having a stimulating work environment on the one hand and having a cracking lifestyle on the other.”
He has been impressed with Gibraltar’s unique retail offer in Main Street and its surrounding environs and says that much of what he has seen is on a par with retail businesses in the UK. If there is one thing he would like to see more of he said, “I would like to see Main Street have more of a hum about it. The summer nights festival was a brilliant idea but it only lasted a few weeks. That could go on until September. With more visitors here and longer opening hours people spend more. Also service levels in many premises need to improve. Training could help to achieve this and the benefits will take time to come through but it needs to be done if Gibraltar wants to remain an attractive shopping destination for tourists.”
Outside work one of the things Stephen is looking forward to is meeting more locals and also exploring more of Gibraltar, the Campo and beyond. “I have just taken delivery of car so I am carefully trying to find my way around, but hope it will not be too long until I explore further afield. I hear that the Atlantic coast is nice so with the cooler weather I am planning to make a few trips up there.”