Anne Attwood, Principal of Furness College

Last updated at 14:14, Tuesday, 27 July 2010

IF there is a shop that can get me feeling creative, it has to be a good old-fashioned hardware shop.

Not for me the normal holiday souvenirs, I’m far more likely to return home with some gadget or paint brush I’ve found in the dark recesses of a chandler’s shop, as we called them in Liverpool. My interest goes back to my childhood when some of my earliest memories are being sent to the chandler by my mum to get some doweling or beading or fire cement or some other plain raw material that would be transformed into something quite exciting.

My mum was widowed at 32 with three children. She returned to teaching, but spare time was spent making things, either resources for her class or things for us. Broomsticks, sheets and skewers from the butchers would make tents, hardboard and beading would create our own memory boxes, and I could go on forever. As the eldest it was my job to forage for the raw materials, so although it meant carrying home beading that was twice my height or dangerous chemicals, I always did it with a sense of excitement, of something new about to happen.

So, the last episode of Mary Queen of Shops brought it all back to me. Mary Portas took on a failing hardware shop and as with all her other projects, the staff didn’t understand their product or their customers.

As a viewer, it’s easy to spot the weak points. Some shops had drifted far away from their customers and what they wanted but, for most, it has been a lack of real understanding of the product and a belief in what they are selling. At the end of most of the programmes you see far more motivated people, who now have a reason for getting up in the morning, a challenge in store for them – an excitement.

What I found fascinating about the last episode was that the shop was not just a husband and wife affair but relied on a large team to make it work – and it was in the team of assistants, and not the boss, that the biggest transformation took place. In her inimitable way, Mary Portas helped them realise that they were providing a real service that could help their customers solve problems in their lives. By the end of the show, they had taken the initiative to move the Fix It Factory forwards and it was clear that not only was the business on a sounder footing, but the staff were enjoying their work in ways they hadn’t done before.

This programme could be a metaphor for all aspects of the current climate: DIY means not just improving your home, but looking at what resources you’ve got and making the most of them. Improving skills makes a difference to the business and the staff, just like my mother’s non-stop creativity was always improving our home.

The new look Learning will be featuring case-studies of how skills can transform both businesses and individuals. If you’ve been inspired to change your company, your organisation or yourself, let us know.

First published at 13:02, Monday, 26 July 2010
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk