John Morley from Paul Smith talk

Today we had a talk from John Morley, he is MD at Paul Smith. He joined the company in 1989 as a director and shareholder, a charted accountant by proffession he has been MD over 17 years.
We were given a brief history of Paul Smith himself. He wanted to be a sportsman this was his first career choice but was hit by a car riding his bike and broke a lot of bones. From there he went on to help a college girl start up her own clothes shop, he also helped run the shop. This inspired him to open his own shop in Nottingham in 1970 with help from his wife who taught him pattern cutting and most of the stuff he knows about design, launched a very successful business. The shop was named Paul Smith because at the time shops had crazy names but Paul Smith wanted people to know who owned the shop and so named it after himself.
The company has had a rapid growth of turnover in the past 15 years with accessories being the main point of sales at 33% Japan is the biggest market, Paul Smith is the most successful brand in Japan as they are a big fan of the English eccentricity, they understand Paul Smiths clothes with their simple designs but quirky touches. Paul Smith himself calls this 'classics with a twist'
Worldwide the company has six show rooms and five press offices. Each shop has a different format as Paul Smith believes in individuality. To name a few places the company have stores include: Melrose Avenue in LA, Greene Street Soho New York, Rue du Faubourg St Honore Paris. Also franchise stores in Istanbul Turkey, Johannesburg South Africa, St Petersburg Russia, Seoul Korea. Paul Smith also has a furniture shop in London, the company buys furniture and gives it a twist.Paul Smith is always looking to open more stores, their are stores due to open in Antwerp, San Francisco and Las Vegas.
Paul Smith promote themselves using PR related activities, collaborations with artists and companies and host art exhibitions and cultural events in their retail stores. They advertise in magazines, newspapers, online and on taxis and trams, Paul Smith is always trying to be different and stand out with their advertising, for example the new TV advert for the fragrance Paul Smith Rose is different to most perfume adverts, it is quite short and features no people like most other designer companies.
Paul Smith follow the seven P's these are: product, price, placement, promotion, process, people, profit.
Unfortunately Paul Smith don't take on students for work experience and I don't want to do the placement year...shame i'd love to say i've worked for Paul Smith.