Description:
Summative Assignment: Assignment 2 (3500 words)
Project Plan for the Relocation of a Marks & Spencer Store in 2016 in Kendal, UK
With your help, we’re looking for a consultant to make an effective plan to enable us to relocate a Marks & Spencer Store in 2016 in Kendal, UK
We consider relocating a Marks & Spencer store in Kendal in 2016. The situation presented below is relatively unusual, not just because it involves a relocation, but because it involves the refitting of an existing supermarket.
Marks & Spencer is committed to offering its customers high quality products and an efficient service in attractive and comfortable surroundings – this requires an on-going store development programme involving expansion and modernisation. Store development projects not only include modernising and extending the footage of existing stores, and relocating others to more appropriate sites. Relocations are rare, however, as the majority of Marks & Spencer stores are already in prime retail locations.
This relocation is driven by the desire to improve Marks & Spencer’s profitability, by enhancing either the convenience of a store’s location or the store environment, to better satisfy customer needs. When relocating, a considerable amount of time, resources, research, planning and management effort will be invested. Many individuals and departments within the business will be involved and a number of external organisations will contribute – all working to achieve the company’s objectives.
The relocation date is set to be the 10th of January 2016. We already have two key managers closely involved in the scheme. Paul Mellor is the Kendal Store Manager, and Katy Bull is Store Planner for the project. Additional staffs can be employed on the project board if needed necessarily. On the last meeting, Paul and Katy’s comments provided much insight into the reasons for the relocation, as well as discussed their ideas on how the project is progressing and what the tasks still to be carried out prior to the new store opening.
Paul explained some of the background to the project. “Kendal is a busy market town in Cumbria on the south-eastern edge of the Lake District National Park, which is a popular tourist area. The town is close to the M6 motorway and about 25 miles north of Lancaster. The map below shows our current store in Kendal at 18-20 Stricklandgate. It’s a prime location in the High Street, where we are at the heart of shopping activity and we pick up a lot of passing trade. However, there are a number of problems with the site. The selling space, at 9000 sq. ft, is far too small to exploit the sales potential available in Kendal – the sales per square foot performances we’re achieving clearly show we can support a far larger store. The narrow frontage doesn’t reflect the offer behind the doors, and the long narrow shape of the store and bottle-neck entrance don’t help either when you’re trying to create exciting merchandising. A worse problem is access to the rear of the store for deliveries – our lorries struggle to get down the narrow access roads and we pay a substantial rent for access rights across private land to get to our loading bay.”
“The company decided it really must sort out the Kendal situation once and for all and relocation became the only real option. I heard Fine-Food were under pressure from local competition and our acquisitions people in the Estates Department started seriously considering this site as an option. It is an unusual relocation choice, because we are effectively vacating a prime High Street site for a site that is off-pitch in terms of passing footfall and has to attract customers in its own right.”
“However, the site does have a number of significant advantages. For a start, it is the ideal footage we want, with the sales area all on one floor in a very workable footprint – which should lead to a significantly increased turnover but with proportionately less staff and management. The new site has a large car park (160 spaces, although 70 of these are underground) which is ideal for food shoppers. Access for deliveries is excellent, with a dedicated entrance and purpose-built underground delivery area.”
Paul found all this described above could be very difficult and complex to accomplish, because he explained his role and objectives in the project are quite specific. “Apart from my input on the layout of the store, my role will really come to the fore in the last 10 or 12 weeks before opening. Once we get underway my objective will be to close the old store down successfully, as well as to open the new store, with minimal disruption to trade or damage to the image of Marks & Spencer in Kendal. I’ll want to close the old store at the normal time on the chosen Saturday and open the new store on the following Monday morning.”
Katy explained her role as Store Planner for the project. “We focus on ensuring new stores are designed in a way that meets the commercial requirements of the business, maximise sales in an attractive store environment and ensure stores are operationally efficient to minimise costs. I liaise with all departments that have an interest in the design, building and operation of the store. I must ensure that the final layout meets the needs of the Store Manager, Divisional Management and also the Buying Groups – they are my clients. My brief therefore covers a range of layout and design issues – looking at the way stock is moved around the store, positioning walkways to facilitate customer movement around the store, positioning fixtures such as food counters, fridges, tills and displays and deciding the width of gangways. I will also get involved later in the project to plan the loose merchandising equipment (racks etc.). We need to know what we’re doing on these things about 12 weeks before opening, because it can take so long sometimes to order some of the equipment.”
Relocation Map
Katy explains her role as Store Planner for the project. “We focus on ensuring new stores are designed in a way that meets the commercial requirements of the business, maximise sales in an attractive store environment and ensure stores are operationally efficient to minimise costs. I liaise with all departments that have an interest in the design, building and operation of the store. I must ensure that the final layout meets the needs of the Store Manager, Divisional Management and also the Buying Groups – they are my clients. My brief therefore covers a range of layout and design issues – looking at the way stock is moved around the store, positioning walkways to facilitate customer movement around the store, positioning fixtures such as food counters, fridges, tills and displays and deciding the width of gangways. I will also get involved later in the project to plan the loose merchandising equipment (racks etc.). We need to know what we’re doing on these things about 12 weeks before opening, because it can take so long sometimes to order some of the equipment.
Based on the scenario presented above
Students are expected to demonstrate their skills and knowledge to achieve all learning outcomes of this module in form of a project plan.
A project plan is an effort to create a unique Project, product or service. Projects usually include phases- Plan,analysis, implementation and control. It is a set of principles, practices, and techniques applied to Plan for various feasibilities and functional areas of business, lead project teams and control project schedule, cost, and performance risks to result in delighted stakeholders.
You as business consultant need to plan the store relocation. It’s an individual assignment. Need to be submitted as a report and has a word limit of 4000 (±10%)
Tasks to include :
1. Business Environmental Analysis for locating a new store relocation including initial feasibility analysis.
2. Choose and justify the store relocation and propose SMART objectives along with the expected dates of rolling out various phases of the project plan.
3. Draw and discuss Gantt chartfor Work Breakdown Structure of various activities of four phases of the project and corresponding time period taken for all four phases – Plan, Organizing, Implementation and Control for a fully functional store. The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) should list activities all the functional areas and their main activities.
4. Critically assess the store manager Paul and project planner Katy’s attributes and roles and responsibilities including social responsibilities.
5. Critically analyse, design and evaluate the relocated Store’s main functional areas, e.g., HRM, Marketing &customer services, Store layout, internal operations and designing, Finance and IT, number of personal needed in each area and organizational chart to achieve objectives.
6. Plan activities for individual functional areas (HRM, Marketing &customer services, Store layout, internal operations and designing , Finance and IT)
7. Develop feasibility report including initial budget for the Project- three years expected cash flows and risk management plan.