The Auckland Project is a regeneration charity that operates galleries, gardens and the Auckland Palace in Bishop Auckland, County Durham. What started out as a “call to arms” by philanthropist Jonathan Ruffer, Founder of The Auckland Project, to save an immensely important set of paintings has led to the creation of many amazing new attractions in County Durham. Despite the hundreds of millions of pounds of investment in the creation of the new attractions and refurbishment of Auckland Palace, the retail within the attractions lacked strategy and direction, and was not achieving budget to support the charities’ work.

We first supported The Auckland Projects to review the 360 operations of their four shops, looking at every element of retail, creating a ‘Headlines Report’ that identified a clear plan for improvement and development – from stock holding and exit strategies, to staff ownership, product development and visual merchandising – the comprehensive report became the strategy for retail development across the project.

Having created the review (including tangible actions they should take) we further supported through two phases of development. Phase 1 included a re-design of the Auckland Palace shop, to maximise summer sales, creating new bespoke products in a matter of weeks and implementing the recommended exit strategy for irrelevant/old stock. As part of this work we provided project management, shop design, visual merchandising, product development/design support and mentoring to ensure the project was a success – meaning turnover doubled compared to Summer 2023.

We then worked on Phase 2, including a buying strategy for all four shops and the development of many new products and initiatives, as well as the redesign and visual merchandising of four shops. We worked closely with staff and volunteers to ensure ownership and continued success, including record takings and brilliant feedback. Following this work, retail met its financial budget for the first time in the charities’ history.