Fashion store attic clocks up second award nomination in Grampian Awards

Cutting edge fashion and streetwear retailer attic is a finalist in the Grampian Awards for Business Enterprise 2006.  On graduating from The Robert Gordon University, Richard McLaughlin went to work in his family’s wholesale fashion retail business, selling fashion brands to retailers throughout Scotland.  After taking over the business in 1997, Richard’s appetite for fashion distribution grew and in 2001 he opened his store attic in Aberdeen’s Academy Shopping Centre. Winner of the New Business Award at the Grampian Awards for Business Enterprise in 2003, Richard will find out if he will become a double award winner at a gala award ceremony on 8 June at Ardoe House Hotel.

The Awards recognise business achievement in companies of all sizes and enterprising individuals, and are organised by Enterprise North East Trust (Enterprise) and sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Business Gateway (in association with Scottish Enterprise Grampian).

You could say that entrepreneurial spirit is in Richard McLaughlin’s genes, he started his journey in the fashion retail business in his family’s wholesale distribution company which he took over from his father nine years ago.  After learning the tricks of the trade Richard has progressed to own two successful shops, one in the heart of Aberdeen city and another in the rural countryside of Inverurie.  Richard McLaughlin of attic is a finalist in the Ian Davidson Award for Entrepreneurship category, which recognises personal achievement rather than an organisation and may reflect the success and/or performance of more than one business venture. 

Richard McLaughlin of attic says, “My father started his wholesale business over thirty years ago and after I graduated from Robert Gordon University I decided to work alongside him in the business.  This gave me the grounding and experience I needed, to learn how the retail business works.  After two years of hard work I took over the business from my father and set about increasing the number of brands we were distributing from one to four and moving the business to new premises.  Since taking over the business nine years ago it has grown dramatically to become one of the main branded fashion distributors with over 60 retail accounts.”

Through the wholesale business I was seeing exciting new products and brands emerging in the fashion and streetwear market and felt there was a gap in the market for a store selling these items in Aberdeen.  Around this time there was a real buzz in Carnaby Street and Covent Garden in London, centring around these products, so it became clear to me that Aberdeen would respond positively to these brands and from this attic was born.”

Richard considered a number of locations for his store firstly looking at small, off pitch spots however it was decided that these may limit growth and a more central location was opted for in the city’s stylish Academy Shopping Centre.  This was a decision that has paid off with turnover growing year on year and set to exceed the £1million barrier this year.

attic sells a mix of established fashion brands such as Diesel, Energie, Full Circle and 55DL and new and upcoming streetwear labels including Trainerspotter, Michiko Koshino, Tsubi and Edwin. 

Richard continues “It was always my aim with attic to bring new and exciting brand led fashions to Aberdeen and the business has been built around the concept of innovation.  We are always looking out for new products and creative ways of bringing these products to our customers.  We have access to specialist areas within collections which give us exclusive products, meaning they can only be bought from selected retailers; these include brands such as Adidas Originals, New Balance and Lyle & Scott collections.  I think what sets us apart from our competitors is that we believe in what we do and will go for a product if we think it fits with the attic brand, whereas other retailers prefer to wait and see if a brand works elsewhere before trying it in their store.  We are confident that we know our market well and we have a great rapport with our customers, many of our regulars have been shopping with us since we began in 2001.”

In 2003 the business launched a website www.atticclothing.com, the site was one of the first branded clothing websites and attracts customers from all over the world.  Later this year the site will be further developed to integrate it with the business stock control system.

“Since we started the business things have really gone from strength to strength and in 2005 we decided it was time to grow the business further, setting up a second attic store in Inverurie.  The new store continues to smash sales targets each week and has provided the opportunity to implement structures and systems to aid further expansion.  Through the development of this store we have learned some valuable lessons to ensure the best results this has included managing staff in remote locations and dealing with different trading patterns in different locations – key to the future progression of the business.”

On his nomination in the Grampian Awards for Business Enterprise 2006, Richard says, “The retail stores are both still relatively young and to receive two award accolades just five years since the inception of attic is a fantastic achievement.  Winning the New Business Award in 2003 was great recognition of all the hard work and effort that went into setting up the business and to be commended again as a finalist in the Ian Davidson Award for Entrepreneurship is testament to the creative thinking, innovation and dynamic thinking behind the success and growth of attic.  We would be absolutely thrilled to win as this would be a great way to reward the dedicated team that have helped develop the business into the strong brand it is today.”

Stuart Heslop, director of commercial banking in Aberdeen for RBS says, “It is great to see a finalist in the new business category grow and develop their business in the north east.  Richard’s achievements to date demonstrate he has the passion, drive and innovative thinking to be successful in business. Richard is willing to take risks on new products and have the confidence in his fashion knowledge to bring new styles and brands to the Aberdeen market - his dynamic thinking and business approach is to be commended and this award nomination does just that.”

Not one to sit back and relax, Richard is currently looking to upgrade his skill set in accounts, embarking on an Open University course to allow him to make better use of accounting information and develop his skills.  In doing so allowing him to develop his business model to be adapted in accordance with current trading conditions and drive the business forward.
 
Richard will compete against James Cummings of Heavenly Pizzas and Stuart Ebdy of White Spark Promotions, for the Ian Davidson Award for Entrepreneurship.

Winners will be announced at a black tie awards ceremony on Thursday 8 June 2006 at Ardoe House Hotel by Aberdeen.  All finalists will receive a certificate with category winners picking up a coveted enterprise award and a cheque for up to £5,000.

Winners from last year’s awards include Poseidon Engineering, Zertech, double award winners Caledus, ANM Group and Graeme Anderson of boxportable.

Tickets cost £80 per guest (plus VAT) or £800 (plus VAT) for a table of ten.  The event begins with a champagne reception at 7pm, with carriages at 12.30 am.  Tickets for the event can be booked by calling 01467 672535, or emailing events@enetrust.com.

More information about the awards can be found at www.enetrust.com.  Winners were selected on 13th April 2006 and will not be announced until the awards ceremony takes place on 8th June at Ardoe House Hotel, by Aberdeen.

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