The Body Shop

Anita Roddick and her husband originally opened a restaurant and a hotel in her hometown. When he wanted to trek across the Americas, she needed to provide an income for the family. During her own extensive travels she had noticed lots of different body rituals practised by women around the world. This led directly to the first Body Shop in 1976. Since then the shops have expanded across the globe and there are now nearly 2,000 shops in 50 different markets. Despite conflicts between the need to make money and her principles, and the occasional bad patch, the shops have flourished and she has managed not to compromise her original vision to effect social and environmental change.

As anyone who has shopped at The Body Shop knows, their principles are well articulated and you either buy into their vision or not – it is your choice. Their values:

• Against animal testing – they consider testing ingredients on animals to be morally and scientifically indefensible.
• Support community trade – they support small producer communities around the world.
• Activate self-esteem – they treat everyone as an individual.
• Defend human rights – they believe that it is everyone’s responsibility to actively support those whose rights are denied to them.
• Protect the planet – they believe that businesses have a responsibility to protect the environment in which they operate.

 

Many companies have tried to reproduce the products and bring them to market at lower prices. Despite this competition, the organisation still endures.

The takeover by L’Oreal would not seem to be an obvious move. However, it will be fascinating to see how much the unique values of Body Shop influence the operation of L’Oreal itself.

Ken Mcculloch

After his success with One Devonshire Gardens in Glasgow, Ken McCulloch developed the Malmaison group of hotels in the UK. He eventually sold the company to a group, then went on to develop the first Columbus Hotel in Monaco and has recently opened the first Dakota Hotel. His hospitality vision seems to have gestated a bit like Richard Branson’s as a counterbalance to the terrible operations perpetrated by the ‘big boys’ – he says, ‘We will always be a wee company that thinks big.’

He always seems to be fighting the ‘What do they expect for £ 80’ school of hotel keeping, striving all the time to make his guests’ stay a memorable experience rather than a chore. There is no doubt that he has been extremely successful in generating great occupancy levels and above average room rates. He too makes his pricing transparent and fair, giving tremendous value for money especially compared to his perceived competition. McCulloch’s vision can be summarised as:

• Always go with your instincts and trust the public.
• Simple pricing drives loyalty.
• Never compromise on quality and design standards.
• Always strive to impress your guests.
• Turn employees into believers.
• Try to make it the friendliest hotel guests have ever stayed in.
• A great restaurant is the heart and soul of the hotel.
• Make guests look forward to being away.
• Think about the language and humour you use to communicate.
• Guests want to be ‘wowed’ and they don’t care how.
• Always share your vision with your people.

Articulate Your Vision

I have used these three examples to illustrate what I mean by having a vision and articulating it. This vision then becomes what drives your business and is the backdrop to every decision you make for your hotel. Think of it as being something that you need so that you can talk about it to any applicant for a job in your hotel. Just a simple piece of A4 will do but it needs to summarise exactly what you are trying to do. Applicants can then see what is expected of them and they can decide whether or not it’s for them.

Here are a few ideas of what you should consider as you try to set down your vision for your hotel. You don’t even have to write very much. Some organisations just set down their vision as a picture. It doesn’t matter, since there is no format or right way of expressing what you ‘see’. But you must be able to communicate it.