Real life consultancy projects for final year students provide a fantastic opportunity to showcase their ideas, and this year an opportunity emerged a little closer to home.

The Dolphin Shopping Centre in Poole has been a major talking point in recent years. Consumers feel that Poole (as a destination) is let down by its shopping experience, and competition from West Quay (Southampton) and Gunwharf Quays (Portsmouth) is in a different class. However, BU Retail Management students took on the challenge of how to rejuvenate the shopping experience in Poole.

Following a brief set out by Poole’s economic development manager, Adrian Trevett, and BU lecturer, David Kilburn, a group of students presented three concepts to John Grinnell, the centre manager of the Dolphin Shopping Centre and the current owners of Legal and General Property (L&G). These concepts included a restaurant parade located in the Falkland Square walkway, a shipping container market situated on Poole Quay and an omni-channel retailing platform.

The omni-channel retailing concept was designed to bring all retailers at both ends of the high street together on one multi-channel platform. The service would provide a ‘click and collect’ hub and a home delivery service, where orders could be placed online by phone or at ‘interactive hubs’ proposed by the students.

Adrian Trevett said: ” I am keen to try and push some of their ideas and I particularly liked the logo and slogan the students created for the project.”

John Grinnell added: “It was fantastic to see the students’ enthusiasm for the project, some of the ideas they put forward were really well thought out and very creative. They had a great understanding of the Poole community and had carried out extensive research for their project.”

Commenting on the group’s presentation was BU student, Nicola Beattie: “Everyone seemed to be impressed with our suggestions and we had fantastic feedback.”

By Paul Fripp

Originally posted on The School of Tourism Blog.