Role: Owner
Company: The Boardroom
Track Record: After graduating with a degree in English from Queen’s Robert took what he thought would be a temporary job at luxury retailer Carter in Belfast. He ended up loving it so much that he stayed there for three years.
Upon leaving Carter Robert went into the property market but still had a passion and burning desire to get back into fashion. He left the property arena and in late 2008 he set up his own made-to-order shirt business Collari (Italian for collar) and worked away at that building up a steady client base.
In 2012, Robert set up The Boardroom offering a full range of made to order tailoring, shoes and knitwear. Robert’s passion is the quality of the product rather than the brand name. He has travelled to Italy to the factories to ensure they are producing items of the highest standards.
DAY IN THE LIFE
8.00am
I’m not a natural morning person, so when the alarm rings on my iPhone I’m prone to hitting the snooze function at least twice before rolling back the covers.
8.15am
Generally I’m out of bed no later than a quarter past eight. I’m a caffeine lover and there’s no better way to start the day than a freshly brewed coffee. I have an espresso maker but I’ve recently moved it into the store, so I can have coffee in work and for the clients.
Now at home I’ll make a cafetiere of coffee and have a bowl of cereal for breakfast.
8.30am
I shower for at least 15 minutes. I find the shower is the best place to have quiet time and really get the thoughts and ideas together for the day ahead and it’s great for waking a non-morning person like me up!
Once I’m showered I’ll look outside to check the weather situation.
This usually dictates on what items of clothing I’ll wear for the day. As I work in the suiting business I have a wide variety of materials to choose from, so if it’s cold then wool will be high on the list.
When I’ve selected the pieces of clothing to wear I’ll finish off the coffee while checking my emails on my phone to ensure there’s no urgent messages from suppliers or customers.
Many of my suppliers are in Italy and they work an hour ahead of us, so quite often I’ll have emails detailing updates of orders. I can then keep the client informed on the progress of their made to order shirt, suit or shoes.
9.15am
I drive to work listening to Chris Evans on BBC Radio 2 for the journey. I’ve missed the most of rush hour traffic when I drive to work, which makes the journey enjoyable.
My business premise is on Chichester Street in Belfast in an old Georgian townhouse. The building has such character with all its original cornicing and window frames. Who knows, a tailor may have operated from the premises a hundred years ago.
9.45am
I’ll park the car, buy a pint of milk for the day and walk the short distance from the car park to Chichester Street.
Sometimes I’ll sit outside Oscars Cafe and have a coffee. It’s a great opportunity to stop and chat to my customers on their way to work or some businessmen who perhaps are intrigued about the made to order service.
10.00am
Open for business. Lights on and most importantly the coffee machine gets turned on so the smell of freshly ground coffee beans will drift through the store. I find the smell gives the store a really warm, welcoming feel.
I’ll then boot up the computer and check on emails again, open the shipment packages that have arrived and start making the telephone calls to customers to let them know their bespoke order has arrived.
11.00am
The Boardroom offers an appointment service, of course, we are happy to see clients if they just happen to call in, but for the business man that only has a short time to spare, we aim to make the process as informative, engaging and as smooth as we can.
The measurement of a shirt takes 3 minutes and a full suit approximately 10 minutes. Time is then spent with the customer on the detail such as style of collar, cuffs, lining, stitching and buttons.
Like the name, the customer is very welcome to sit at the boardroom table adorned with fabric books and browse.
Of course, I give them guidance but I prefer the customer to choose themselves rather than selecting what I like. I aim to give the customer the luxury of choice.
Generally, I would be busy with appointments up until 2.30pm. There is a steady flow of people coming in on their lunch breaks either for appointments, to have a browse or pick up an order.
2.30pm – 4.00pm
I’ll sit down at the computer and insert the details of the customers that have come in for appointments into the computer to have for future reference. I’ll then start coordinating the measurements along with the material codes and send them to the supplier in Italy.
It generally takes 15-20 minutes to input codes for an item. I’m currently learning Italian so I’ll be able to just pick up the phone and chat to a supplier should I have a specific query.
4.00pm
This is the time when I grab a quick salad or sandwich for lunch usually at my desk while I am researching product ranges. All but one of the suppliers to The Boardroom is exclusive and as it’s a made to order service the combination of choice is endless so it’s very unlikely that two pieces will be made the same.
I’ve recently brought in made to order ties and shoes which have been really successful, especially the shoes for their uniqueness of fit. I’m also developing The Boardroom’s online presence via its website, Facebook and Twitter.
5.00pm-6.00pm
I’ll get another influx of appointments or passers-by before switching out the lights.
Quite often a customer will want an out-of-ours appointment which I’m happy to facilitate or sometimes I will go to a customer’s office if they don’t have time in their schedule to call in to The Boardroom.
The Boardroom, 11a Chichester Street, Belfast, www.boardroom-tailoring.com, 028 9002 1399