If you’re curious to talk through your brand or business challenge, click PINK above to contact Fiona. If you’d prefer to read a little more first, click BLUE to check out Fiona’s book.
If you’re curious to talk through your brand or business challenge, click PINK above to contact Fiona. If you’d prefer to read a little more first, click BLUE to check out Fiona’s book.
Fiona has that very rare ability to traverse the big picture and the micro detail, effortlessly – all the while being supportive, challenging and most importantly, perhaps, fun to work with! What started as a series of workshops to help me refine the brand identity and vision for my business has evolved into a strategic mentorship role which encompasses every aspect of my business’s activities. More than this, Fiona is the person I wouldn’t hesitate to call when faced with an unexpected challenge or when needing a critical friend. Her contribution to the business and to my personal growth has been invaluable. I could not recommend working with Fiona highly enough.” Rosie Cooke — CEO & Founder, Deakin & Blue
(re)discover the mojo
Image slide provided by kind permission of The Somers Isles Trading Company Limited
In the almost four years that I’ve been working with this incredible entrepreneur and her talented team, their achievements have been truly remarkable. From a successful base of designing, sourcing and delivering ambitious and diverse ranges of product to retailers in the UK and internationally, including Argos, Disney and Macy’s, the company has transformed.
The Somers Isles Trading Company was awarded the retail contract in the new state-of-the-art passenger terminal at the L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda which opened in December 2020. The vision was to set a new standard in airport retail and to create a truly outstanding customer experience. Love Bermuda stores celebrate the colour, vibrancy and life of Bermuda in a space where the customer experience is created through a welcoming environment, lovingly designed products and excellent service. The Love Bermuda environment reflects the beauty and ‘sense of place’ of Bermuda where all senses are stimulated, including sight, sound, taste and smell.
During 2021 the company won two prestigious awards on a worldwide stage in the DFNI Frontier Awards held in Cannes. Every year, the Frontier Awards celebrate the very best of innovation, creativity and excellence within the global travel retail sector. The first award in March 2021 was for Collaboration of the Year, and this was followed by the Best New Store award for the Love Bermuda entry announced in a live ceremony in Cannes on 27th October 2021.
Winning in this category on a worldwide stage is all the more remarkable given that the runner up to Somers Isles was Samarataine Paris Pont-Neuf by DFS; owned by LVMH and located in the heart of Paris, the 20,000m2 store cost over $200MM to develop and was opened by President Macron.
While the onset of Covid-19 significantly impacted the numbers of flights and passengers, customer response to Love Bermuda shops and product ranges has been extremely positive. The key measure of conversion (numbers of customers buying) and average spend per customer have significantly exceeded expectations and industry benchmarks.
“Dear Fiona, I could not write in enough words what it means to me to have not only your support and help, but your valued contribution to turning the idea into reality. You are an absolute GEM.” Rhona Sutton — Founder & CEO of The Somers Isles Trading Company Limited
(re)discover the mojo
This family owned business, based near Leeds, has a 50 year history of craftsmanship and family values.
HSL design and develop highly specialised furniture that ensures comfort through their unrivalled understanding of the importance of good posture. Through their empathetic relationship with their customer, they are able to create extraordinary rapport.
We are delighted to be involved in supporting the business in working towards realising the next stage of their exciting vision.
Diversity and inclusion
Fiona was delighted to participate in the 2017 Tesco Women in Finance Event, alongside Dame Helena Morrissey, DBE, and some of the senior female leaders in Tesco. The focus was very much on inspiring women leaders and gender balance in business.
The client’s story
"We would really like to thank you for accepting our invite Fiona. We must have thanked you a million times but couldn’t appreciate enough the time and effort you extended to share your experiences with us. We received some initial messages soon after the event from few colleagues which I would like to share with you:
“What a refreshing event! I really felt it touched some good points and also created more of an awareness for me.”
“Thank you very much for everything you have done to organise this morning’s Women in Finance event. I know that these sort of events require a lot of effort to pull off and it was definitely worth it.The quality of the speakers today was excellent, and I really got a lot from attending the event, listening to the speakers, as well as catching up with colleagues that I haven’t seen for ages. Hearing from a mixture of external and internal experiences was also very valuable.”
“These are difficult times, but I think that the messages were respectful of that and relevant for a broad range of outcomes.”
“What a brilliant inspiring event this morning. I was dithering whether to attend or not and am so glad I did. I came away feeling a lot more positive and optimistic than I have in the last few weeks and it made me realise it’s not just me who over thinks things!”
Thank you again. Let the light within us shine.” Indu Ajesh — Channels Strategy & Insight, Tesco plc
(re)discover the mojo
The Founder of this transformative swimwear brand approached us to work with her to take her brand forward towards its very exciting future.
As a feminist and with the firm belief that women should not have to make a choice between looking and feeling great, the Founder has established a truly differentiated and sustainable brand that will transform the way that women feel about their bodies. As a swimmer myself I can share that I feel transformed during my regular swim!
"I have known and worked with Fiona for nearly two years and over that time she has become a very trusted adviser. Fiona has that very rare ability to traverse the big picture and the micro detail, effortlessly – all the while being supportive, challenging and most importantly, perhaps, fun to work with! What started as a series of workshops to help me refine the brand identity and vision for my business has evolved into a strategic mentorship role which encompasses every aspect of my business's activities. More than this, Fiona is the person I wouldn't hesitate to call when faced with an unexpected challenge or when needing a critical friend. Her contribution to the business and to my personal growth has been invaluable. I could not recommend working with Fiona highly enough." Rosie Cooke — CEO & Founder, Deakin & Blue
Future leaders
Fiona has strong connections with Pearson College London and regularly connects with, speaks to and mentors the students – some of our future business leaders. She was delighted to join the panel at the first event for the Women in Business Society, hosted by co-Presidents Martha Horrox, Talia Grantham and Orla Enright.
The client's story
Martha posted on LinkedIn the next day:
"I had a great evening launching our first event for the Women in Business society at PCL this evening! It was a pleasure to co-host and put the event together with my co-presidents Talia Grantham and Orla Enright. After weeks of planning, it was certainly rewarding seeing our ideas become reality. A massive thank you to our amazing panel Fiona Davis, Charmaine Hayden and Emma Margetts, we couldn’t have done this without you! P.S. I think it’s safe to say my reading list is very well stocked up now!"
Fiona was also pleased to lead a thought-provoking discussion with students on the topicRetail is resilient at London's Barbican at the kind invitation of Frances Trought, Deputy Vice President Talent Development, Pearson Business School.
The client's story
An extract from the Pearson College blog by Conner Maguire:
"Are high streets really dying, or are they just evolving?This was an extremely powerful discussion led by Fiona Davis, Managing Director of The Brand Inspiration Co., who used current business examples to bring across relevant insight about what companies are getting right, going against the reported trend about the failing high street. This was a useful talk, helping students to ensure they have various avenues of information to allow additional relevancy to arguments that they bring up in their assignments.
Fiona ended by stating that "retail is resilient", an optimistic angle on an otherwise pessimistic topic. Yet when it is considered that businesses need to be brave and visionary, then there still is a strong purpose for the high street, it is just that this role is always evolving."
After her presentation, Fiona joined Darko Atijas and Jason Brandt to take questions from Sarah Macdonald – Vice Principal Pearson College, for the students. Fiona answered a question from Sarah about the experiential nature of our high streets.
Fiona Davis answers a question for students of Pearson College
We are proud to support the Chelsea Football Club Foundation (CFCF) in their work in the community. They run one of the world’s leading social responsibility programmes, using the power of sport to motivate, educate and inspire. They believe that the power of football can be harnessed to support communities and individuals both at home and abroad.
We work with CFCF and engage with their community groups to inspire, guide and support their initiatives focusing on employment, education, social deprivation, crime reduction, youth offending and much more.
We were especially delighted to work with 140 young women aged 12, from a local school in Fulham. Their vision, self belief and team work were an inspiration to us all!
(re)discover the mojo Mentoring
The client's story
“WBC was introduced to Fiona as a potential mentor to join the WBC mentoring programme. We were hugely impressed with Fiona’s track record in turning around businesses and adding value to struggling firms. She has already made a big impact with the businesses that attend our Mentoring Meet Up and we will continue to recommend her as a source of sound advice and guidance.” Sophie Shrubsole — Westminster Business Council
Watch Fiona speaking and being interviewed when she co-hosted an evening of conversation on the topic of Walking in your customer's shoes in partnership with Westminster Business Council.
The Bristan Group are experts in bathrooms, taps and showers.
Having initially been invited to support The Heritage Bathroom brand in improving their customer experience, we are delighted to be involved in a group wide review to support the business in determining the key levers for growth.
Diversity and inclusion
We were approached by Sainsbury's to co-run workshops on diversity and inclusion.
We worked collaboratively with a group of male and female senior leaders to support them in exploring some of the challenging issues they were facing.
(re)discover the mojo
The Founder and CEO of this highly trusted property business approached us to support them in the re-branding of the business. They are progressing through an exciting transformation in the brand proposition, services provided, organisational design and structure. We are working highly collaboratively with them to enhance the reach, brand presence and customer engagement of the brand. The client wrote to Fiona about the work,
“Fiona, I wanted to thank you for the brilliant and extra ordinary work that you have done for our company over the past couple of years. When we first met, I was running several companies all under different names, trying to push different brands all at the same time, however your experience and knowledge made us see how much energy, time and money we were wasting trying to achieve the end goal.
With your help we have managed to bring all four businesses under one brand over the past 24 months, thus saving wasted energy, time and money and increasing our profitability several fold.
You are unique in what you do, and I wish I had come across your talent twenty years ago. However, it is never late to start getting one’s company in order to be a brand name amongst the best. I always shout from the roof top about how you have transformed our business to be exactly that — a brand name among the best out there, thank you!”
Zad Siadatan — CEO & Managing Director Connect UK Group
(re)discover the mojo
Seismic Venture Partners are a boutique investment company.
We worked with the team at Seismic to create a strong and viable proposition for a self storage concept that was at a very early stage when we became involved. Following a thorough review of the market and the potential opportunity, the exciting Caboodle brand was created with the help of brand design partners White Bear. Caboodle represented such a tangible opportunity that Seismic were able to attract a significant level of investment.
(re)discover the mojo
The Growth Advisory Service approached us to support the Founder of this highly distinctive toy and stationery brand in creating a growth strategy.
The brand already had a unique proposition and an impressive international customer, and was stocked in premium brand stores. Our role was to support and guide the Founder in her priorities and choices with stretched resources.
(re)discover the mojo
The Founders of this innovative watch brand approached us when they were about to embark on a complete brand re-positioning. The timing coincided with their Head of Marketing being on maternity leave. Fiona was on hand to support the internal and agency teams through the transition.
(re)discover the mojo
The Founders of this highly values-led brand approached us to support them through their start-up and launch phase. They describe their proposition as ‘clothing with soul for mindful living’. Their product is ethical, sustainable and vegan friendly. 10% of revenue supports cultural and heritage projects in the Peruvian Amazon.
(re)discover the mojo
The Founder of this exciting ethical shoe brand approached us for support in navigating her brand through the next stage of growth. From the core of the strategy and the brand proposition through to identifying pragmatic solutions to her business needs, we are working alongside her as trusted advisers. Together we have helped shape her plans for product, people, brand communications, customer engagement, supply chain and distribution.
Diversity and inclusion
The client's story
“Fiona worked in partnership with me to identify and develop the values and proposition. With objectivity and clarity Fiona has guided both myself and the trustees through a process that ensures Women in Retail (WiR) articulates clearly who and what we are and why. She has then ensured a practical critical path of actions and timescales which has enabled WiR now in its tenth year to attract high profile brand sponsorship and engage and attract the vast majority of recognised major UK retailers. Fiona’s style is practical, structured, open, highly collaborative, focused and commercial. She instinctively taps into the ‘feel’ of a brand and will ensure this is incorporated when bringing the brand vision and purpose to life. Personally I have found Fiona’s insights, hands on style and much needed interventions to be invaluable. I consider WiR after ten years to be in the best place as an organisation and community that it has ever been, this would not have been possible without Fiona.” Karen Richards — Founder & CEO, Women in Retail
Watch Fiona representing Women in Retail in a BBC interview.
Fiona Davis interview for the BBC, topic Gender Diversity
