The Challenge

McArthurGlen is a European developer, owner and manager of quality designer outlet villages. To help improve the performance of the centres, the company decided to investigate the effect of introducing children’s playgrounds and entertainment facilities, and whether this considerable investment was aligned with customer need and usage of such facilities.

Henrik Madsen, managing director of McArthurGlen, UK & Northern Europe, told Recruiter: “We also wanted to provide something for the catchment area, which encourages repetitive usage, and that the facilities should be attractive for the 60-90 minute visitors.

Finally, we wanted to understand if the playground facilities would affect the spending in our centre.” With the potential to improve average spend per customer, as well as providing an attractive draw for a new family-based clientele, the dilemma for Madsen was that McArthurGlen had no information as to the current usage or impact on customer behaviour that the centres were having. It was also unclear whether the centres were seen as a primary attraction or just a welcome convenience.

And perhaps the most important unknown was whether through improving the facilities the business would see a positive return on investment.

Our plan was to put together a team of highly experienced and closely screened field analysts, who would have a proven track record in their field

The initial focus was to concentrate on five shopping centres around Europe: one in the UK, two in Italy, one in Germany and one in Austria. Finding the solution to this project was going to be tricky. Would it be best solved by a consultancy approach or going down the interim management route? What type of solution did Madsen and his team consider?

He told Recruiter: “We normally employ Harvard students every year, but we were looking for an alternative solution for our smaller projects. Our head of HR had heard about MBA & Co and her source had had great experience in using the firm.”

The Solution

MBA & Co is a global provider of MBA talent from the top business schools, who can be called on at short notice to provide businesses, from start-ups to international conglomorates, with strategic business acumen when needed. Co-founder Daniel Callaghan, an Oxford Said MBA, told Recruiter: “Companies can dip into MBA & Co on a project-by-project basis, so there’s no wasted costs for them [in terms of National Insurance and bonuses]. Our plan was to put together a team of highly experienced and closely screened field analysts, who would have a proven track record in their field and speak at least the native language plus English.”

Madsen envisiged a number of challenges to the project. “Firstly, finding reliable resources which would assist us in gathering the information across multiple countries, providing us with accurate information, which would help provide the foundation [for our analysis],” he explained. “Secondly, ensuring that we provided MBA & Co with solid customer research, which would allow them to understand the catchment. Lastly, finding a reliable method to calculate the potential uplift on business, if we offered a same, different or other kids crèche playground service/facility in the future at our centres.”

Using the company’s global network of around 7,000 top MBAs, Callaghan presented Madsen with a number of candidates. “The candidates from across Europe had various skill sets. This allowed us to pick the best fit for the job,” Madsen explained. So with Callaghan at the helm, a project manager, a project associate and four field analysts chosen, the team set about gathering research at the various centres.

Visiting each of the sites on three occasions, customers were interviewed at different times of the week to develop a full picture of the customer experience. Case studies of similar business models were included as part of the overall picture. The data was analysed and interpreted to provide McArthurGlen with recommendations as to whether the play area scenario was viable from a business perspective.

And the timescale from putting the proposal forward to completing the research and analysis? Madsen was impressed: “The process took 10 weeks end-to end, which was excellent. MBA & Co was very fast and efficient.” Callaghan added: “MBA & Co finds the resources and delivers the solution. Our service takes it up one more level, having experienced MBAs on call from the top business schools; the quality is already there and so is the flexibility.”

As for the outcome of the research how McArthurGlen decides to act on the conclusions that “will be determined next month [September]”, said Madsen. Hopefully Recruiter will bring news of jobs created at large designer outlet villages in parts of Europe in the near future…