Talking shop

11 May 2010

Joe Morris, Operations Director of Home Bargains (TJ Morris Ltd), has visited LJMU’s Liverpool Business School to see a selection of business presentations by BA (Hons) Retail Management students and to have lunch with the students and staff from the Liverpool Business School, the Business Development Centre (BDC) and the Graduate Development Centre (GDC).

The visit marked the culmination of a project developed between Home Bargains, Joe McGrath (programme leader for Retail Management) and the BDC, where the students were given access to Home Bargains stores in and around the city centre and worked in groups to study the ‘Star Buys’ section of the stores and carry out market research into customers’ buying habits.

The results of the research were presented to Joe Morris and his colleague Chris Wood, followed by a Q&A session to explore the qualities that a dynamic and rapidly-expanding organisation like Home Bargains is looking for in their retail managers.

After the presentations and discussions, a networking lunch was held in the Moot Room, giving further opportunity for students to chat informally with Joe Morris and Chris Wood and for Joe and Chris to meet with Liverpool Business School’s Director, Professor Paul Joyce, as well as representatives from the BDC and the GDC.

Speaking afterwards, programme leader Joe McGrath said: “The students undertook four weeks of survey activity in a number of Home Bargains stores in the Merseyside area. This project was unique to the first year BA (Hons) Retail Management students and provided them with a real opportunity to work in teams, analyse the information and present their findings to senior management within Home Bargains. This activity represents what the Retail Management degree is all about - learning in and out of the University environment and giving the students solid material on which to build their knowledge and experience. The Home Bargains project was only made possible by the enthusiasm and help of Joe Morris, to whom we are very thankful.”

Joe Morris commented: “The student findings brought to life some of the issues that Home Bargains contends with and certainly validated some discussions we have been having internally. I found it useful and Home Bargains is very pleased with the result.”

Dominique Aspey, who coordinated the project on behalf of the BDC, further added: “Home Bargains is one of the UK’s fastest growing discount retailers with over 190 stores in the UK and plans to expand to over 500 stores by 2018. Liverpool JMU is the only university in Merseyside to offer a degree in retail management and the relationship between this programme and Home Bargains, with its head office in Liverpool, places LJMU’s students and graduates at the heart of our World of Work™ employability agenda. Joe Morris has pledged his further support with an invitation for our students to visit his state-of-the-art warehousing operation in Liverpool and we are very much looking forward to developing our relationship with this entrepreneurial business.”

For more information about Home Bargains (TJ Morris Ltd), please visit their website

The BDC has a large network of contacts that can enhance business and teaching. For more information, please contact Dominique Aspey, Enterprise Network Manager, on 0151-231 8062 or email d.aspey@ljmu.ac.uk