Brief History
"a passion for fashion"
My name is Florence Sibourd, I have lived in England for the past 25 years; I arrived to learn English and never left!
After a few years I worked for the Yve St Laurent Showroom in London to train as a sales representative for approximately two years.
During the subsequent years I have worked for the following companies; Arrabella Pollen (an English brand), Marcelle Griffon, George Rech (both French brands), Versace etc. and was consequently head-hunted by a French company, Rodier. I took on the role of a Director and then became their agent for developing their multi-brand and franchises within the UK and Ireland. After opening ten franchises and 40 multi-brand, I decided that I wanted to leave London and open my own shop in 2000 selling ski wear in Oxfordshire. This was a great success and whilst running my own boutique I became the agent for Poivre Blanc ski wear for 5 years.
After opening my boutique in Woodstock, I have founded an association called Wake to Woodstock in order to put this quaint retailing town, in Oxfordshire, back into people's minds. The footfall into the town was low and it needed a dynamic campaign to increase Woodstock’s profile. So, along with other retailers in the town, we developed the Wake up to Woodstock committee, who, along with their PR, have developed various strategies and activity launches to promote Woodstock and bring people back to this idyllic town and to enjoy the amenities it has to offer. The strong advertisement that has been produced includes our Wake up to Woodstock Website, where the numerous events around the town and within Blenheim Palace and its grounds, can be tracked throughout the year. As well as finding places to stay and enjoy a delicious choice of food, such as the Marlborough Grill.
Following this I was head-hunted, again by a French international ladies wear company called Devernois. I therefore decided that my experience was more for the ladies wear market and am currently developing franchises around the UK and Ireland for Devernois. I have subsequently converted my own boutique into a franchise with this brand, allowing me to become submerged fully into the complete workings of their franchise scheme.
However, I am not exclusive to Devernois and with my diverse understanding of the British market and its consumers, as well as developing a constantly expanding directory of existing retailers throughout the United Kingdom, I have been looking to implement this knowledge and develop other European brands around the UK and Ireland.
If you are interested in any of these concepts or would like some further information please contact us. |
