The RBA in 2023

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2023 WITH THE RBA

Why being part of the RBA community brings value and support to your business. Laura Dixon tells all

The RBA committee know how important it is to bring our members value. Therefore, as an association we need to constantly bring new ways to enhance the membership offer. The RBA strives to raise industry standards across the UK and this is always at the top of the agenda at any committee meeting.

The association is in place to bring value to our members, all of whom are already leading the way in the industry, and giving their brides that sought-after ‘experience’ and fantastic service, from the moment they book in, right up to sharing their wonderful memories after the big day. RBA shops really care, their passion and drive are what make them stand out.

So, what do we have in store for 2023? Well, where do we start… we are very excited to have partnered up with the superb LVL London Consultancy. Louise and her team offer luxury sales training workshops and have delivered these to many leading luxury retailers including Harrods and Tiffany & Co. We secured a fabulous venue in central London where we hosted this training event free and exclusive to RBA members. It was wonderful to be back in a room with so many of our members, the event was really well attended despite the health and travel challenges disrupting us all at the moment.

The first workshop, which took place early January, was planned to set our members up for a great start to 2023, and it was specifically designed to equip them with the tools to implement the training within their own teams in store. The workshop focused on the fundamentals of luxury, client engagement and effective upselling. Bride expectations are higher than ever and this training supports our members to have the confidence and know-how to really deliver a luxury experience to their customers.

Feedback is key. We do regular polls to get feedback from our members on various aspects of the

membership offer. This helps us to create targeted benefits that our members find valuable. A recent member poll showed that whilst our members love all the practical support we offer; HR resources, legal advice, training, supplier discounts, the resounding focus of what they value is the strong community that has developed over the 27 plus years that the RBA has been active. This led us to set up a WhatsApp group for our members and it has been a joy to see the engagement on there between our eveyone. The support, advice and “It has been a joy to see the engagement between members in our WhatsApp group; the support, advice overall warmth that the members show to each other is very special. It is a space that our members and overall warmth they show each can come to when they other is very special. It motivates us are facing a difficult all to be the best we can” situation, but also where they can share their good news. We build each other up, which motivates us all to be the best we can be. We are stepping into 2023 with some fantastic new joiners and the first of our new associate members, too. We also have our ongoing partnership with the brilliant Wendy Rivera and her team at DYSB, and we have lots of updated resources on the members’ portal bringing consistency across UK bridal shops. We are working on a handy FAQ legal guide that members can refer to for quick answers to common situations bridal retailers face… no more waiting in a queue to speak to a legal advice line. Watch this space for more exciting news and updates from the RBA. If you are a UK bridal retailer and want to join our wonderful association and community then please head over to our website where you can find out more about our membership offers and submit your application. We would love to hear from you. info@rbaltd.org.uk www.rbaltd.org.uk