Fenwick

Independent department store chain Fenwick was founded in Newcastle in 1882. It now has nine stores across the UK and is still owned by the Fenwick family. The department store offers a large range of goods and services, with a focus of luxury and designer items. It is also one of the only department stores in the UK to retain a food hall. Fenwick is midway through a three-year business transformation programme designed to create a more joined up, multichannel business that is fit for the future. The retailer has earmarked £25m to invest in IT infrastructure as part of this process and this saw Fenwick eventually launch a transactional site in April 2019. As well as modernising internal processes, the retailer is also prioritising investment in systems to improve the “exchange and analysis of data”. This is key for Fenwick as tailoring its in-store offer to local catchments is a USP. The retailer is open to innovation and has dabbled with store technology such as beacons.