Yesterday marked the final spring/summer 2012 buying trip to London which meant nearly start on the road at 7am for a 10am appointment.  Unfortunately the traffic congestion in London delayed our journey and we eventually arrived at 10.45am - usually on a Sunday I can be parked up within 1.5 hours - I always forget weekdays are totally different.




Spring /summer 2012 we have secured some pretty cool new brands - all relaxed, stylish, easy - pure Fashion Dispensary style.  Our particular favourite is the Amsterdam based brand Maison Scotch women’s, Scotch & Soda menswear - just so cool, laidback, gorgeous fabrics, well-made, good price point.  We are very confident that this brand will definitely be on our customer’s wish list.  The distribution showroom is a lovely open space for displaying the collection and the staff are great to work with, even ‘Hettie’ our Bearded Collie was made very welcome - she always has her paw on all the latest trends - a true canine fashionista!

After the appointment we found ourselves with a rare afternoon off, taking full advantage of this we headed over to central London to give our favourite shop a recce.  For us, Liberty’s is the best shopping experience in London, of course the building itself is unique & dripping in heritage, but what really sets this store apart from others is the direction that MD Ed Burstell has steered the store.  Innovative styling mixed with inspiring buying makes the shopping experience a delicious melting pot of different styles.  The staff are friendly, non-pushy and have a good product knowledge, unlike a lot of other stores that are purely sales/target driven.

The store had the inventive idea to hold an open day each August ‘Best of British’ style spotter when budding designer entrepreneurs can present their work to the Liberty buying team.  This is very savvy of Liberty’s as it allows them to choose the cream of fresh new ideas before competitors.  I know it’s only mid September but I have to admit that we visited the Christmas department - the festive music certainly puts you in to a buying mood.  Wonderful choice of Christmas decorations which are themed and colour blocked, I was spoilt for choice with the interesting Christmas card designs on offer.  I did buy a box of gorgeous kitsch Christmas crackers, the sales assistant did mention new stock arrives daily and that some lines have already sold out - so buy when you see it!

The journey out of London was relatively easy, back home by 7pm and out walking the dog over the fields towards Shipton Moyne.  Not a soul around, just total stillness, amazing when I had just been in the throbbing energy of London to find myself totally alone in the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside; in all a great day out mixing business with pleasure.