Interview with Command House Sales Director Geoffrey Orchard

Every successful company requires strong leadership, a common vision and a compass to keep it on course to achieve its goals. A man that we often refer to as a one of the pillars of Command House and whom encompasses many of these traits is our own Sales Director. Taking time out of his busy schedule we bring the first of a two part interview with one of the founders of command house; Geoffrey Ofosu Orchard.

Can you tell us about your background?

I've been in the service industry a long time. Once I realised I had a passion for communication I felt that it was a perfect fit for the retail environment. I brought many aspects of my personality into my work. After a certain stage my ambition reached a point where I felt I was ready to start my own brand.

What would you say is your strongest skill?

I bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to any environment I enter. If you have an open character you can energise an otherwise very generic and static atmosphere that sometimes the retail industry encompasses. The shopping experience should be fun and customers enticed ideally by the experience. From big to small companies a customers specifically wants you to be a personal shopper. They want the friendly energetic character with a split personality. On one hand your professional and you have a great product knowledge, a sense of what colours and styles go together. On the other hand customers want you to be their best friend walking around with them. Customers want the comfort of their best friend as well as the professionalism and product knowledge of someone to find unique outfits and flatter them.

How do you stay ahead?

To be frank the only way I see staying ahead of the competition is constant innovation of style. The second point and the most crucial point is adapting to change and staying ahead of the fashion curve. So in other words if there’s a trend on the streets of London, Tokyo, or Paris our brand would need to be the trend setter rather than one of our rivals. For example last summer a clothing retailer stocked brightly coloured and styled leggings which became extremely popular with women on the high street. In London’s footfall this particular style was popular. And at this point in time it was only stocked by one retailer, the exclusivity was one of the factors what made it highly desirable

What goals do you want to achieve with your future projects?

Needless to say all the projects we undertake we work hard to make successful. Based on my knowledge of the industry and future trends I feel that one of our future projects will be to expand the brand more into sports accessories. Smart and sporty is where were looking to go , I don’t want to give too much away but elements of technology will be added to our clothing.   

What advise would you give people wanting to get into the industry?

I would say specifically because we've covered a lot of areas in fashion becoming a clothing retailer is a very rewarding challenge. Having an energetic, forward thinking, stylistic view can aid you in this industry immensely. So if you want to get in the industry have a strong sense of style and visualise your idea in a retail format.