BAM Worldwide Ltd, the North East-based company behind
the successful men’s online lifestyle accessory brand TORRO, recently teamed up
with business students at Northumbria University to explore diversification and
new routes to market.
Business partners William Johnson and Michael Farnsworth
launched the company, which specialises in the design, manufacture and delivery
of premium quality leather cases and covers for mobile devices, in 2014.
In just five years, the TORRO brand has secured a loyal
customer base with sales worldwide and a turnover in excess of £2 million per
year.
Aware they have only touched the surface of the e-commerce
market and keen to keep innovating, William and Michael approached the Business Clinic at Northumbria University for advice.
They tasked a team of four final year business students to research
growth potential and conduct a feasibility study into the company’s plans to
evolve the brand by adding complementary products to its range.
William Johnson, BAM Worldwide managing director, explains:
“Working with the Business Clinic has been a great experience for us. Enlisting
the support of bright young minds along with the knowledge and insights they
bring has been a transformative process for us.
“We are a small team and when you work at the coalface it
can be difficult to step out and see the bigger picture to create new
opportunities. We created TORRO to cater to style conscious men, who want good
quality products at affordable prices.
“We wanted to know if our strategy to create a new and
exclusive range of gents’ leather accessories would enable us to sell at a
higher price point. Our project brief focused on two key elements. Firstly, how
can we boost our online presence in the USA and Europe, and secondly, to look
at how we can take TORRO from the internet to the high street in a manner which
fits our brand values.
“The report and recommendations the team produced are
excellent, realistic and implementable. I think the Business Clinic model is a
great idea that everybody benefits from. It has been fantastic for us to tap
into emerging business talent, and to know that we are helping Beth, Jack, Josef
and Liam, to further their studies.”
The Business Clinic, which is part of Northumbria
University’s award-winning Business School, was ‘Highly Commended’ by the
British Academy of Management Education Practice Awards Panel in 2017 for its
role in bringing students and businesses together to identify and deliver
genuine solutions for real businesses.
The model involves groups of business students forming a
‘consultancy firm’ to provide free advice to clients. The service is available
to all types of businesses from SMEs and multinationals to charities and third
sector organisations.
Students are asked to analyse the problem they are
presented, consider possible solutions and provide a detailed report and full
presentation of their recommendations to their client.
Nigel Coates, director of the Business Clinic, said: “BAM
Worldwide and their TORRO product range is a North East success story and we are
extremely proud to work with them. Since we launched the Business Clinic five
years ago we have seen over 900 students work with and advise more than 220
organisations.
“The Business Clinic is an extremely innovative education scheme,
providing our students with an invaluable opportunity to develop advantageous
skills and ultimately improve their chances of securing highly-desirable jobs
when they graduate.”
