Dressed for Success
One of St Alban’s leading independent fashion boutiques, The Dressing Room, has seen considerable growth and diversification in the last 10 years with the help of WMT Chartered Accountants.
Road to success
Founded in 2005 by Deryane Tadd, it has expanded from a small store in the city centre to an operation that is now four times larger, with a successful e-commerce presence that continues to enjoy considerable success.
The wide range of high fashion brands that it provides, which include American Vintage, Ba&sh, DAY Birger et Mikkelsen and Paige Denim, make its store at 6-8 High Street, St Albans and website a popular destination for shoppers.
Growth and diversification
When The Dressing Room first engaged the services of WMT, it was just a brick-and-mortar location looking for support with its bookkeeping and management accounting.
The team at WMT, led by Client Partner Adrian Le Roux, initially supported Deryane with these services, meeting regularly each quarter to provide proactive advice and a clear vision of the business’s finances.
However, over time, as the business expanded, WMT’s role has evolved and branched out to cover a wide array of projects – from personal and business tax planning to supporting the development of The Dressing Room’s internal finance team.
Finding the right strategy
Recording, understanding and acting upon the business data is essential to the success of the business and very much a focus for Deryane who calls on the expertise of WMT’s team for advice and information to support her decision-making.
This assistance was integral to the brand seeking new funding arrangements as it looked to develop and expand its operations several years ago.
WMT assisted with finding the right funders for both the physical retail store and the e-commerce business and looked at the structure of the business to best facilitate future growth.
Deryane and WMT have a great working relationship, which is enhanced by regular meetings that allow them to gain a deeper understanding of the business and help The Dressing Room’s leadership ask questions and bounce ideas off experienced advisors.
Our client says…
Speaking about the guidance that WMT provides, Deryane said: “We have a strong, trusted relationship. We have grown significantly in the last decade and the advice that the WMT experts provided was an important part of this.
“As we are both based in St Albans, it makes regular meetings easy and they have an exceptional knowledge of the local marketplace, which is invaluable to us.
“I really can’t speak highly enough of their friendly and knowledgeable team and would highly recommend them to other high-growth businesses.”
To find out more about The Dressing Room’s story and success, please visit www.the-dressingroom.com
“We have a strong, trusted relationship. We have grown significantly in the last decade and the advice that the WMT experts provided was an important part of this.
“As we are both based in St Albans, it makes regular meetings easy and they have an exceptional knowledge of the local marketplace, which is invaluable to us.
“I really can’t speak highly enough of their friendly and knowledgeable team and would highly recommend them to other high-growth businesses.”
