Fragrance Seminar for Young Managers

The Fragrance Foundation's third annual management training seminar goes from strength to strength.

Organised by Sumit Bhasin of Procter & Gamble, Abby Carvosso of Grazia and Janine Roxborough Bunce of JRB Associates, the third Fragrance Foundation Managing Training Seminar took place at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London last November.  Over 60 middle and senior managers from leading brand owners, distributors, fragrance creators, media owners and industry suppliers attended.  The day was a great success.

"The feedback we have had has been marvellous," said Janine Roxborough Bunce, who is the Executive Director of The Fragrance Foundation.  "The delegates said 'the mix of subjects was excellent and the calibre of speakers very high'.  Anyone in the industry would benefit from attending these seminars, not just young executives."

Informative Presentations

There were nine presentations throughout the day and John Ayres , Chairman of The Fragrance Foundation, hosted the event with authority and charm.  The day opened with a presentation on new fragrance classifications by Patrice Amboule from fragrance creators, Symrise.  Patrice was followed first by the latest market trends and figures presented by Briony Davies of Euromonitor International and then Sumit Bhasin, Head of Global Fragrance Development at P&G, discussed new international fragrance marketing trends.  After a reviving cup of coffee, Ally Cooney of Media.com gave the delegates a fascinating in-depth review of new media opportunities while Professor Tim Jacob from Cardiff University explained the sense of smell from a scientific point of view.

The afternoon session opened with Mark Lockyer from Sampling Innovations talking and showing new fragrance sampling methods.  Then came a talk from Linda Pilkington, the founder of Ormonde Jayne, about starting her fragrance business from scratch.  David Pybus from Pandora, described, in humorous detail, his recent experiences on the Dragon's Den television programme when he successfully got financial backing for his 'Scents of Time' project.  George Hammer of Urban Retreat closed the day with his own personal view of pioneering in retail.

"The Fragrance Foundation plans to continue with these annual management training seminars as they are proving very popular.  Subjects that will be covered in the future involve the structure of the fragrance industry and career paths available to young managers; the relationship between trends in fragrance and other sectors such as fashion, technology and interior design; research and innovation; new raw materials and what makes a successful fragrance launch," said John Ayres.

The next Fragrance Foundation Management Training Seminar will be held on Thursday 16th October at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), 66 Portland Place, London W1. Please email info@fragrancefoundation.org.uk if you are interested in attending.