CIPS Presentation RNLI

Gary Coleman

Commercial Manager

V1 16.01.2015

RNLI in a minute

• RNLI in a minute

Our Mission –The RNLI is a charity that

provides a 24-hour lifesaving service around the UK and Republic of Ireland

–Reaching up to 100 nautical miles offshore Covering:

Open sea and inshore Over 200 of the UK's beaches Tidal reaches of the Thames Inland waters Flood Rescue

– 236 lifeboat stations – Lifeguards on over 200

beaches

– More than 4,600 lifeboat crew members

– 250 Flood Rescue Team members

– 95% of people are volunteers – Funded by voluntary

contributions and legacies

– Working alongside UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Irish Coast Guard

Some key facts…

in 2014

8,462 Lifeboat launches

8727

rescued by Lifeboat

368 Lives Saved

17,050

Lifeguard incidents

1,769 Rescued by Lifeguards

92

Lives Saved

Project 235 ‘Made for Life’

The Made for Life project had the aim of taking lifejackets beyond their designed useful life and using the materials from these old lifejackets to generate a revenue stream for the RNLI.

Objectives • Establishing an up-cycling option for the lifejackets -

the term up-cycling means taking waste materials and transforming them into a new product for sale.

• Separation of materials and decommissioning the 5000 lifejackets

• Development of products.

• Supplier selection

• Marketing and sales of the new products

Challenges

• The current immature upcycling market

• Finding and appointing a design company • Identifying a suitable manufacturing partner

• Separation and storage of materials

• Selling the resulting products to make a profit

Material separation

Material separation

235 Product Range

• 235 video

• Key Facts – Buckles reused saving £12,670 – 120 Lights reused saving £2,482 – 50 Pallets less lifejackets aiming to go to

landfill – Following the project the RNLI is working

with WRAP to generate a case study from the project and other sustainability initiatives to publicise more widely the work being undertaken by the RNLI in this area.

– A 100 per cent of the profit generated from sales of the products through RNLI shop goes towards the cost of paying for new lifejackets for the lifeboat crews. Circa £160K of new revenue, £52K profit.

The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale,

WRAP is a registered Charity No. 1159512 and registered as a Company limited by guarantee in England & Wales No. 4125764.

235 Red Range Every item has been handmade in the UK, and the swing tag is signed by the person who made it. Some items even feature the original hand-

written service label that shows the lifejacket’s own unique history.

How we resolved challenges

• By innovating and being creative • Influence the market and develop the suppliers you

need. – 235 – L S Manufacturing Limited

• Don’t compromise, use samples and multiple sources

of supply until you are happy with the quality of the products.

Lessons Learnt – Volunteers were essential

– Having a strong Unique Selling Point creates

added value

– Choosing the right supply partners is key

– Celebrate internal collaboration. The project core team included volunteers and experts from across the RNLI. Supply Chain, Commercial Management, Fundraising, Creative Development, Sales and Marketing, Sustainability, Disposals and Public Relations staff were all involved.

Thank you

& Questions?