Brand Partnership Manager
Retail Arabia International
Total years of experience :8 years, 9 Months
Managing 125 brand partners within the two House of Fraser locations
Responsible of 75% of total business within House of Fraser
Deliver brand strategy aligned with UK principle, senior management and buying team
Buying selections for consignment brands, including Amishi London, Hoss Intropia, Juicy Couture, Sea Folly, Rip Curl, O’Neil Men’s Intimates, Women’s Intimates, Just Cavalli, M Missoni, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rivaage, Urbanist, FitFlop, Puket, One Piece, local wear and many others.
Support the senior team with both devising and delivering over all strategy for House of Fraser in the Middle East
Open new locations to both timeline and SQM percentage KPIs
Set, manage and review KPIs for all brand partners
Negotiate terms to deliver and exceed overall profitability target for both stores
Present store layouts, floor plans and brand mix continuously as the store and customer profile evolve
Consistently review, revise and build brand strategy
Align with marketing to link Brand Partner marketing calendars with HOF
Present ideal store plans for future projects across GCC
Facilitate all brand needs whilst collaborating with Retail Arabia
August 2013 to Present
DeVere Group
Business Coordinator
Core Responsibilities
• Book, organise and maintain senior consultants working diary.
• Achieve and exceed company goals, set by senior management.
• Uphold DeVere brand image at all times, in both day to day role and through attending events and meetings held across the UAE.
• Source new clients and bring in leads to the DeVere group.
• Communicate with all existing clients, to up hold a strong and professional relationship.
• Organise events for existing clients and prospects.
• Self generate leads and data.
• Actively network and strcture networking events.
• Source and develop relationships with key venues to run events to promote both the brand and consultant across Abu Dhabi.
• Organise seminar meetings with companies on behalf of senior advisor.
• General office admin
Achievements
• Top team in Abu Dhabi in Q1 2014
• number one co-ordinator in WAI region
• Number two co-ordinator in the DeVere Group worldwide.
• Top co-ordinator monthly awards
• 3rd in the WAI region for Q4 2013
June 2012 to June 2013
All Saints
General Store Manager for the three All Saints concessions in Selfridges. Combined turnover over £7million, I am responsible for the menswear, womenswear and footwear departments.
Core Responsibilities
• Drive sales to meet LY, company plan and Selfridges plan.
• Management team of 10 and staff of 55 across the three floors.
• Deliver the brand vision to team and clients.
• Strategise to achieve all company goals for both the store and area.
• Wage and sales forecast and budgeting for the three sites.
• Inspirational yet commercial Visual Merchandising.
• To development the management team as a pool of talent for the London area.
• Work with Selfridges and All Saints senior management to deliver both brand visions without compromising either brand.
• To never be out of stock on available lines. Working closely with merchandising to ensure no opportunities missed.
• Trail-blaze for the area in people, product and proposition practises.
Achievements
• Three stores combined at +4% vs LY, for retail year, despite relocation and space changes, whilst awaiting full refit in 2013.
• Increase of linear to all three departments.
• Reduction of stock loss from 5.3% to current result of 2.3%.
• Nominated for extraordinary person award by Selfridges senior management.
• Footwear department is the most profitable per sqr foot within Selfridges footwear galleries.
• Menswear department number 1 vs. Selfridges plan year to date.5 to Selfridges plan YTD.
• Womenswear concession level to LY and has risen from -24% to -2% We have also been given more linear within the refit plans for women's street.
• Recruited and developed new teams for all three floor, with three team members already having been internally promoted.
October 2011 to June 2012
Jack Wills
• Cluster Manager for four stores within the London Area. £5.5 million total turnover.
Core Responsibilities
• Store Manager within the St Albans store. Cluster manager for the Northcote Road, Portobello Road and Wimbledon stores.
• Drive all four stores to achieve key financial KPI's. Working with each store manager and store team, to hit both plan and deliver expected growth compared to previous year sales.
• Ensure exceptional service is received by every customer, across all four stores. This is measured through our mystery shop program.
• Educate teams and work them to achieve the new KPI of conversion. This is a new focus with in Jack Wills.
• Work with stores and area visual merchandiser to consistently elevate visual standards within all store.
• Interpret all brand goals and communication, ensure these have been executed to completely reflect the brands vision.
• Work with the merchandising team to ensure that the right product is in the right store. Changing the grading within categories to react to customer spend, then drilling into depth of each style to keep stock cover to a commercial level.
• To control and manage all store costs, particularlly payroll and supply orders. This is not only controlling amounts but also constantly reviewing resources so they are used to maximum productivity.
• Work with the loss prevention team to drive down current stock loss results.
• Create a strong work ethos and lead from the front.
Achievements
• St Albans store is now achieving sales growth versus last year.
• Two cluster store achieving last year and plan.
• Highest mystery shop to date with the St Albans store.
• Consistent mystery shop results being achieved in all cluster stores.
• Merchandising are now working with all four stores to have key product in each store
November 2010 to October 2011.
Polo Ralph Lauren
• General Manager of the Bicester Children's outlet store. $11 million turnover. Projected $15 million for this year.
Core Responsibilities
• Managing a team of 80 staff and 6 managers to achieve key company goals.
• Working towards achieving sales target, plan and last year on a weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis.
• Deliver a luxury service in an outlet environment.
• Work with Value Retail manager to ensure the store meets both Ralph Lauren and Bicester Village standards.
• Consistently training the team to adapt to the ever increasing trade. Working with them to achieve a high conversion, UPT and Atv on a daily basis.
• Launch product seasonally and achieve the expceptionally high visual standard set by the visual department.
• Develop the management team to be able to perform in all aspects of their roles.
• To be 100% commercial at all times, reacting quickly to both slow and best sellers
• Manage both front and back of house to the 80% audit pass mark.
• To achieve stock loss results within the company standard
• To never sell through on core product and ensure that stock in store is reactive to customer needs.
Achievements
• Three 100% mystery shop results
• Presented with the Town Hall award for sales growth to last year and customer conversion. This is decided by the senior directors of the FOE branch of Ralph Laure
• Set new company expectation for the relationship between the buying and merchandising team with stores and was rolled out to all stores in FOE.
• Five members of the management team receiving an internal promotion including assistant manager to general manager
• Three team members accepted onto the management training program
• Most successful year for the business
• Lowest stock loss result in the stores history
• Over 60 emails received about great customer service in store, from customers
• 30% growth for the year on year
• Average conversion rate of 21%, highest in FOE
• Turned store from failing audits to obtaining highest scores consistently, of all three Ralph Lauren stores within the village
January 2010 to November 2010
Sales Manager for House of Fraser
• Sales manager of Lower Ground floor of Oxford street branch. £5.5 million turnover.
Core Responsibilities.
• Since taking on this role within House of Fraser one my core objectives has been to develop and deliver our sales team of 30. By using both HoF and my own training techniques as well as constant feedback I achieved growth of £750, 000 over both Concession and HoF own brands vs. last year. £500, 000 of this has been on own bought product.
• To set targets, expectations and motivate Brand Partners. Working with key high street brands such as Miss Selfridge, Warehouse, Office, Mango and more, to drive the floor to the highest potential. Whether this was with the management or sales team of the concession, I involved myself in all aspects of their business to deliver the growth required by HoF this year.
• To liaise weekly with senior managers, directors and buyers. I was the only business in store to walk weekly with the buying team for all the own product. This was to maximise sales, be more reactive and ensure the right message is delivered to our customer.
• To deliver world-class service in every area of the floor. Assist the training co-ordinator with new techniques, working closer with brand partners and leading by example raised the bar of the service on Lower Ground, ultimately driving towards the sales success of the whole floor.
• To set an internal succession plan for both supervisors and Brand Specialists. I was heavily involved in the training process for all candidates in Brand Specialtsi and have continued to support both Brand specialist and supervisor I have in my business. By constantly motivating and driving these individuals I have been able to deliver the growth of £500, 000 on LY.
• To support my Senior Manager in all aspects of her role. Running two areas of the store, I was often required to support my DSM with both her businesses. Offering guidance, training and support to the Fashion Accessories team whenever it is required.
• I have also complete a number of projects included analysis of hours and heat maps of each of our departments to ensure we are making the most profit per square foot.
September 2007 to December 2009- Karen Millen,
Selfridges
• Assistant Manager of flagship store. £4 million turnover.
Core Responsibilities
• To set and deliver core business goals. By motivating the team, generating new ideas and exceeding company expectations I have driven our team to achieve target for quarter 1, 2 and 3 for this finacial year and on track to hit target for quarter 4.
• To be highly organised, constantly adapt and evolve within myself to fufill the store and brands needs.
• By using exsisting company training tools, pioneering new techniques and upholding brand values and identity, I developed the sales team to their highest potential, a high contributing factor in the store reaching target.
• To liase with Karen Milen and Selfridges directors and divisions about weekly communications about the generation of new business and feedback on current performance.
• To meet wage targets, organise and adapt staffing for trade needs and ensure the store is supported in all ares.
Regent Street
• Assistant Manager in Training. £4.5 million turnover
Core Responsabilities-
• Establish the business needs through anaylasis of sales, customer drive and stock levels, contributing to the store finish +12 % on target and + 7% on previous years sales.
• To meet all targets for sales, wages and stock loss. Through staff retention, training and business management all the above were exceeded and led to continual success of the store.
• Communicating with VM to create a commercial look for the store whilst incorperating the designers and directors vision for the collections.
• Further responsibilities include all customer request, repairs and data to ensure we can deliver the best service in all ares
HoF Norwich.
• Assistant Manager. £700, 000 turnover.
Core Responsibilities-
• To drive the business, hit target and become the primary Karen Millen in Norwich. By bringing assertive selling techniques from my experience in London i enabled our team to change their service style and consistently hit target.
• Visual Merchandising- Adapting the company guidelines to suit the stores needs and being proactive to customer demand. For example, knowing all key local events and adapting the floor layout to showcase appropriate pieces.
• Through this style of merchandising I developed a strong understanding of the best sellers, high drivers and the strengths of the shop floor. Using company reports, analysis of trade and customer base we highlighted individual best sellers and performance of different collections demonstrate that our customer base varied and we were able to upgrade the stock package for the store.
• This led to a 5% growth on the previous year and target. It also aided us to become the primary Karen Millen in Norwich finish +11% against the solus store.
• Other responsibilities included completion of wages, deliveries, cashing up, refunds and exchanges for anywhere in House of Fraser..