Driving key Income Generation to help to provide funding for the Hospices and specialist at home care for families living with incurable illness across the county of Shropshire. Founded in 1989 Severn Hospice is a Charity committed to providing the highest standards of care and support and the opportunity to give back after a retail career spanning 40 years is something I feel very excited and proud to be able to do.

The Company – Was launched in July 2019 to introduce Brands to the Middle East market through both franchise and distribution models, also to work closely with a selection of smaller brands to enable access to key retailers such as Harvey Nichols, Galleries Lafayette and Bloomingdales and retail chains across the region as well as a presence on E-Commerce. 28 Brands were successfully launched in over 300 locations and continue to grow across the region with the brands now partnered with established franchisees to ensure long term development.

The Company – Established in 1997, OBS is a diversified group of Companies with interests in Automotive, Schools, Real Estate, Energy, Healthcare, Investment, Hospitality, Retail & Distribution.My role has been to set up this new division, acquiring the rights to brands for the region concentrating on Beauty, Fashion and Accessories, Grocery as well as our own brand.Responsible for all aspects of the operation across various geographic locations Set up end to end functionality, create and implement all business processes and guidelines.Full accountability of divisional P&L and investment levels. Drive forward new business opportunity and new brand acquisition/development.Manage all aspects of brand design and implementation into retail.Recruitment of full team to support business plan.Set up and management of PR & Marketing resource. Set up and manage distribution system with supply chain partnership.Development through Hospitality, Duty Free, Retail and Online.

The Company – Established in 2005, Pinkberry, the largest upscale QSR retailer in its category, in the world, a premium brand with over 300 stores globally, rated No1 in its category by Zagat and is in the top 20 social media brands in America.Drive Store development in line with plan.Establish strategically the brand across 13 countries in partnership with the franchisees. To ensure business & commercial expectations are met across each market.Full corporate accountability of brand P&L internationally & key PI’s.Drive product and design initiatives tailored to each individual country & concept.Recruitment/sign off key partner management roles.International marketing accountability across the Region.Achievement of new store opening plan (60 stores)Drive and manage partner behavior to deliver an amazing customer experience in stores

The Company – Sifico Group is one of the most innovative luxury retailers in the Middle East. It operated stores in the UAE, UK & Lebanon and was the first fashion retailer to offer a multi-brand retail store concept in Dubai (Boutique 1) as well as the first retailer to offer a full online service to its customers. It also operates franchises for brands such as Mulberry, Chloe, Diane Von Furstenberg, Paul & Joe, Missoni, Furla, Elie Saab, Y3 and high-end jewelry brand Tabbah. Objectives: Strategic brand & business development, full accountability of the group P&L, day to day operational management of retail businesses, managing the franchise relationships,Property portfolio and expansion plan and key team development, reporting to the owner & CEO.Role Criteria: Maximise sales, manage costs & drive profitability in line with the group’s financial objectives. Manage Operations through a key team of 9 direct reports. Full accountability for all group retail businesses Manage key international relationships with all partners. Negotiating with brands and developing new commercial opportunities. Drive business process changes to constantly improve retail standards and delivering the highest customer service.

The Company – Al Tayer Group is one of the largest retail & diversified businesses in the Middle East. It operates over 250 stores with over 15000 employees across automotive, engineering, perfume & cosmetics distribution and luxury retail. Objectives: To agree & deliver the business strategy to the stakeholders whilst managing the day-to-day business across 3 countries, expanding in line with plan, driving to exceed overall sales and profit for the Areej chain, Harvey Nichols and Bloomingdales businesses. Role Criteria: Maximise sales & profitability, effectively manage & develop a field team of 12 to deliver the objectives agreed. Responsible for 3 businesses – Areej (24 stores), Harvey Nichols & Bloomingdales. Management of key international Brand accounts including Chanel, Dior, YSL, Tom Ford, Estee Lauder Group, L’Oreal Group etc.

One of the largest and most successful retail chains in the UK Marks and Spencer has over 125 years of history. Large turnover retail business across Womenswear, Menswear, Childrenswear, Home, Food & Cafe operations.My role was to manage the retail operation across stores in the Midlands region - Turnover exceeding 280m GBP.Left to relocate to the UAE from the UK.

The most successful out of town value retail concept in the UK operating out of more than 200 stores.My role was to manage one of 3 regions nationally with accountability for over 75 stores geographically spread across the Midlands and the North West of England.Key area's of responsibilty was to build and develop a team capable of achieving and maintaining the highest standards of operational excellence, to maximise sales and net profitability across the Region and deliver all KPI’s to plan, to develop commercial initiatives to ensure future success and the growth of our market share and work closely with all support functions.Turnover exceeding £380m GBP.

Iceland is a supermarket group with over 800 stores, one of the most successful grocery retail concepts in the UK.My role, as 1 of 3 Regional Managers was for the accountability for over 180 stores across the Midlands, Wales and the South of England. Ensuring all company initiatives are launched effectively and through agreed objectives, incorporating development, product, service, sales and cost management ensure the Region delivers to plan. Management of a team of 24 and responsibilty for 4700 employees with annual sales of over £450m GBP.

ASDA Stores, the number 2 Grocery retailer in the UK and are part of Walmart US, the largest retailer in the world.My Role as GM was to manage a Hypermarket concept, retailing Food, Restaurants, Fashion, Home & Entertainment, footage in excess of 100,000sqft and a turnover in excess of 45m GBP. I was also assigned to 2 projects involving new store openings and the George fashion concept.

Bhs, originally part of Storehouse Group was at the time the No 2 Department Store business behind Marks & Spencer, operating out of 125 Stores across the UK.From qualifying through the Graduate Management Scheme to managing the largest store in the Chain I worked Nationwide with the business for nearly 9 years, mainly in the capacity of Store General Manager.