Bizarrely, some of the stuff I learned at university has, of late, become rather useful. So I have somehow contrived to take commercial experience as a merchandiser, a passion for writing, broad technical expertise and creativity and apply them to things like business process re-engineering and management of change. It turns out that business consultancy and troubleshooting require a certain objectivity that only comes from a rounded and varied experiential background. Who knew?

Vertbaudet is France’s biggest childrenswear brand. As the UK Merchandise and Product Manager for childrenswear, babywear, maternitywear and homeware, I held a number of key responsibilities:• Managing a team of Merchandise Assistants and freelancers, working closely with international colleagues.• Production of web and print-based marketing material including all catalogues (800 pages per season): Layout and artwork in InDesign and Photoshop, copy writing straplines & editorial… Show more Vertbaudet is France’s biggest childrenswear brand. As the UK Merchandise and Product Manager for childrenswear, babywear, maternitywear and homeware, I held a number of key responsibilities:• Managing a team of Merchandise Assistants and freelancers, working closely with international colleagues.• Production of web and print-based marketing material including all catalogues (800 pages per season): Layout and artwork in InDesign and Photoshop, copy writing straplines & editorial, proofreading, translation.• Competitor pricing analysis to assess the brand’s market position, opportunities and threats.• Seasonal product pricing in order to maintain or adjust market position, maximise demand and exploit margin opportunities at the product, range or department level.• Discounts for in-season campaigns, sales and stock clearance.• Product setup (3000 products per season): translation from French, writing descriptions, size conversions, legal compliance.• KPI, best seller and forecast vs actual reporting and analysis by time period or campaign.• Innovating data management solutions to help with all of the above in Filemaker Pro, Business Objects and Excel. I developed a full-featured FileMaker Pro system over several years that became my main everyday tool for product management, publication management, competitor analysis and reporting. Show less

The first of these years was spent living in France. I set up a publishing company creating instruction manuals, filling a niche market for UK high street gift retailers. I offered a unique combination of graphic design, creative and technical authorship, and technologist experience. Clients included Marks & Spencer, Next, Argos, Debenhams and John Lewis.

Peter Black supply high street retailers with gifts sourced in the Far East. My roles included: liaising with technologists and product managers from the retailers and with UK and Far East suppliers; design hazard analysis; creating instruction manuals and packaging copy; influencing product selection and sourcing; following through product testing and acquiring certification; QC and auditing of bulk stock.

I developed a cross-platform job tracking system for the design studio at Carlton Cards in Dewsbury and undertook other small projects for local businesses.

GDI is a repro house whose clients include greetings card companies and children’s book publishers. I was brought in to organise their studio workflows and manage the company’s digital assets and IT infrastructure.

Tight deadlines taught me much about working smart and getting things right first time. My responsibilities included classified advert creation and page output in Quark Xpress, retouching and colour correction in Photoshop and scanning on drum and flatbed machines.