Senior Gift Card Category, responsible for third party gift card sales revenue for Aldi, Boots, Co-op, Costco, Iceland, John Lewis, McColl’s, Waitrose and Poundland. Set strategy and budgets for gifting accounts. Identify new content opportunities and optimise store ranges accordingly to improve revenue and margin. Identify and attract additional marketing investment opportunities and drive incremental sales growth. Respond to and negotiate RFPs for net new gift card malls across the UK, including developing business plans and presenting to both internal and external teams. Deliver weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual business reviews to senior stakeholders both internally and externally. Line manage and develop EMEA account managers.• Won new distribution partner (Poundland) account from competitor.• Grew Co-op gift card sales by 18% in 2022, outperforming total UK market.

Led gifting business unit for major food, clothing, beauty, homeware, and horticulture retailers across UK (predominantly M&S). Developed data driven, cross departmental, strategies as part of company’s senior leadership team. Led cross functional team of 10 including account managers, planners, buyers, product developers, and technical. Prepared profit and loss budget forecasts. Directed market research activities and assessed customer feedback to ensure appropriate supply based on product demands. Strengthened supplier relations and developed product for prospective customer product ranges. Daily contact with senior buying and category teams at M&S. ● Boosted gifting business annual sales by £13M and secured two major accounts, Sainsbury’s and Interflora, worth half a million pounds.● Improved year on year sales growth by 12% through redeveloping flowers and plant gifting range.● Achieved 5% annual gross profit increase through efficient stock management and range upgrades. ● Reduced packaging costs by 20% with development of in-house solution. ● Spearheaded launch of over 100 stock keeping units over 2019 festive season, resulting in on time release of online and store products.

Secured new marketing opportunities and sustained existing account portfolios. Liaised with third party business-to-consumer content suppliers including M&S, Next, Debenhams, and House of Fraser to ensure appropriate product marketing. Obtained new business-to-business accounts with Pizza Hut and ASOS. Enhanced relations with senior retail conglomerates including H&M and Netflix.• Gained marketing investment of £320k from online clothing retailer, ASOS, and advanced overall gift card partner investments by £600k.• Led over 20 third party fashion and dining gift card accounts worth £120m across 11 European countries.

Developed Marks and Spencer gift card range and managed business unit profit and loss budgets. Assessed and reported on performance to senior executives. Managed Hallmark gift card relations and ensured appropriate annual range launches in line with set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Collaborated with relevant stakeholders including design, customer insight, and legal professionals to guarantee efficient product marketing and delivery. Crafted product development strategies as per customer feedback.• Achieved £21M sales growth and 114% return on investment through developing gift card customer experience strategy, modifying product range, and enhancing in-store merchandising equipment for more than one thousand stores across UK and Europe.• Secured five-year exclusive rights to manage Hallmark gift card categories through effective negotiation and led annual development of two million Hallmark gift cards.• Directed printing and category management contract negotiations, resulting in annual cost saving of half a million pounds.

Managed profit and loss accounts of £15M. Monitored delivery of KPIs in sales, customer service, compliance, and cost factors and ensured these were in line with company's corporate strategy. Supervised daily tasks of one Commercial Manager, as well as seven Department Managers. Coached and Mentored new employees in line with performance expectations.• Enhanced multiple KPIs despite massive structural changes and improved profit and loss accounts, resulting in 8% saving on initial forecasting and 1% saving on reforecasting activities.• Boosted year on year sales growth from -16% to +4% through effective project management in store layout modifications.• Increased employee engagement by 26% in six months through introducing frequent team briefing sessions and encouraging better relations between staff and managers.• Shifted service metrics from -15% to -5% target, resulting in Customer Assistants receiving two quarterly bonus targets.

Managed Little Waitrose branch with £12M turnover. Monitored delivery of KPIs in sales, customer service, compliance, and cost. Led team of 5 managers and over 80 partners. Introduced innovative ways to drive additional sales which were adopted by other branches across the region.

Guided continuous improvement program initiatives such as staff engagement and mentoring to advance operations across 19 stores. Collaborated with senior managers to ensure employee progress. Ran launch of general merchandise departments including coordinating with space planners and arranging stakeholder site visits prior to store opening.• Surpassed sales target by 12% within first year of store launch.• Guaranteed annual turnover of £14M across over 50 thousand square foot shop floor.• Led team of seven Section Managers and assisted one of them to be promoted to Store Manager through coaching development program.• Exceeded sales forecasts by 30% through re-launch of general merchandise department.• Achieved operational excellence award for implementing improvements in overall metrics and operations.

Supervised team of five Section Managers and two Graduate Commercial Managers across three different business units. Assessed customer feedback to establish product demands. Arranged and executed successful relaunch of large home departments within stores in collaboration with head office and senior regional leadership teams. Partnered with coaching team to develop workshops and wellness programs for 600 employees and members of local community.• Increased sales margins by over 10% through planning and launching standalone home department, which quickly became 2nd largest cash injector.• Awarded Marks and Spencer 2013 Ambassador of the Year award for mentoring young and vulnerable community members and led two CSI programs to support and guide youth in developing professional skills.