Gemma Sharp Email & Phone Number

• Sourcing & designing products across the bird care range.• Sourcing and developing product from the Far East, managing the entire process from design through to container loads.• Maintaining spreadsheets and reports to keep track of product cost, sales, margin, selling prices and supplier details.• Full responsibility for margin, P&L, sales, product pricing and margin across the category. • Overseeing the stock level, working with the Supply Coordinator and Buying Assistant to ensure optimal stock holding.• Selecting product ranges for, and creating 12 catalogues per year.• Developing and maintaining supplier relationships, seeking out new suppliers and negotiating pricing and payment terms. • Ensuring KPIs are hit, monthly and yearly budgets exceeded and margins improved.• Monitoring competitor activity, ensuring we are ahead on price, promotion, usability and search engine ranking.• Reviewing market trends, using key tools such as Google Analytics, Google Trends, reviewing competitor activity and performing regular competition analysis.• Regular meetings with Suppliers and also Senior Management – producing and presenting margin and sales reports.

Shop Direct, Speke

I was responsible for the Divan and Mattress range with a sales responsibility of approximately £15m, working with both a UK and Far East Supplier base. This role entails –• Product development and selection, sourcing new product and developing product with Strategic branded Suppliers such as Silent Night and Airsprung. • Range building, creation and selection of both core and promotional ranges for online activity and all paper publications, including the Main Book publications. This also involves presenting these selections to my Buyer and Senior Management in sign off and selection meetings.• Management of Margin and sell prices, ensuring we are hitting BIM targets and improving margin Season on Season.• Management of the Trading Calendar, working with Suppliers to develop a strong monthly promotional plan, negotiating funding & managing price established product. • Development and delivery of range strategy; reviewing the range, supplier and product performance, BIM, competitor performance and KPIs. • Working with the Quality Assurance team to ensure that new products are approved and that any quality issues with existing products are resolved quickly with as little disruption to supply as possible.• Monitoring competitor activity, producing weekly and Seasonal competitor shop report. Analysis of this date, ensuring that both pricing & ranges are in line with our key competitors.• Regular cross costing of ranges with Suppliers to maximise margin and improve product specification.• Setting up and managing lines within the Buying Systems, PIM, G2 & Oracle based RPAS. I have also been involved in a number of IT projects, developing & testing system add-ons.• Deputising for the Buyer & Head of Buying when required.• Holding regular Supplier meetings.• Attending Trade Shows.• Supporting, training & managing other Assistant Buyers within the team.

• Sourcing, Securing Pricing for & Purchasing Campaign stock from Studios & 3rd Party Companies for a number of major Retailers.• Creation and Management of major ranges within retailers such as Morrisons, Co Op, Argos & Shop Direct. • Controlling the range & purchasing for Morrisons Value Chart, featuring in all 400 stores. This included changing the format of the chart, which generated £15m sales per year.• Producing range proposals for potential customers to secure new business.• Monitoring stock holding & increasing returns by negotiating PRIV and SOR for purchased stock.• Negotiation and management of marketing monies and promotion contribution, including retro funding.• Controlling & negotiating Supplier funded Press Ads & TV Tagging – liaising with customer and supplier on their requirements, reviewing press ads and making any amendments as required. Ensuring advertising guidelines are adhered to. • Promotional Analysis - analysing promotions both prospectively and retrospectively.• Regular liaison with the Supply team to ensure that they have correct order & pricing information.• Holding regular meetings with Suppliers to discuss new products and potential promotions.• Managing and guiding the team of DVD Supply Coordinators in placing orders for stock & deciding on order quantities.

• Responsible for forecasting and purchasing chart and range CD for multiple customers including Morrisons, Co-op, WH Smith, Sainsburys Online with a purchasing budget of £20m a year. • Liaising with buying team, suppliers and understanding the market to ensure high availability for the customer whilst minimizing stock levels with high volatile products.• Determining order quantities & forecasting demand.• Negotiated with suppliers to hold stock on MBL’s behalf, reducing stock holding, stock risk whilst maintaining availability for customers.• Identifying over stocks/long lines.• Negotiated back product returns against new orders.• Margin maximization by purchasing product at the best price – using alternate supply routes and supplier promotional pricing. • Collation of weekly customer charts.

• Management of the order fulfillment process for key Retail accounts such as Asda & Morrisons.• Monitoring demand to ensure stock is available to fulfill daily EDI orders.• Sales analysis to predict spikes in demand.• Regular liaison with production & plants in both the UK and Europe.• Use of Customer systems to monitor stock and produce reports such as Asda Retail Link.

2:1 Ba Hons, English Language

Education record