During my 5 years at Caroline Gardner I have seen the company grow and go from strength to strength and develop from a wholesale business, to expanding into retail, online and grow the export side. I was also very involved in the set up of the US company.Key responsibilities included:• Working closely with the buyer to oversee the critical path and maintain timely deliveries.• Preparing analysis to present in the monthly wholesale meeting.• Maintaining a good relationship with with key customers and suppliers with regular meetings where appropriate.• Being point of contact for all SAGE/stock related queried from all other departments.• Preparing and undertaking the annual stock take,• Producing monthly sales reports buy product and by route to market to review sales against plan and previous years figures.• Preparing seasonal cash flow forecasts for the FC, and providing fortnightly updates.• Producing analysis for all product reviews, including key for seasonal products, including best and worst seller, option counts and route to market splits.• Managing old stock out of the business in the most profitable way possible.• Responsible for all shipments into the UK and consolidating stock to achieve maximum profitablility.• Maintaining accurate production plan and actioning accordingly.• Maintaining accurate stock levels across 3000+ products at the warehouse,.• Maintaining correct strategy categorisation for all products on SAGE

During this challenging role I have had the opportunity to enhance my knowledge across numerous product areas including Ceramics, Kitchen Textiles, Stationary, Apparel, Christmas Decorations, Golf, and Tourist Gift lines.Key responsibilities of this role include;Analysis of sale and stocks of over 600 articles on a weekly basis to maintain a constant stock position.Communicating weekly with 35 vendors both UK and Far East based. Raising regular orders to maintain stocks, and providing all vendors with with seasonal forecasts for ongoing stock planning. Several vendors order from the Far East but hold UK stock for weekly call off so stock levels must be monitored both within the store and at the vendors own warehouse.Liaising closely with the Buying team to follow the Critical Path closely ensuring timely launch of all new season stock including a large range of Christmas decorations which is a very high profile product within the store.Providing the Buying team with forecasts for future seasons and target margins to allow them to negotiate with vendors when developing new products. Working with the shop floor management team reviewing sales by department regularly to be sure of correct product placement within the store and within each site. Monitoring stock movement between the two Harrods Distribution Centres so that there is sufficient stock where ever it may be needed from.Reviewing sales at the 7 Airport sites to flag any decreases in sales and communicate appropriate actions to the relevant teams.Negotiating ongoing costs with vendors and ensuring margin is kept at the target level.Proposing promotions and markdowns throughout the season and calculating the cost of markdown to present to the Merchandiser at weekly trade meetings.Maintaining range plans each season to manage the profitability of the department

Working closely with the Merchandiser and Allocator to ensure smooth flow of stock throughout the season.Sales data collated and analysed along with trends to forecast future sales and maintain stock levels and maximise sales based on trend of particular regions i.e Iconic London product for London Tourist stores.Dealing with suppliers both UK and International to ensure orders are completed in accordance with the Critical Path. Whittard is a highly seasonal brand, and accurate delivery dates and quantities are key for trading.Handling International Shipping Documents and dealing with sea shipments through forwarders.Developing a thorough understanding of the various store groups - High Street, Outlets, Clearance, Tourist - and obtaining a good commercial awareness through time spent working in and visiting stores.Overseeing all allocators for the company. Holding weekly meetings with them to review workload, targets and training needs.Retaining an overview of the Stock Helpdesk system used by all stores and Area Managers to request stock.Analysis of best and worst selling lines across departments and proposing and calculating markdowns for slow selling or de-listed products.Co-ordinating and communicating all price changes for the whole company. This involves maintaining four different pricing structures for the varying stores and planning all sale/promotional activity. To ensure this all happens accurately I work closely with the IT department.Working daily with the Warehouse team and maintaining a good communication. This also involved coordinating a working party to plan stores deliveries and warehouse intake over the busy Christmas period.

This role has involved ensuring shops have the appropriate quantity of products by using all available resources i.e. analysis / replenishment.Responsible for all store allocations including promotional, sale and launch for all ceramics, living and gift products for up to 130 storesBranch merchandising to ensure all de-listed and surplus stock it only allocated to the Outlet and Clearance stores.Planning and organising transfers of stock to Outlet and Clearance stores at the end of each season to allow space for new lines in High Street stores. Review store replenishment on a daily basis to ensure stores are receiving appropriate stock to achieve potential sales and key lines do not go out of stock in stores.Managing the replenishment system for all stores.Work closely with the Product merchandiser to ensure smooth flow of stock throughout the season.Running the Stock Helpdesk which allows stores/area managers to request stock as needed and answering all stock related queries. For this I also wrote all the guidelines for stores to ensure the system was used effectively.

Assisting with the day to day running of the companies largest and highest turn over store. Helping to manage a team of up to 15 staff. Key roles included stock rotation, placing orders and in store visual merchandising.