Leah Phillips Email & Phone Number

Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland, New Zealand

As a buyer in a Agile workplace i am responsible for range reviews, strategy,forecasting, terms of trade/supplier negotiations and promotional activity. I am also a Product Owner, I lead a squad of 11 focused on the Work & Study area of TWG. Our achievements include:Reducing sku count by 25% making each product more productiveAchieving 95-98% availability of stock to ensure we have what the customer needsFull range to space reset of in store Furniture space to help over 100 stores to be able to display everything from our range.

New Zealand

New Zealand

Auckland, New Zealand

Launched the DTR (Direct To Retail) license initiative to grow from 1 licensor to over 15 brands across all categories in the business. Built relationships with all licensors, over 40 buyers and assistants as well as leading a strong minded design team to deliver a structured flow of work which had not been possible before. This was a success and we achieved $8Mill sales in Year 1, then grew to over $22mill in year 2.Working with global Licensors such as Disney, Warner Bros, Nickelodeon, Universal Studios and so many more, to launch DTR license products for the Warehouse Group. The key tasks of the role are Royalty reporting, contract negotiation and renewal, critical path creation for buyers and design upload and approval.

Auckland, New Zealand

A senior Category Manager of strong Back To School categories, Writing and Exercise books.Established and implemented successful loose pen project to create an additional 400+ products across the writing range. Modelled on an international initiative, completed data analysis on what worked and what didn’t before rolling out across 21 stores nationwide. Initiative has resulted in a sales contribution of $321,000 in four months at 62% gross margin. Had 4 direct reports (Associate Category Managers, a Category Specialist and a Category Assistant)Both Associates and 1 category assistant have gone on to become successful category managers both within TWG and in other markets.• Developed a strategy for the largest ‘Back to School’ categories to ensure viability despite domination of digital devices in schools; achieving consistent and positive YOY sales and margin growth; including FY16 sales growth of $201k (1.6%) in the writing category • Decreased Inventory YOY with over $1M decrease of stock holding FY16 (since Dec 2016) as a result of strong supplier negotiation, a good understanding of terms of trade and stock re-alignment across stores; resulted in additional capital for spend on other initiatives• Achieved significant ‘Cost of Goods’ (COGS) reductions as a result of negotiated price changes and terms of trade with key suppliers as well as range and supplier changes YOY for 5.5 years; negotiated $120,000 FY16 to date across the writing category • Created and implemented the successful ‘Get NZ Writing’ (GNZW) campaign – now in its 3rd year delivering positive YOY sales growth, brand awareness, school, classroom, teacher and customer awareness and engagement• Achieved sales growth of 10.7% ($84,000) for the Photo Album and Frame category for FY16 • Secured an additional $100,000 YOY (2015, 16,17), over and above rebates from suppliers to contribute to the cost of running GNZW through engagement and negotiation

Auckland

A senior Category Manager managing the Writing category Portfolio as ell as leading a team which managed: Art, Craft, Books, Party and Games.Created and implemented the nationwide ‘Get NZ Writing’ initiative in collaboration with New Zealand Primary Schools, Schoolkit, Students and Parents to encourage Kiwi children to develop the feel-good factor of letter writing. Built relationships with the Ministry of Education and NZ Post, set up and led a team consisting of operations, stores and marketing staff to create free post cards and in-store post boxes for stores and handwriting kits for use in primary schools. Campaign ran for 5 years delivering increased brand awareness, customer awareness and engagement, free publicity and contributed to YOY sales growth.

Auckland, New Zealand

CATEGORIES: Art supplies, photo albums and frames, books

Managed a plethora of categories in my time with Fletchers.PaintFlooringHeatingBathrooms Cooling & air conSolarSkills in all aspects of category management and procurement. Consistently reduced COGS across all categories through supplier and terms of trade negotiationsImproved terms of trade over a two year Programme contributing an additional $1.5M to Gross MarginCreated and implemented the first range of cooling (Fujitsu heat pump) and flooring installation services for the business, creating a new customer value proposition for the brand.• Led the market through initiating locked cabinet spray cans to decrease crime (tagging, graffiti and theft) Created bathroom and kitchen stands from design to build to establish a successful PlaceMakers’ presence at The Home Show event over a four year period; achieved high levels of customer engagement and salesSuccessfully rolled out numerous display concepts and design changes across all categories in all 64 stores over two yearsAchieved 100% GS1 barcode verification with all key suppliersInitiated and designed PlaceMakers’ first retail bathroom catalogues to create excitement and customer awareness of beautiful and functional bathroom designsWorked within the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act to collate, document and file initial HSNO compliance system for Paint and other hazardous substancesCollaborated with Building Standards Manager to make submissions to Government and Industry Authorities

Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland, New Zealand