Lewis of London is London's best kept secret! A dairy farm run by 3rd generation farmers who produce a range of real dairy ice creams on site using the milk from their own herd of cows.Responsibilities• Maximising sales revenues through lead generation, networking, closing deals and account management within a competitive B2B environment• Staying current with trends in both the F&B industry as well as retail\wholesale• Organisation and delivery of both promotional events and sales events• Ensuring a reactive and profitable distribution of products to customers• Marketing the brand through various avenues including social media, printed media, radio and numerous groups set up to support artisan producers• Design of all marketing and promotional materials• NPD, Product development, quality control and ensuring efficient production of all frozen productsAchievements • Year on year improvement in both sales revenue and number of accounts • Customer retention throughout the season in both the restaurant and retail sectors• Successful negotiations leading to business with 2 major UK chains and other high profile businesses as well as maintaining relationships with supportive stand alone customers

The completion of a retail feasibility study to determine the financial viability of a retail venture for this independent charitable organisation. The study included financial forecasts and profit over a 10 year period as well as suggestions for alternative avenues of retailing and generating sales.

Working for this large charitable organisation, my main role was the development of store turnover and staff development. Recruiting, training and coaching new members of staff. Ensuring maximum revenue was achieved from quality stock donations through profitable selection, pricing, merchandising and store specific promotional activity.Responsibilities• Responsibility for 20 stores, over 50 employed staff and approx 200 volunteers• Accountability for P&L accounts throughout area as well as setting budget figures for each store• Maintaining and increasing each stores set key performance indicators and reviewing regularly• Identifying new store locations for area growth and producing business plans to back up research• Acting as an ambassador for the brand and values set out by the organisationAchievements• Steady improvement in sales within first month of employment (+£5,410K Budget +£12,158k Previous Year)• Improved sales turnover from £490,792 to £2,371,846 within a 9 month period• Achieved a £38k increase on budgeted area profit figures• Personally designed internal layout of a concept store, resulting in a 20% increase in previous years sales• Commended for profitable stock generation ideas and introduction of new product ranges in stores

Marketing this new business venture within a highly competitive town, I was able to develop skills and experience in dealing with many trade organisations and national press to highlight the businesses products and services. My intention here was to gain an understanding into the world of business to develop my own skills and experiences.Responsibilities • Full management of P&L accounts, budgeting, regulatory requirements and staffing• Liaising directly with suppliers for products to achieve gross profit margin expectationsAchievements• Increased customer retention and customer loyalty through service, quality products and effective marketing• Became provider of choice for many blue chip organizations such as Penlon, Sophos, Schlumberger and Barloworld

Working for this blue chip retailer, I gained experience in effective merchandising and promotional activities to maintain the company’s reputation within a flagship store environment. I learned how to effectively manage a very diverse team and lead them from the front to achieve the objectives and results that were expected. Responsibilities• Managing an established team of over 30 staff, both in branch and remotely in the offsite stockroom• Effective logistic planning of daily deliveries to flagship store without a stock holding capacityAchievements• Achieved a 10% increase in previous years sales through staff development and coaching techniques• Personally implemented incentives to increase staff morale and increase store performance against KPI’s

This discount department store was a new venture to the town centre and gave me an insight into the bulk buying environment where price points and great customer service were extremely important to maintain sales. Staffing levels were extremely limited so I gained valuable skills in effective time management for both my team and myself.Responsibilities• Organised stock to ensure best sellers were prominently situated• Maintaining good working relationships with 8 concessions within my departmentsAchievements• Increased individual department takings by constantly adapting to current trends• Reduced stock loss through all departments through effective staff deployment and security training

I was successful in working my way from supervisor to store manager within a 6 month period and soon gained a reputation as a troubleshooting manager for other stores within the area. This fast paced environment offered me numerous opportunities for personal development and the development of my store teams, many of which became managers themselves.Responsibilities• Ensuring strict merchandising standards were adhered to both within own store and others within the area• Recruitment, training and mentoring of all new store management within the areaAchievements• Within 8 months of managing my own store, I was achieving a 100% sales increase versus the previous year• Reduced stock loss from -8% to -0.04% with the same 8 month period