Jenny Hawkyard

"I love working at The Warehouse because it’s such a fast-moving business! The people I work with make it a great place to be, and there are a variety of different opportunities available to me within the group."

Tell us about your role at The Warehouse

“My key responsibilities include working together with the Merchandise Manager and ensuring my team supports the category teams with robust financial planning and analysis to ensure we are always improving efficiencies in stock flow, availability, profitability, and product life cycle management. My role is reactive to trading and I help to provide insight that supports the team in making good decisions.”

What is your favourite part of your role?

“I love seeing the results of the team’s hard work once a successful event or promotion comes together and our customers love it! I also love that I get to work within a wider team to pull together activities and events involving so many different elements of the business.”

What advice do you have for someone who wants to be a Merchandise Planner?

“Get in touch with your inner zen so that you can remain calm and take a methodical approach to commercial thinking. You will also need to be able to speak up in an environment where there are a variety of strong personalities and multiple priorities.”

Tell us about your career in retail

“I started 14 years ago as a graduate with B&Q, a big box retailer in the UK where I got to try my hand in Operations, Visual Merchandising and Supply Chain Management. I then spent some time working as a Category Planner in Consumer Electronics for Amazon in the UK, where I saw a completely different side to retail. My first role at The Warehouse was as Toys Category Planner, and I have had the opportunity to work in a variety of roles and categories before taking on my current responsibilities.”

Why do you love working at The Warehouse?

“I love working at The Warehouse because it’s such a fast-moving business! The people I work with make it a great place to be, and there are a variety of different opportunities available to me within the group.”