This is Fiona. Fiona is one of our Partner Development Managers, supporting the small creative businesses who make up notonthehighstreet
Talk me through what you do here at notonthehighstreet ?
I’m a Partner Development Manager in our Partner team and I work with supporting our Partners (the 5000 small creative businesses who make up notonthehighstreet). I work with a group of Partners, and support them based on their goals and actions for the year ahead. It’s an extremely multifaceted role as all of our Partners’ businesses are very different, the level of and type of support they require can vary hugely. I work collaboratively across the business — working with our Product, Merchandising and Legal teams and supporting the Partners with what they need. As part of the Partner team we work across all live project in the business to ensure they have a “Partner filter” on them. Though I only manage a small part of our Partner base I ensure I’m always meeting as many Partners as possible through events and ambassador meet ups — I’m going to Dublin next Thursday with some of the team which is always a great experience. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of hearing Partners stories — meeting a wider base of Partners provides great experience when I’m thinking about what more I can do for my Partners, as well as what we can develop for the whole base.
What does a typical working day look like to you?
It’s very varied — no one day is the same. I typically start the day by checking the sales from the previous day/week. I usually have Partner meetings and calls everyday and then I have internal stakeholder meetings too which are always great and collaborative. The final part is brainstorming on projects — working out what we can be doing for our Partners and helping them with ideas. I try and get out of the office to meet our Partners when I can — it’s all very much dependent on the time of year. I tend to go out and visit at least once a week at the moment, before Christmas really kicks off.
Where were you working before?
Before here I worked in buying, which I was in for 5 years after I graduated. I worked with products but also with the commercial environment too. My first role was with Debenhams, and then I moved to John Lewis for 2 years following, before coming here.
What has happened over your time here and how long have you been here for?
It’s really varied working for an online marketplace like notonthehighstreet and working with so many small creative businesses that are so talented. I’ve seen a lot of changes; we’re a well known business to work for so it’s important to ensure that we’re paving the way for the future, particularly in the competitive retail landscape we’re part of.
In terms of my role, I joined as an Account Manager in a category structure and have been here since February 2016. Coming from a buying perspective, that was quite a natural progression for me. I’ve always known about notonthehighstreet, and what we stand for as a core and our values, even the fact that we call our Partners, “Partners” rather than suppliers. For me, that really set a precedent for the role and what the company believes in. I started as a Junior Account Manager and then progressed into a Partner Development Manager position. I’ve seen quite a lot of changes too in terms of the way that we work with our Partners, but really it all comes down to the same thing — how can we successfully support them to have the business they aspire to.
What is your favourite thing about working here?
The people that I work with — both internally within NOTHS and with our Partners. Our team is great — there’s so much energy and passion it really is fantastic to be around. In the 2 and a half years that I’ve been here for I’ve seen so many stories. Every Partner meeting I’ve gone to, I’m always so inspired by the Partners sat in front of me and the journey they’ve been on — it’s so individual to them and they’ve often given up so much to pursue their passion. I also think the business itself it great — it’s very fast-paced and ever-evolving, but it’s somewhere where you can really have your voice heard and make a contribution.
What exciting projects are you currently working on?
Christmas is the big one at the moment — we’re just wrapping up the Father’s Day campaign. I’ve been working with our Partners for the sale that’s coming up soon too. Christmas is always big for us — it’s great getting involved with the Christmas planning internally and the logistics of how that will look for our Partners! I’m also enjoying planning with our Partners and seeing how we can support them in the run up — whether that’s forecasting, or giving them a template to forecast, or discussing the logistics of Black Friday and how they plan their team and stock. Christmas is always a mad time for most businesses — it’s really busy but it’s really exciting and I genuinely believe that the opportunity is absolutely there for our Partners!
What’s been your most memorable moment?
There have definitely been a couple. I’d say seeing some of our Partners evolve and develop has been amazing. I’ve worked with both our smaller Partners, and now more recently some of our larger Partners too. It’s knowing that we helped a business, working out of a garden shed, make half a million pounds. It’s amazing getting to really understand their businesses and seeing them grow and blossom. We have around 20 partners who turn over over a million pounds a year on NOTHS. One of the Partners I work closely with made a million pounds at the beginning of December last year so being able to acknowledge this and celebrate with them was something I’ll never forget.
For someone interviewing with us, what advice would you give them?
I’d probably say think about yourself and what you can bring to the business. It’s so evolving that there’s so much value that can be added. I’d definitely say thinking about what makes this business unique and understanding the set up of the business too is really important. Just do your homework! The other thing is be yourself. We have a lot of personalities across the business and I for one really enjoy the variety of people we work with.
What do you like about working in Richmond?
We have such a fantastic office here and Richmond is a wonderful place to work, particularly coming from working in central. We have the river, the green, we’re also really accessible to a lot of Partners coming to visit us. I think the office that we have too is amazing — I haven’t worked anywhere better in terms of location and resources.
What are you looking forward to over the next 12 months?
I’m looking forward to seeing how business development with our Partners continues to evolve. I think Christmas 2018 will be really exciting too — we’ve got some interesting plans coming to fruition, particularly in terms of how we’re going to bring our unique products to our customers, so watch this space!
