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  • Feltham
    Permanent
    £30,000 - £35,000

    The Buyer will be based in Feltham and have direct responsibility for portfolio spend of circa €12m responsibly for sourcing from both European and Global markets for both current products and NPD.

    • Buyer - FMCG

    • Procurement, Sourcing, Purchasing, FMCG, Food

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  • Sidcup
    Permanent
    £28,000 - £35,000

    To perform key purchasing activities in ensuring daily operations needs are met and manage extensive supplier base across multiple categories of spend.

    • Purchasing Manager

    • Purchasing, Sourcing, Procurement, Senior Buyer

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  • Farnborough
    Permanent

    You will be responsible for negotiating a favourable commercial position through engagement with suppliers and also internally with stakeholders to help shape requirements throughout the bidding process.

    • Buyer

    • Buyer, Procurement, Sourcing, Technology, Defence

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  • Warrington
    Permanent

    Buyer - Aerospace - Warrington

    • Join a multinational aerospace business in a strategic and autonomous role

    • Opportunity to be part of a developed purchasing function

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  • Lancashire
    Permanent
    £26,000 - £35,000

    Buyer - Manufacturing and Production - Lancashire

    • Strategic Buyer role in a growing and established fast paced business

    • Join an experienced team with genuine chance of future progression

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  • Runcorn
    Permanent
    £25,000 - £35,000

    Buyer - Manufacturing and Production - Runcorn

    • Join a global Manufacturer in a role that has scope and autonomy

    • Be part of a professional team in a growing organisation

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  • London
    Permanent

    Beauty buyer wanted for market-leading lifestyle retailer with offices based in the heart of London's West End.

    • Great opportunity for a Beauty buyer

    • Market leading lifestyle retailer

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  • London
    Permanent
    £35,000 - £45,000

    Gift Buyer wanted for an inspirational London based British fashion and lifestyle brand, with a great vision for their range

    • Fantastic opportunity for a Gift Buyer

    • Quirky lifestyle retailer with a great vision

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  • London
    Permanent
    £35,000 - £40,000

    Kitchenware and Dining Buyer wanted on a fixed term 12 month contract for a world-famous premium lifestyle brand, based in their London office

    • Rare opportunity for Kitchenware and Dining Buyer

    • London based, world-renowned retailer

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  • London
    Permanent

    12-month maternity cover Buyer needed for heritage British brand, based in the heart of London

    • Great Buying Opportunity

    • Heritage and Non-Profit sectors

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  • London
    Permanent
    £35,000 - £45,000

    End to end buying role within the Technology Category, developing and implementing category strategy in an autonomous environment.

    • An opportunity to work for a multi-award winning Procurement function

    • Excellent development and growth opportunities internally

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  • Preston
    Permanent
    £23,000 - £27,000

    Buyer - Manufacturing and Production - Preston

    • Join a fast paced manufacturing business with a positive culture

    • Be an instrumental part of the procurement function in a growing organisation

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  • London
    Permanent
    £35,000 - £45,000

    Buyer needed to support business through their exciting growth phase. This role will specifically manage the general merchandise and accessories category for the business which will be mainly branded buying and negotiation, however they are growing their private label offering and have exciting plans for this too!!

    • Pureplay retailer with exciting growth plans for forseeable future

    • Managing the general merchandise and accessories category

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  • Greenford
    Permanent
    £28,000 - £30,000

    The Buyer will join a team within a rapidly growing British manufacturer that has a global presence. They will be required to source, liaise and negotiate for the company within the Manufacturing and Production industry.

    • Chance to join a rapidly growing British Success story

    • Opportunity to develop purchasing skills within the manufacturing industry

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  • Leyland
    Permanent
    £28,000 - £36,000

    Buyer - Automotive - Leyland

    • Growing business with proven record of success within their market

    • Take ownership of your category in a strategic role

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  • Manchester
    Permanent
    £30,000 - £37,000

    Buyer - Manufacturing and Production - Manchester

    • Become part of an experienced purchasing function and develop your knowledge

    • Multi site organisation with a healthy orderbook

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  • Brighton
    Permanent
    £30,000 - £45,000

    As a Lingerie Buyer, you will contribute to all aspects of the Buying cycle; working closely with design team on product development, range building and trade, to price negotiation and management.

    • Amazing brand with huge potential to grow

    • Alot of autonomy within poisiton.

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  • North West England
    Permanent

    This role comes from growth within the business, as their customer base grows, their buying team needs to expand too.

    This job will be working on the most current trends and the right person will need to be able to interpret catwalk trends to commercial product quickly, whilst taking inspiration from celebrity style and influences too.

    • Work for a fast paced, fashion forward retailer

    • Work for a business based centrally in a North West city

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  • South Wales
    Permanent

    A great opportunity to work for a fast fashion Brand, outside of London

    The role is open to Junior Buyers looking for their next fashion step

    • A great opportunity to work for a fast fashion Brand, outside of London

    • The role is open to Junior Buyers looking for their next fashion step

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  • North West England
    Permanent

    As a Buyer your role will be to source, develop, buy and deliver a range of products at the right cost, right time and inline with the unique handwriting of the business.

    • Work for a trend led and quality driven brand with a standout handwriting

    • The chance to be bart of a rapidly growing fashion brand

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  • West Midlands
    Permanent
    £30,000 - £40,000

    Own Brand Tableware and Ceramics Buyer required for a nationally known wholesale/retailer based in the West Midlands

    • Nationally Knowm Tableware & Ceramics Company

    • Creative and forward thinking organisation

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  • Nottingham
    Permanent
    £30,000 - £40,000

    The Buyer will be responsible for key negotiations with suppliers and have very good analytical skills. With minimum of 2 to 4 years of relevant work experience in field of Procurement and/or supply chain

    • Opportunity to work at UK's largest manufacturer of metal recycling

    • Great commutable location

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  • Leicestershire
    Permanent
    £25,000 - £27,500

    My FMCG client based in Leicestershire are currently seeking a Buyer to join their evolving Procurement team. The main purpose of the role is to assist the Procurement Manager and is suitable for someone with previous multi-material packaging experience who is looking to take the next step in their career.

    • Opportunity for an aspiring Buyer based in South Leicester

    • World-leading FMCG (packaging) manufacturing organisation

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  • Birmingham
    Permanent
    £25,000 - £35,000

    To carry out the effective procurement of materials and services in support of FM spend but with flexibility to support the broader procurement business needs.

    • Expanding procurement function offering career progression

    • Opportunity to specialise in a category

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  • West Midlands
    Permanent
    £40,000 - £45,000

    This is a fantastic opportunity to join one of the UK's largest private residential developers. The successful applicant will be joining a high-performing regional office, based in the West Midlands, who are looking to significantly increase their annual output in 2018-19.

    • Great opportunity within a rapidly expanding private residential developer

    • Varied role with clear routes for progression

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  • City of London
    Permanent
    £35,000 - £45,000

    Exciting end to end highly strategic Procurement Buyer role looking after the Facilities Management category. High level autonomy with a support network in place to foster development and training.

    • Best in class, award winning Procurement function

    • Excellent development and progression opportunities from within

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  • Staffordshire
    Permanent
    £35,000 - £48,000
    • Responsible for contributing to the creation of and execution of category strategies within a central Purchasing Team and commercially responsible for material groups.

    • Exciting Opportunity

    • Growing Company

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  • England
    Permanent

    As Senior buyer you will be responsible for managing key accounts and looking for further business opportunities to contribute towards the businesses continuous growth.

    • A fast growing business with a chance to contribute to their growth

    • An exciting role with fantastic progression opportunities

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  • Folkestone
    Permanent

    The Senior Buyer in Folkestone will be responsible for sourcing and negotiating contracts on behalf of user departments and to develop effective business partnerships with suppliers and internal customers.

    • Senior Buyer

    • FMCG, Strategic Sourcing, Procurement, Leading FMCG

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  • Exeter
    Permanent
    £35,000 - £40,000

    Working within the Indirect Procurement team to identify cost savings.

    • To work for a leading manufacturing company.

    • Joining a successful and growing organisation.

    Save job View job

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A guide to retail jobs

Retail careers can vary greatly but all typically provide services to either both businesses and individual customers or specialise in products specific to one or the other. Retailers normally have their staff working in teams and those teams can be located within stores, an office, or even a warehouse. Working times are usually allocated on a shift basis and will vary depending on the specific products and/or services being provided. The type of products that retailers sell can vary, they may sell very specific products or offer a diverse range of merchandise. For example, a retailer might specialise in selling electronics, produce, entertainment or clothing while some larger stores might offer a mixture of these. Good customer service is a key part of any retail sales success and most retailers now have an online presence that bridges the gap between online sales and the high street shops.
 
Michael Page Retail & Fashion have forged strong relationships with our clients over the past 40 years. The jobs we recruit for range from positions within traditional stores to multiples and department stores, as well as multi-channel operations, online retailers, mail order and TV shopping channels, covering food, non-food and general merchandise.

Retail jobs we recruit

  • Assistant Store manager
  • Head of Merchandising
  • Buyer
  • Technologist - retail
  • Retail Store Manager
  • Merchandiser
  • Sales Advisor
  • Retail Customer Services Manger
  • Sales Consultant - retail

Key retail tasks

  • Greet customers as the first point of contact.
  • Deal with customer refunds.
  • Handle customer complaints.
  • Work within established guidelines, particularly with brands.
  • Receive and store stock deliveries.
  • Set up displays and POS material.
  • Assist customers in finding the products they are looking for.
  • Process cash and card payments.
  • Stock shelves with merchandise.
  • Report any problems or discrepancies.
  • Provide customers with advice and guidance on product selection.
  • Balance cash registers with receipts.

Key retail skills

As a retailer, good communication skills are a must when dealing with queries and executing a sale. If the customer can’t understand you or if you fail to get your point across, that oversight could impact any potential sale. You need to be comfortable working directly with members of the public because sales roles require regular interaction with customers, whether that’s on the phone or face-to-face. You also need to possess a confident demeanour, not only will this improve a customer’s confidence in you as a sales representative but it will also increase their association with the brand or product you are selling to them. A shy and uncertain sales person might discourage a customer from making a purchase. 
 
Being helpful and polite, while possessing a comprehensive understanding of your area of sales is a must. The better you know your product, the more confident you will be in selling it and similarly your potential buyer will have more confidence in you. Finally, a person that works within retail needs to be able to work effectively as part of a sales team which would include getting point of sales (POS) items ready, filling in if a colleague is away, completing a sale on behalf of a colleague or helping a colleague by persuading a customer that the product that they’re considering is the right one.
 

Qualifications and experience

Retail jobs have no formal educational requirements. However, most employers look for what you already know. For a lot of retail jobs, experience is learned while training on the job, although some large stores have training programs for new hires. If you have any prior experience with the products you'll be expected to sell it will be a plus, such as IT experience when applying for a sales position at a computer or electronics store. Prior experience will help boost your initial salary.
 
However, if you’ve set your sights on long-term career progression then there are various levels of qualifications available for you to choose from and these qualifications enable employers to make better informed decisions during the crucial recruitment stages. The levels range from entry level through to level 8. The higher levels begin from the City &Guilds Higher Professional Diploma in Retail Management (level 4) and the BTEC Higher National Diploma in Retail Management (level 5) and are reserved for those that want to be leaders in their field, e.g. managing directors.  The topics covered do these courses range from customer service, managing retail operations, finance, managing retail environment, to consumer behaviour, supply chain, and retail marketing. Westminster Kingsway College and the University of Brighton offer diploma courses too, like the Access to Higher Education Diploma Business level 3.
 
If you're interested in undertaking a foundation degree then there are courses available, supported by Skillsmart Retail – the sector skills council. There are higher education institutes that also offer courses including Manchester Metropolitan University, the University of the Arts London, and Leicester College. The degree courses offer a more specialist focus like fashion retailing, retail marketing or buying. There are also postgraduate degree options that include retailing MBAs.
 
A few big employers are also offering workplace-based courses which allow flexibility to students and provide valuable hands-on experience to better equip them when they progress with their career.
 
If you would like to discuss your career options, get in touch with our team of specialist retail consultants. Alternatively, if there is a specific position you are interested in contact the listed consultant directly.
 
To browse jobs by salary, region or industry use the filter on the left-hand side of the page to find your perfect role.