Fashioning new placements
When New Look decided to relocate its commercial team to London, the fashion store called on Placement UK. DeeDee Doke investigates
Lee Evans, New Look
The ChallengeFashion retailer New Look is no workplace for the faint-hearted. The pace is fast, and the competition to outfit the UK’s fashion value-conscious shopper is intense. For example: barely a week after the season’s hottest new fashion item appears on the catwalk, New Look’s rendition will be available across the retailer’s network of 620 UK and Ireland stores.
New Look has weathered the recession well on its home turf. “It’s the right product at the right price,” said group recruitment manager Lee Evans. “Customers like what we have to offer, and we’ve been a little bit sheltered from the current economic climate because some of our customer base still lives at home with mum and dad.”
New Look also trades in more than a dozen other countries internationally, from France to Saudi Arabia. But the chain’s leaders have even bigger ambitions: to become the No.1 international, multi-channel fashion value retail chain. “Our growth is going to come internationally - we’re already on every high street here,” said Evans.
At the beginning of the year, New Look management decided it was time to light a fire under their ambitions by moving the company’s commercial team - comprising buyers, designers and merchandisers - to London from Weymouth, their long-standing home. “The commercial team couldn’t do what they needed to do in Weymouth. They need to be able to walk down Oxford Street and see what the competition are doing,” said Evans. “And we couldn’t achieve our international ambitions if we remained in Weymouth.”
Evans knew he had his work cut out. Some members of the existing Weymouth team would certainly move with New Look to London, but he would also need to recruit buyers, merchandisers and designers for the new office. However, a 90-day consultation period had to follow the 15 January announcement of the relocation before Evans would know how many vacancies he had to fill through mid-summer.
In mid-spring, it was clear that about 105-110 new recruits were ultimately required, “the kind of people”, Evans explained, “you don’t find on job boards or CV databases. Particularly merchandisers, who tend to stay put for quite a long time.”
The first step for Evans was to start to build a talent pool. News of the move had “already created quite a bit of buzz”, he said. “It’s quite an incestuous industry. There had always been whispers we’d be moving.”
But Evans also recognised he needed additional expert help. And that’s when Chelsea-based Placement UK entered the picture.
You have a level of confidence that the person they’re recommending will be at a certain level; they’ll have a shared affiliation or a passion - MARTIN BANFORD
Martin Banford, Placement UK
The Solution
New Look is all about pace,” agreed Martin Banford, managing consultant, Placement UK. “And some vacancies are very, very specialist - that will discount a number of people.”
For instance, a successful candidate for a knitwear designer position at New Look, a difficult role to fill, must have current experience in that discipline. “Only a select number of people will be able to fill that role,” Banford said. “Certain other product areas will be more flexible.”
That understanding of New Look’s business needs gave the Placement UK team the necessary momentum to launch their search, using their own “incredibly well-connected network” to drive it forward. “It’s about recommendations, referrals - we push that hard,” said Bamford.
“If a particular candidate isn’t interested, we ask them if they know someone who might be. You have a level of confidence that the person they’re recommending will be at a certain level; they’ll have a shared affiliation or a passion. You get an understanding of that candidate before even speaking to them.”
Evans likes Placement UK’s proactive approach to search. And it paid off for New Look - the recruitment firm found the retailer “a significant number” of the professionals it needed. By the end of July, 95% of the vacancies had been filled. “It’s been a good experience for us as a business,” Banford said.
Added Evans: “They’ll always be the first to get a vacancy from me. They do such a great job.”
lessons learned
Plan ahead if you have the time
“What makes this business successful is that we move quickly,” Evans says. “But had we had more time to plan, we would have planned
for some brand building pieces, direct sourcing, some advertising.”
Communicate honestly with your suppliers
Don’t be afraid to tell them if they’re doing a bad job
Be flexible to change what you’re doing as you go along
Be clear about what your key internal customers are looking for
Be confident: “Having confidence in our process and our people was quite important,” Evans says. “Be confident in the knowledge that we’re portraying the right image to candidates.”
Would you like to be involved in The Challenge? Contact Vanessa Townsend at [email protected]
