Richard Irons

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT RICHARD IRONS

Welcome to my LinkedIn page. A little bit about me. I’ve worked in retail for over 20 years for some of the UK’s largest retailers; Waitrose, Argos, Sainsburys, Homebase, and an online only retailer, Extreme GB.I now work as a Category Manager at DCS, a role which is all about creating value for our retail partners and the FMCG brands that we represent.I leverage my extensive merchandising background and strong analytic skills to uncover significant growth opportunities by analysing various market and shopper data sources. My years of experience working directly in retail give me a unique understanding of our partners\' needs, allowing me to tailor category-led data insights that are directly actionable.I started my career at Waitrose in a shop floor role before moving into Merchandising. My time at Waitrose in conjunction with my Merchandising roles have given me great end to end knowledge of the Merchandising function and has supported my move into Category Management.I have worked across a wide variety of product groups, such as Clothing, Bathrooms, Health & Beauty, Homewares, Pet Care, Living Aids, Drones, Smart Technology and Gifting. As a result, I have developed several different Merchandising strategies which reflect each categories unique attributes. These strategies always maintain a focus on maximising sales and reducing risk through exploring agile buying strategies. In addition, these roles have allowed me to develop skills in range planning, forecasting, stock control, financial planning and working with a number of suppliers across domestic and international supply chains. I have experience in team management and enjoy facilitating strategy sessions to ensure we are aligning ourselves to reach our commercial goals whilst also tackling any barriers that prevent us from making the progress we desire. I hold a CIPS level 4 Diploma in Procurement & Supply and am continuously looking to update and upgrade my skill set.Key Expertise:Sales and Stock Budgeting Stakeholder Relationship BuildingInventory Analysis & ManagementTraining & DevelopmentAdvanced Excel SkillsData Analysis To discuss how I can use my skills and experience to help your organisation, please connect with me, send me a message or request a copy of my CV.