How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Head of Retail – UK
Company Description
The Barbour story began in 1894 in South Shields in the North East of England. Founder John Barbour began supplying oilskins and other garments to protect the growing community of sailors, fishermen and dockers. Still family owned and now fifth generation, Barbour HQ remains in South Shields. Under the leadership of Chairman Dame Margaret Barbour, Barbour has grown into a lifestyle brand sold in over 55 countries worldwide including Europe, the US and Asia offering a wardrobe of stylish functional clothing, footwear and accessories inspired by the unique values of the British countryside. The iconic Barbour Bedale and Barbour Beaufort wax jackets continue to be made by hand in the factory in South Shields. In 2020, Barbour launched Wax for Life, an overarching name for all of Barbour’s wax services designed to encourage customers to extend the life of their wax garments. Wax for Life includes re-waxing and repairs (first introduced in 1921) and Barbour Re-Loved an upcycling circularity initiative. Each year over 70,000 wax garments are sent back to Barbour globally to be repaired, rewaxed or altered.
Position Overview
Are you an inspirational, commercially astute leader ready to shape the future of a global lifestyle brand? As the Head of Retail – UK, you will join our UK Senior Leadership Team with full operational and financial accountability for our retail business across 21 stores (encompassing full-price and clearance formats). Reporting directly to the GM UKI, you will define and execute our retail strategy, drive sustainable profit growth, and guide high-performing teams to champion a premium, omnichannel customer experience. You will play a pivotal role in driving our retail transformation, including executing our "simplify to grow" strategy and evolving our product focus. *The role is based at London showroom and the expectation is 4 days in the office or with clients and 1 day of home-working.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Strategic & Commercial Leadership
- Own the retail P&L to deliver sales, profit, and EBITDA targets
- Develop differentiated trading strategies across full-price and clearance formats while protecting brand equity
Retail Operations & Compliance
- Lead day-to-day UK retail operations, embedding best practices to hit key KPIs (LFL sales, conversion, ATV, UPT, and payroll productivity) while ensuring absolute compliance with health & safety, GDPR, and retail audits.
Customer Experience & Brand Excellence
- Champion an exceptional customer journey across all touchpoints and monitoring NPS feedback, and partnering with Property to optimise store standards, visual merchandising, and inclusive design.
People Leadership & Culture
- Build, recruit, and retain a high-performing retail leadership team (supervising North and South Retail Operations Managers); foster an inclusive, performance-driven culture with robust succession planning.
Cross-Functional & Omnichannel Collaboration
- Partner with Ecommerce to deliver a seamless omnichannel customer experience; work closely with Merchandising, Marketing, Finance, HR, and Supply Chain to optimise stock availability and support seasonal launches.
Estate Development & Transformation
- Support the Property Project Manager with operational insights regarding new store openings, relocations, refurbishments, and lease renewals. Lead change management programs, specifically driving the shifting OW to clothing and "simplify to grow" strategies.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Skills and Experience
- Multi-Site Leadership: Significant senior multi-site retail leadership experience within a fashion, lifestyle, or consumer retail business, managing geographically dispersed teams.
- Financial Acumen: Proven success managing a retail P&L, driving commercial growth, and hitting rigorous efficiency, payroll, and productivity targets.
- Format & Channel Knowledge: Experience leading both premium/full-price and outlet or clearance retail operations is highly advantageous, alongside an understanding of omnichannel retail ecosystems.
- Change Management: Demonstrable capability in leading retail transformation initiatives, digital tool adoption, and organisational change programs.
- Key Competencies: A strategic thinker who is customer-obsessed, highly collaborative, resilient, and possesses exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills.
Requirements
- Full UK driving licence and a willingness to travel nationally across the estate. A degree or professional retail qualification is desirable.
Benefits
- Discretionary Company bonus scheme
- Staff Discount
- Sample Sale
- Healthcare Cash Plan
- 25 days holiday as standard increasing with length of service plus bank holidays
- Access to training and development activities to support your career development
- Operate hybrid & flexible working
- 4pm finish on a Friday
- Wellbeing support
- Refer a friend bonus scheme
- Reward & Recognition Program
- Length of service rewards
Note: In the event that a sufficient volume of suitable applications are received, the post may close prior to the specified closing date. Please apply as soon as possible if interested.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills
Location