Victoria Holt

Your Department: Babycare - Home & Travel

Your role: Merchandiser

How long have you been at Mothercare?

I joined Mothercare 18 months ago as an Assistant Merchandiser with two years experience gained at another high-street Retail company.

What career opportunities or progression have you enjoyed at Mothercare?

I have been given ample opportunity by my manager to further progress my career. Consequently, I have been promoted to Merchandiser on the Babycare department, taking on full responsibility for the running of the department.

What is it like to work on your department?

Working on a highly competitive and price driven department such as Babycare is challenging and very fast-paced as we have to be completely up to date with what is happening within the market -place and react accordingly. Without any doubt, no one day is the same as another on my department. One day I could be deciding on the future strategy of the department with my buyer, the next having a conference call with a Chinese factory regarding production quantities. This is what I enjoy most about my job, working on different tasks and projects and interfacing with a variety of internal colleagues as well as external suppliers.

What training / development have you had?

Most of my training and development has been on the job coaching from my manager. I was given the opportunity to take on new challenges and to take ownership of different aspects of the day-to-day running of the department. This meant that I was able to gain exposure to different areas of the business and to learn new skills, but at the same time, still had the support and encouragement from my manager.

Why would you recommend Mothercare as an employer to others?

I think Mothercare has a fantastic company culture, in which employees' development is considered to be a top priority and people are recognised for their hard work and commitment. There are also many opportunities to become involved in projects outside of your day-to-day role, which enable employees to develop new skills and meet different people from other areas of the business. Finally, I think there is a great future ahead of us here at Mothercare, especially with the acquisition of ELC, in which everyone will play an important role.