Small Business Owner

• Jul 2021 - Present

Nest & Kin is Staffordshire based interior design business offering creative services to property owners. Working with home owners, property developers or landlords Nest & Kin offers options from room by room updates through to full design & install services depending on brief, budget and property goal. Nest & Kin is Staffordshire based interior design business offering creative services to property owners. Working with home owners, property developers or landlords Nest & Kin offers options from room by room updates through to full design & install services depending on brief, budget and property goal.

Home Staging, Interior Stylist and Trend consultant

• May 2021 - Jul 2021

Home and Leisure Design Manager

• Sep 2018 - Dec 2020

As the Head of Design across Home and Leisure, this role covered all aspects of the NPD process from Trend creation through to on shelf Product Presentation. Being part of the Senior Leadership team I was responsible for leading the Design strategy across all Product categories and delivering timely and relevant collections for the customer. With significant expertise within the Supply Base I built strong relationships with key suppliers in order to develop affordable trend lead ranging across Home Living, Bed & Bath, Cook & Dine, Seasonal & Gifting, Kids, Stationery & Home Fragrance, also working closely with both the Buying, Merchandising and Technical teams to ensure collections were delivered commercially. The role liased with central teams across Marketing & Food NPD to deliver cohesive Seasonal ranging aligned to the core customer profiles.

Head of Design and New Product Development

• Oct 2017 - Oct 2018

As Head of Design and New Product Development for the Portmeirion Group I was responsible for leading and developing new on trend ranging across both Uk and Sourced product collections, including Ceramic Tabletop, Gifting, Home Fragrance and Glass drinks ware. This role sat within the Senior leadership team and included the management and coaching of a UK in house Design team. As Head of Design and New Product Development for the Portmeirion Group I was responsible for leading and developing new on trend ranging across both Uk and Sourced product collections, including Ceramic Tabletop, Gifting, Home Fragrance and Glass drinks ware. This role sat within the Senior leadership team and included the management and coaching of a UK in house Design team.

Senior Designer Home

• Dec 2013 - Oct 2017

As Senior Designer I held responsibility for the management of both the Hard Goods Design team and the design cycle of the portfolio of Hard Goods Homewares. The category included Lighting, Wall Art, Kitchen & Tabletop, Decorative Accessories, Bathroom, Garden and Christmas collections. Working alongside the Textile and Furniture teams, the key element of the role was to ensure the Hard Goods ranges co-ordinated and complimented the rest of the Homewares portfolio and that the Seasonal Design trends were translated in a both a commercial and aspirational manner. The role also managed an in house Design team of mixed disciplines

Senior Brand Manager

• Oct 2011 - Nov 2013

In this role I covered the management of the product design direction and brand strategy for a mix of UK Tabletop & Kitchen Collections alongside Sourced Accessories. I was also responsible for the creative cycle for new product, packaging, literature, photography and all communication activity in addition to the Product development of Licensed collections across ceramic and accessory collections. In this role I covered the management of the product design direction and brand strategy for a mix of UK Tabletop & Kitchen Collections alongside Sourced Accessories. I was also responsible for the creative cycle for new product, packaging, literature, photography and all communication activity in addition to the Product development of Licensed collections across ceramic and accessory collections.

Head Of Design

• Aug 2006 - Oct 2011

As Head Designer with George Stuart I designed and managed the development of bespoke own label fashion Leather goods and Accessories. I also managed a team of designers and sample makers to create seasonal collections for High Street Fashion retailers including Next, River Island, Ralph Lauren, J.Crew and Ted Baker.I was also responsible for the presentation of seasonal trend information using trend forecasting agencies Mudpie and Stylesight. Alongside these responsibilities I also sourced materials, components and finished goods with key suppliers in both Europe and the Far East.

Head of Design Licensing

• Jul 2000 - Aug 2006

I worked for six years in Royal Doulton's Licensing department, managing the Design direction and Product management of the Company branded licensed ranges, using both new and Archive designs and patterns to create style guides and brand direction for their global licensing programme. I managed a team of designers to translate trends to present to Licensees & Retailers quarterly.The product categories I covered included Homewares, Home Decor, Furniture, Personal Accessories, Apparel, Children’s collections and Luxury Gift ranges. I was also responsible for the management of a product development approval process.