Joanne Ball
About
Joanne Ball is from Liverpool, England, United Kingdom. Joanne is currently Senior Buyer at Shop Direct, located in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Joanne also works as Senior Buyer at Shop Direct, a job Joanne has held since Dec 2016. Another title Joanne currently holds is Buyer at The Very Group. In Joanne's previous role as a Brands/Celebrities/Schoolwear Buyer (Kidswear) at Shop Direct Group, Joanne worked in until Dec 2016. Prior to joining Shop Direct Group, Joanne was a Senior Buyer at Ethel Austin Ltd and held the position of Senior Buyer. Prior to that, Joanne was a Buyer at Ethel Austin Ltd from Apr 2005 to May 2008. Joanne started working as Buyer at Shop Direct (now littlewoods in Mar 2002. From Sep 2001 to Mar 2002, Joanne was Range Buyer Designate at Matalan Retail Ltd. Prior to that, Joanne was a Assistant Buyer at Matalan Retail Ltd from Sep 1999 to Mar 2002. Joanne started working as Buying Assistant at Matalan Retail Ltd in Sep 1999.
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Joanne Ball's current jobs
Senior Buyer - Very Exclusive Luxury Brands - Women’s clothing, footwear & accessories
Responsible for buying and overseeing all ladies national brands for shop direct group. Working with 3 direct reports (junior buyers), alongside another buyer and in conjunction with a senior merchandiser and team we are responsible for all ladies branded clothing for the group. From high street and fast fashion through to premium labels.
Women’s Branded Lingerie, Nightwear & Swim
Joanne Ball's past jobs
Responsible for buying Children's Fashion Brands (baby thru to teens), school wear and kids celebrity ranges for the group. Brand portfolio ranges from mainstream thru to premium, with our best performers being Ralph Lauren, Mamas & Papas and Bench. Responsible for identifying and securing new brands for the group, some recent additions being No Added Sugar, Little MisDress and Hugo Boss. (£10m budget) Both school and celebrities form part of our own brand range and are designed and sourced from the FE, this part of my role pulls on my extensive own brand experience. Celebrity is new to kids, an important range that will bring with it PR and a high level of social media activity. Working along side design and celebrities to create commercial ranges that our customers will aspire to, whilst maintaining the individual identity of each celebrity. 2 direct reports within own area and responsible for all head of dept duties in their absence.
Total season Buying Budget £10m Oversee a further Budget of £13m (total annual budget responsibility £46m) Total Comp Dept mix 29% sales, 36% profit
Budget £15m, Dept mix 12% sales and 15% profit (total company) Baby/Toddler Clothing and Essentials (Premature-3yrs) Developing and designing all aspects of Babywear and Toddler ranges from Layette through to fashion. Working closely with Design, Merchandise and Technology to produce a strong, commercial range, ensuring mix of Good, Better and Best product Visual Merchandising - Working with Retail Dept to ensure the correct VM guidelines are delivered to store, followed thru by store visits and assisting store staff in implementing the desired look Potentialise sales and profitability, through strong negotiation skills - dept margin has grown from 58% to 62.5% under my leadership, with ASP falling season to season in line with strategy Managing, training and motivating team; In season trading, continually updating ranges with latest products Inspirational shopping, sourcing and supplier visits throughout the UK, Europe and Far East Dealing with both direct factories and agents Presenting ranges to Chief Executive and Management teams, as well as presentations to investors Management of critical path to ensure progressing and implementation of ranges from initial concept to delivery Continually being aware of competitor activity/ranges
Budget £14m Baby/Toddler, Girlswear 3yrs-16yrs, and Schoolwear Developing all aspects of Baby/Toddler, Girlswear and Schoolwear range Managing, training and motivating team of 2 assistant buyers, 1 buyers admin, 2 designers and 2 garment technologist Work closely with merchandiser on initial top line planning as well as in season trading Re-Sourcing of product, dealing with both direct factories and agents Design Improvement - offering customers more high fashion in line with the high street, especially in Girlswear which included Teen fashion Look Of Book - working closely with the publications team to develop new page layouts, attending and assisting on photo shoots to ensure product is represented correctly Continual competitor comp shops to be aware of activity and ranges Presenting range to Management team
Girlswear/Underwear/Nightwear Responsible for the running of department on a day-to-day basis in absence of the buyer Range development under guidance of buyer All area of admin for dept All colour and trim approvals Intake diary management Range plan management Sample room management Store communications and Layout guides - working with marketing dept Meeting prep Placing orders on system Buying assistant development and training
Sample room management Dept admin Assisting range buyer and buyer Supplier communication and admin Weekly intake management
A role supported with a 12 month training programme. The training course helped me develop skills such as sales floor management, visual merchandising, management decision making, product analysis and most importantly, selling skills! My role within the shop often varied and I successfully managed various departments and took on the role of shop training officer.