Staff Spotlight

Julie started working for the company in the summer of 1982, as a Saturday girl on the Children's Department in our Newcastle store. From here, she gained a love of shoes and working with the general public, as in her words "nothing beats the buzz of a busy shop floor!".

In 1990, after finishing her studies, Julie was offered the role as Ladies Department Manager. Then in 1991, was offered the position of Branch Manager at our Northallerton store.

After seven years in this position, Julie moved to become a Training Manager - a broad role, covering all aspects of the business from selling to management training. At this point, having exhausted most roles within our stores, Julie was keen to learn about the workings of buying and merchandising. In 2003, Julie got the opportunity to start working with the Merchandise team, specifically looking after men's footwear.

Over the 20+ years since then, Julie has had many career and life changes! Julie had her daughter during this period, which she counts as her greatest achievement, and was offered the position of children's buyer. Currently, Julie is the handbag and accessories buyer alongside children's - making a very interesting product mix!

"My job entails lots of analysis on trends, both style and colour trends alongside size and price trends too. This is something that is constantly monitored as trends change so frequently. Retail is constantly changing but this makes it so interesting a two seasons are never the same.

My day to day role involves buying appointments to meet the brand representatives and select a commercial range, to collating the collection and ensuring no duplication with other brands. Where possible I also like to go out to stores to speak to staff to find out customer feedback, enabling tweaks to be made to ranges for future seasons."

"I am most proud of my diverse roles within the company and the fact that I have been with Charles Clinkard for over 40 years.

I like to challenge myself and feel that starting at the bottom as a Saturday sales girl really helped me to understand exactly what the company stands for and what the consumer is looking for when shopping for shoes."