Buying and Beyond

This week, we're joined by Natasha Caller, Head of Category at Halfords, whose buying career proves that the best buyers aren't defined by what they buy - they're defined by how they think. Natasha's journey into buying didn't follow a traditional path. She started on the shop floor at John Lewis when she was just 17 and quickly realised she wanted to be more involved in t...

This week, we're joined by Jane Kellock, Founder and Creative Director of Unique Style Platform (USP), one of the UK's leading trend forecasting consultancies. Jane's career has taken her from designing womenswear and leading design teams at Topshop to becoming one of the UK's most respected voices in trend forecasting. Along the way she's worked with WGSN, Stylus and Debe...

This week, we're joined by Jo Ingham and Jo Ward - two buyers who have pretty much seen it all. The pair first met at New Look (where they were so often mistaken for each other that they ended up answering each other's phone calls) before going on to build impressive careers across some of the UK's biggest retailers, including River Island, Debenhams, Boohoo, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy...

This week it's just the two of us - no guests, no agenda, just a good old buyers' debrief. A few weeks ago we headed to Manchester for the Buying and Beyond meetup, and naturally that meant hitting the shops. What followed was a wide-ranging conversation about what we saw on the floor, where smart buyers are finding inspiration right now, and how the digital landscape is changing the way...

In this Buying & Beyond , we sit down with Elena, founder of Elena London, a luxury home fragrance brand she built from scratch during lockdown after becoming frustrated with reed diffusers that seemed to lose their scent within days. What started as a search for a better product quickly evolved into a thriving business, built alongside a full-time career and driven by a commitment to quality,...

What does it actually look like to leave the familiarity of UK retail buying and move to Dhaka, Bangladesh, to work on the supplier side? In this episode, we sit down with Nadya - a buyer turned product manager at Next Sourcing- who did exactly that. With a background spanning REISS, Crew Clothing, and lululemon, Nadya shares the career moments that shaped her, the leap of faith that took her acro...

This week we're joined by Lucy Horden, a commercial retail strategist who spent over 15 years at Debenhams working across franchise operations, brand partnerships, and business strategy. Lucy takes us inside one of the UK's most iconic department stores during its golden years and its eventual collapse — sharing the real behind-the-scenes story of what went wrong, and the lessons every r...

In this episode we sit down with Katie Williams - former senior merchandiser at Topman and Quiz Clothing, psychotherapist, and founder of her own coaching business - to talk about the realities of building a career in fashion retail, what burnout actually looks like from the inside, and why the skills you develop in buying and merchandising translate far beyond the shop floor. Katie takes us throu...

In this week's episode, Kate and Lyns dive deep into one of their favourite subjects - retail - and why staying commercially aware is one of the most powerful tools a buyer can have. From trade meeting horror stories (hello, & Other Stories) to the exploding world of experiential retail, AI disruption, and the importance of supplier relationships, this episode is a must-listen for anyone...

This week we're joined by Levanah Gates, The Buyer's Coach -a former buying manager at M&S, Tesco, BHS, Fat Face, and George (Asda)- who now coaches buyers and retail professionals to build confidence, gain clarity, and navigate the fast-paced world of buying. Levanah started her career in 2009, studying illustration before falling in love with retail through part-time work at Jigsaw...

In this episode, we're joined by Lynsey Scoins — a fashion industry veteran with over 15 years of experience across design, buying, merchandising and recruitment, and founder of Fashion Path, a platform dedicated to helping people break into and build careers in the fashion industry. Lynsey shares her winding career journey from almost landing a placement at Company Magazine to discovering bu...

This week, we’re joined by Holly Stafford Smith from GH Stafford & Son limited a fourth-generation family business that’s been supplying leather goods and accessories to retailers across the UK and Ireland since 1947. Holly gives us a rare look at the supplier side of the buyer-supplier relationship and honestly, the overlap is bigger than you might think. Having joined the business back in 20...

This week's episode is a special one  co-host Lynsey is joined by her old friend and former London College of Fashion classmate, Jodie Blake, now CMO at Manolo Blahnik. What starts as a nostalgic trip down memory lane (lemon poppy seed muffins from Starbucks, high heels to lectures, and getting the tube one stop instead of walking) quickly turns into one of the most insightful conversations w...

Claire McIlroy returns to the pod for a deep dive into the fascinating and surprisingly complex world of grocery buying. Having started her career on the buying side at DHL and Morrisons before moving into sales and her current role as Sales Director, Claire brings a rare dual perspective on what it really takes to get food from farm to shelf. She's also co-founder of the W Collective, a comm...

In this episode, Yasmin O’Donnell shares the story behind Ginny & Me a social-first fashion brand that has quickly built a cult following around its hero flared-sleeve windbreaker jacket. What began in her Oxford Brookes University bedroom, experimenting with Amazon-bought fabrics and hand-sewing garments, has grown into a brand that now sells out monthly pre-orders, has been featured in Vogue...

In this special episode, we’re doing something a little different. Before we dive into our usual conversations, we’re sharing something we’ve been working on behind the scenes for a while- the launch of The Buyer’s Club . This has been a long time coming, and it’s something we feel incredibly passionate about because it really started with our own experience. Throughout our careers in buying, we’v...

In this episode, we sit down with Lyndsay Mason, founder and CEO of For The Creators, a business transforming maternity and early parenthood fashion through a sustainable rental model. What began as a personal frustration with the lack of stylish, practical options for expectant and new mothers has evolved into a comprehensive platform offering curated clothing rental, thoughtfully selected lifest...

This week we’re joined by Janine McManus - former fashion buyer, therapeutic coach and founder of We Beam - for a powerful and honest conversation about burnout, identity and redefining success. Janine began her career as a print designer before carving her way into buying at Burton, later spending formative years at ASOS during its meteoric rise. She shares what it was like to be part of that hig...

In this episode, we sit down with Amy Rollings, a commercial leader with over 20 years of experience at some of the world’s most influential fashion and lifestyle brands, including Burberry, Michael Kors, Kurt Geiger and Pangaia. Amy takes us on her journey from a fashion intern in New York to building a deep foundation in retail buying, where she learned to understand product, customer behavior,...

This week’s episode is split into two parts. The first was recorded live at Top Drawer back in January, where we sat down with Hannah Adams to talk about AI and what it really means for buyers and brands. The second dives into Hannah’s career journey from buyer to business transformation specialist and what that evolution teaches us about modern retail careers. Part One: Live from Top Drawer - AI...

S8 EP2 From shop floor lessons to commercial confidence with Dahlia Stroud This week we’re joined by Dahlia Stroud, a retail and FMCG leader whose career spans Nestlé, Asda and Co-op, where she’s led commercial strategy, online trading and multiple buying teams (without ever officially holding the buyer title). Today she hosts Stressed But Well-Dressed , exploring the link between confidence, mind...

This week we are joined by Claire Ward- a senior product technologist. This episode is a particularly special one for us. Claire, Kate and Lyns all met right at the very beginning of our careers at Accessorize, learning the ropes of retail together  so recording this felt like a real full-circle moment. We start by reminiscing about those early days before diving into the journey Claire has taken...

This week’s episode is a big one  and a conversation we’ve been really excited to share. We’re joined by Nick Lambert, Head of Circularity at Primark, whose career journey is a powerful example of how deep commercial experience can drive real, meaningful change in sustainability. Nick started his career like many in retail  working his way up through buying, beginning as a buying admin assistant a...

In this episode, Kate and Lyns reflect on seven seasons of Buying and Beyond and take on one of the most pressing - and personal - topics in retail today: why so many buyers are leaving the industry they once loved. With no guest this week, the conversation is honest and unfiltered. They explore the realities facing buying teams today, from shrinking budgets and growing workloads to the erosion of...

In today’s episode, we’re delighted to be joined by Harry Zalk, CEO of ARKIVE Headcare at Matrix Brands an innovative, B Corp–certified brand incubator creating and scaling some of the most exciting names in health and beauty. Matrix is behind an award-winning portfolio spanning skincare, haircare, bodycare and fragrance, including Cowshed, ARKIVE Headcare and Soho Skin. Beyond their own brands, t...