Louise Dolan

• Led a team of over 200 partners, accountable for a sales turnover of £8.2bn.
• Key contributor to Waitrose's return to profitability through leadership and cultural transformation within trading team.
• Delivered outperformance of the market for the past 2 years both value and volume through targeted initiatives.
• Achieved highest supplier engagement scores in Waitrose history, elevating GCA award ranking from 7th to 1st place.
• Built Waitrose supplier strategy that segmented supply base and captured supplier capabilities and ensured future security of supply for the business.
• Facilitated cross-departmental collaboration by chairing senior Waitrose weekly trade forum, addressing challenges and enhancing sales & profit performance and responsible for reporting back to the board.
• Implemented end to end operational changes that improved team efficiency.

• Leading a team of 40 people + with responsibility of a £2.2bn turnover
• Delivered a turnaround performance on category to beat sales and profit targets and market share outperformance by 2% GD.
• Improved team engagement by 25% and supplier engagement scores from 4th to 2nd since starting via clear focus on SRM.
• Led delivery of a successful branded cogs programme saving 3.6% COGS.
• Handled critical dairy supply issues during COVID-19 crisis to ensure continuity.
• Key member of the Fresh Business Unit Leadership Team.

• Led best performing category in Sainsburys for 3 years with strong market out-performance + 3% GD, beating all sales & profit targets by driving clear trade up strategy focused on the customer.
• Grocery lead on the corporate health steering group. Presented to government health officials on retailer perspective on HFSS, also led delivery of legislation of sugar tax.
• Led design & delivery of supplier planning process within category.
• Influenced exclusive activations with Lindt, PepsiCo, Mars, Mondelez & Coca Cola for Sainsburys which delivered over £30m incremental sales.
• Instigated corporate step change in supplier engagement with trading supplier bulletins now being adopted across the whole of trading.

• An interim period of moving around categories carrying out deep dives on performance and setting clear turnaround plans for the team to implement. All areas improved by min 3%+ post.
• Strong supplier relationships unlocked the first ever retailer visit to Coca Cola innovation centre in Atlanta.
• Initiated and led a full juice VCA project, understanding end to end from Growers to shelf to unlock a better quality product plus a 5% cogs saving too.

Created a business model focusing on three core components.

1.Developed and presented training course 'View from the Other Side' to help suppliers understand retailer/supplier dynamics.

2.Facilitated qualitative focus groups to gather feedback on innovations from the supply base.

3.Managed interim buying responsibilities

• 11yrs of experience across merchandising (3yrs) & grocery buying (8yrs)
• Member of NDA project team delivering 1st to market strategy of cluster promotions driving affordable value, it resulted in 1m extra customers.
• Crisis management as merger of Safeway/Morrison's took place.

• Completed retail training at M&S flagship store High Street Kensington
• Led project to analyse range offer, customer demands, and store operations, resulting in improved merchandising and replenishment that increased sales and profit by 10% and reduced waste.

• Completed supervisory and management training programmes, gaining skills in leadership and team coordination.
• Recognised as trainee of the year for outstanding performance and contributions during training programme.