Retail Assistant

Retail Assistant, Guinness Open Gate Brewery, London

Convent Garden, London

About the Team

Guinness Open Gate Brewery (GOGBL) is a new Guinness neighbourhood in London that will inspire the best in brewing, food, retail and culture. Consisting of 52,000 square feet of heritage buildings and central courtyard in the historic brewing quarter in Covent Garden, GOGBL will become a key growth driver for Guinness, placing the brand in culture, driving relevancy and brand saliency amongst a new generation of drinkers. GB is the biggest Guinness market globally and Guinness is enjoying a period of exceptional growth and cultural magnetism, with the brand growing by around 50% since 2019 to the biggest it has ever been in value, volume and market share in the brand’s 264-year history. 

Key elements of the site include:

• Iconic Guinness Gates as main entrance to the experience, offering huge cultural impact in the heart of London
• Restaurants/Taproom/bars – world class food and beer produced and served on site
• Central all weather historic courtyard with world class bar experience
• Retail spaces, one of which will stock items produced through exciting short-term brand collaborations
• Bespoke 5th floor glass box rooftop eating and drinking experience creating brand new rooftop view of London
• Brewery and beer experience/tasting tours
• Cultural events space designed and fitted out with technology to enable world class meeting and conference experiences

Purpose of Role

The Retail Assistant role will be a brand ambassador, knowledgeable about Guinness products with a passion for creating memorable experiences for our customers through exceptional service standards.  

This role will support the Retail Team in all matters in the Mercers Walk and Neal Street stores.

They will help ensure a customer centric, efficient, profitable, reputable, world class retail operation. They will ensure that the standards of service, merchandising, presentation and customer experience are consistently at the highest level.

The type of person we are looking for is bursting with energy and drive. The person will be an individual that inspires contagious passion, and gets things done. The person will be a winner by nature and encourage the same from the people around you.

Responsibilities:

• Assist the strategic direction and drive commercial performance of the Mercer Walk and Neal Street retail stores.
• Help deliver the GOGBL retail P&L through the achievement of revenue targets and KPI delivery.
• Ensure personal presentation consistently adheres to Guinness uniform and brand standards.
• Warmly greet customers entering the store and actively engage with them to understand their purchase requirements.
• Employ a selling approach and increase basket value through the recommendation of additional merchandise that is relevant and appropriate for the customer’s purchase. 
• Maintain a flexible approach to the execution of tasks and duties in pursuit of an highly  effective retail operation.
• Collaborate with the GOGBL Catering operating partner on cross-site retail opportunities.
• Ensure regulatory compliance, and compliance to the Diageo Marketing Code, for all GOGBL merchandise.

Retail Marketing

• Help drive effective promotional activities.
• Support in delivery of a calendar of exciting and innovative retail collaborations with external brands, working with Diageo GB Culture & Entertainment team on wider cultural collaborations

Retail Operations

• Operate the retail point of sale and inventory management system (LS Retail) in accordance with the Global Brand Homes team process guidance.
• Take accountability for maintaining shop floor, merchandising and store maintenance standards across the GOGBL retail stores
• Take ownership of customer experience across the GOGBL retail stores.
• Follow all Diageo Health & Safety and Compliance & Ethics policies across all GOGBL Retail spaces.

Qualifications and Experience Required

• Demonstrated ability to support on the floor retail operations, sales strategies, merchandising, inventory management and customer service.
• Has an understanding of consumer behaviour and retail trends
• Demonstrated ability to deliver exceptional customer experiences and drive customer loyalty.
• Excellent time management skills with the ability to work under pressure and to regularly re prioritise to meet deadlines in a fast-paced, dynamic environment
• Resilient; prepared to tackle problems head on and persist despite setbacks or difficulties
• Combine intellectual rigour and people engagement with the ability to represent Guinness and GOGBL brand values and purpose.
• Highly effective team player, able to recognise, value and utilise the strengths of the team around them