Head of Shopping Centre Management
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
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I’m Katie,
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I am head of shopping centre management for Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield,
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and I am based in London.
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I’m responsible for the safety, security and
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the operational management of the Westfield shopping centres in the UK.
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That means anything from customers coming in the door. Are they having a safe experience?
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Are they having a fun experience?
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The retailers, are they opening on time?
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Have we got the best retailers here?
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Are we operating a clean, safe, secure environment?
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We’re involved in decision making on multi-million pound budgets.
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You know, a cleaning budget, for example,
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could actually run up to nearly 100 million pounds,
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and then we could be involved in a fire evacuation or a security breach,
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or having a conversation with a customer
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that’s unhappy about their parking experience.
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It could be so varied, but that makes the job really interesting and fun.
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I think the
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skills that are most important are those that are transferable.
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A really strong work ethic, working hard, good communication skills
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and getting on with other people.
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At A-levels,
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I studied drama, English and sociology.
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I hated maths,
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I was rubbish at it, I hated sciences, I was bad at that.
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I loved English, loved drama, loved art, loved the creative stuff.
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So I think playing to what you’re good at is really important.
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But, you know, we all have to get the maths and the English.
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You have to do it.
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And it’s important. Do
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I use what I learned at school now?
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No, but I’ve learned along the way all the life lessons
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that you learn, you know, by making mistakes.
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I actually didn’t want to go to university.
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I wanted to go to drama school
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because I wanted to be an actress, but my dad was insistent.
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And if I wanted to do drama school after that, then I could,
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but I was to get a degree.
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Obviously, now hindsight is a wonderful thing.
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I was quite resentful at the time,
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but now I’m very grateful because it got me to where I am today,
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ultimately, through the graduate scheme and through the retailers that I’ve
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worked for.
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My career has been predominantly in retail.
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When I left university, I went and did a ski season,
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and then I left there and realised I had a student loan to pay off
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so I just went and got a Christmas job in Marks and Spencers,
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and I got a job in the men’s pants and socks department, and I loved it.
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I loved working with the other people. We had a lot of fun.
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I worked hard.
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I did every extra shift that I could.
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I was always on time, and I threw myself into it.
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So when I saw an opportunity for a management graduate trainee
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programme, I spoke to my manager, said I’d like to apply, and I got in.
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I probably put more revision and practice into making sure I got that job
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than I probably did in my GCSEs or my A-levels, because I think
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I recognised that it was sort of like the springboard
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then into any kind of retail career that I wanted to go into.
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It’s taken lots of little saying yes to everything, taking every opportunity,
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kind of taking a punt sometimes and going, I’ve got this opportunity to leave
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Marks and Spencers that I loved, to go and work for Fortnum and Mason. You know, a
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crazy retailer in the heart of Piccadilly that, you know, sells jam for a tenner.
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And then I went on to Selfridges,
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And Selfridges is the world’s best department store.
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So these career choices that I made,
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I didn’t know that I was making the right decision at the time, but it’s played out
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the best that it has for me.
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If you don’t necessarily know what you want to go into,
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retail is a huge consideration because
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there’s so many different roles within retail.
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You can go into logistics,
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you can go into buying and merchandising, you can go into HR.
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You can go into finance, you know, operations.
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My advice for anybody starting out in any career
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is that people work for people, and people work with people.
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The most important thing you can do is get on with your colleagues,
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get on with your line manager, get on with the customers.
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Be a people person.
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And knowing when to adapt
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and fit in, or when to say
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it’s actually not right for me anymore, I think is really key.
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Staying true to yourself and what you believe in and knowing
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when a business isn’t right for you anymore,
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and when you need a new opportunity.
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And if you don’t enjoy it, then cut your losses and go
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and find something else that you can do.
“Knowing when to adapt and fit in, or when to say it’s actually not right for me anymore,
I think is really key.” After a drama degree, Katie got a Christmas job at Marks and Spencer and found her love of retail. She went on to the company’s graduate scheme, later working for Fortnum and Mason and Selfridges. Katie is now responsible for the safety, security and management of the UK’s Westfield shopping centres.
More information about Managers and directors in retail and wholesale
The UK average salary is £29,813
There are 37.5 hours in the average working week
The UK workforce is 47% female and 53% male
Future employment
- Appoints staff, assigns tasks and monitors and reviews staff performance;
- Liaises with other staff to provide information about merchandise, special promotions etc. to customers;
- Ensures that adequate reserves of merchandise are held and that stock keeping is carried out efficiently;
- Ensures customer complaints and queries regarding sales and service are appropriately handled;
- Oversees the maintenance of financial and other records and controls security arrangements for the premises;
- Authorises payment for supplies received and decides on vending price, discount rates and credit terms;
- Examines quality of merchandise and ensures that effective use is made of advertising and display facilities.
