Fiona McLelland asks leading buyers what it takes to get to the top of the profession
Brilliant negotiation skills, steely determination and bucket loads of ambition are just some of the attributes needed to get to the top of the buying ladder.
According to a poll of The Grocer’s reader panel of buyers, you also need to be able to hit profit and margin targets, deliver significant category growth and, of course, build strong relationships with suppliers.
None of this is as straightforward as it sounds, as four buyers who have already made it to the top are quick to attest when quizzed by The Grocer on the secret of their success.
Mike Coupe, Sainsbury’s trading director, Ian Crawford, buying and marketing director at 3663, Matt Simister, Tesco category director, household and cookshop, and Musgrave Budgens Londis trading director Barry Williams all say determination to achieve their ambitions has driven them to the top.
Coupe says a little bit of luck has helped him rise at Tesco, Asda, Iceland and now Sainsbury. However, he says that his product knowledge, understanding of finance and top notch presentation skills have been instrumental in his career progression.
Simister stresses the importance of focusing on the team as well as personal success.
Because a head buyer must deliver results through their buying team, agrees Williams, effective leadership is vital.
“I need my buyers to understand the vision and objectives of the business and I need to have the skill to help them realise the importance of their input. A buyer needs a strong mind of their own and they need to be focused and willing to learn.”
Crawford adds: “People are our greatest asset. I have to commit time and resources to recruitment, training and development. I have to promote empowerment and accountability, while seeking the ability to execute.”
These leadership skills are the crucial difference between being merely a good buyer and becoming one of the handful to make it big, says Rob Seery, senior consultant at HR company Nigel Wright.
He is a former senior food buyer at Marks and Spencer, but now places other senior buyers in new jobs.
“The most successful buyers will have a great perspective on the bigger picture. As well as taking complete ownership of category management and be absolutely consumer-focused with broad market understanding, they have to be real leaders.”
He adds that ability to consistently hit and beat targets will only make for a good, rather than great, buyer.
“To get to the very top, a buyer must be absolutely focused and treat work as if they are running their own business. That’s the level of dedication required and the people who achieve that level live and breathe their job. They can quote almost in their sleep the cost of every product and price the consumer pays and know their competitors inside out.”
Simister advises: “Concentrate on doing the job well, and not on getting promoted - doors open for good people. Have a thirst for learning and developing your skills and be confident, not arrogant.”
Tips for success
nAlways deliver on profit and margin expectations
nEnsure your category grows
nBuild good relationships with suppliers
nBe a tough negotiator
nMake sure you have a good track record for innovation
Source: e-mail poll of buyers
Mike Coupe
Trading director Sainsbury
2004 Sainsbury, trading director
2001 Big Food Group - managing director of Iceland. Left Asda after Wal-Mart took over
1992 Asda. Part of the turn-around team: central operations director, IT director and trading director. Joined management board in 1996, plc board in 1998
1986 Tesco - various trading and marketing roles, including trading director for two years and head of corporate marketing
1983 Joined Unilever as a marketing trainee after getting a BSc degree in physics at the University of Birmingham
What skills do you need to get to the top?
The skills that have helped me through my career have been negotiation, drive and ambition. Category planning, financial knowhow and good presentation skills have also helped. Product knowledge is also essential and on top of that, diplomacy and a bit of luck have helped
What advice do you have for other ambitious buyers?
Be clear on what you want to achieve. Plan your career five years in advance and be true to yourself
What do you want from your buyers?
I would look for someone with a passion for the product and who has high standards. Someone with an ability to work well within a team and with good planning and organising skills, and who presents themselves and their product well Barry Williams
Trading director Musgrave Budgens Londis
2005 MBL trading director, headed project to integrate trading team.
2004 Budgens, head of buying
2003 Senior trading controller ambient products, Budgens
2001 United Co-op, head of buying and range management
1998 United Co-op, head of business unit grocery
January 1989 Kwik Save, buyer and senior executive
What skills do you need to get to the top?
Negotiation goes without saying, together with an ability to provide strategic direction at a macro and micro level. Most important, it’s the ability to guide and motivate the people who work on my team and provide the skills and training they need
What advice do you have for other ambitious buyers?
I would advise them not to underestimate the value of their relationships with suppliers and to be as open and honest with them as possible and encourage a clear two-way dialogue. As a good buyer, you should always deliver on your promises and have integrity in all you do. Innovation is also key and you need to develop your ability to identify and manage change
What do you want from your buyers?
New buyers to MBL need to have the right mindset and personality. I always look out for energy, enthusiasm and confidence, and I want people who are open to innovation and can bring new ideas to the team Ian Crawford
Buying & marketing director 3663 First For Foodservice
2002 Buying & marketing director, 3663
1999 Buying director, 3663
1998 Director of trading, Booker
1992 Regional operations director, Booker Cash & Carry
1988 Director of buying, Booker Cash & Carry
1983 After several operational and buying roles, he moved to Linfood Cash & Carry as a buyer and was subsequently promoted to buying director
What skills do you need to get to the top?
In all I have undertaken in life, I have always had a burning desire to succeed, although I have never considered myself to be overtly ambitious. Hard work, tenacity and integrity are a given, but I also place the customer at the heart of my achievements
What advice do you have for other ambitious buyers?
There will always be an element of luck - right place, right time, but success is a reward for past achievement and recognition of future potential. You have to spend time understanding the industry and organisation and establish who the key stakeholders are. You also have to take responsibility for your own developmnet and temper ambition with experience
What do you want from your buyers?
The focus is on personal qualities and characteristics, and I am a firm believer in selecting the individual - experience is relevant but only to a point. I look for a hunger and desire to succeed, but the all-important quality is the ability to execute Matt Simister
Category director Tesco
2005 Tesco, category director, household and cookshop
2003 Tesco, category director, meat, fish and poultry
2001 Tesco, category manager, red meat
2000 Tesco, senior buying manager, meat
1999 Tesco, buying manager then senior buyer manager, dairy
1997 Tesco, customer operations manager, household
1996 Tesco, product manager, health and beauty
1996 Tesco, marketing communications executive
Left Sheffield University in 1994 with 2.1 degree in business and then worked for a marketing agency in London before he moved to Tesco
What skills do you need to get to the top?
Drive, determination and a desire for the whole team to achieve. Passion for the products and the area that I look after, and my focus on performance and development of both the team and myself
What advice do you have for other ambitious buyers?
Build your support network well with others in the team - support them and they will support you. Don’t compete with your peers - compete instead with your competitors. See any changes as an opportunity.
Be confident, but not arrogant
What do you want from your buyers?
People with the thought process and technical skills of a natural buyer. People with drive, hunger and ambition and with a desire to learn and improve
Brilliant negotiation skills, steely determination and bucket loads of ambition are just some of the attributes needed to get to the top of the buying ladder.
According to a poll of The Grocer’s reader panel of buyers, you also need to be able to hit profit and margin targets, deliver significant category growth and, of course, build strong relationships with suppliers.
None of this is as straightforward as it sounds, as four buyers who have already made it to the top are quick to attest when quizzed by The Grocer on the secret of their success.
Mike Coupe, Sainsbury’s trading director, Ian Crawford, buying and marketing director at 3663, Matt Simister, Tesco category director, household and cookshop, and Musgrave Budgens Londis trading director Barry Williams all say determination to achieve their ambitions has driven them to the top.
Coupe says a little bit of luck has helped him rise at Tesco, Asda, Iceland and now Sainsbury. However, he says that his product knowledge, understanding of finance and top notch presentation skills have been instrumental in his career progression.
Simister stresses the importance of focusing on the team as well as personal success.
Because a head buyer must deliver results through their buying team, agrees Williams, effective leadership is vital.
“I need my buyers to understand the vision and objectives of the business and I need to have the skill to help them realise the importance of their input. A buyer needs a strong mind of their own and they need to be focused and willing to learn.”
Crawford adds: “People are our greatest asset. I have to commit time and resources to recruitment, training and development. I have to promote empowerment and accountability, while seeking the ability to execute.”
These leadership skills are the crucial difference between being merely a good buyer and becoming one of the handful to make it big, says Rob Seery, senior consultant at HR company Nigel Wright.
He is a former senior food buyer at Marks and Spencer, but now places other senior buyers in new jobs.
“The most successful buyers will have a great perspective on the bigger picture. As well as taking complete ownership of category management and be absolutely consumer-focused with broad market understanding, they have to be real leaders.”
He adds that ability to consistently hit and beat targets will only make for a good, rather than great, buyer.
“To get to the very top, a buyer must be absolutely focused and treat work as if they are running their own business. That’s the level of dedication required and the people who achieve that level live and breathe their job. They can quote almost in their sleep the cost of every product and price the consumer pays and know their competitors inside out.”
Simister advises: “Concentrate on doing the job well, and not on getting promoted - doors open for good people. Have a thirst for learning and developing your skills and be confident, not arrogant.”
Tips for success
nAlways deliver on profit and margin expectations
nEnsure your category grows
nBuild good relationships with suppliers
nBe a tough negotiator
nMake sure you have a good track record for innovation
Source: e-mail poll of buyers
Mike Coupe
Trading director Sainsbury
2004 Sainsbury, trading director
2001 Big Food Group - managing director of Iceland. Left Asda after Wal-Mart took over
1992 Asda. Part of the turn-around team: central operations director, IT director and trading director. Joined management board in 1996, plc board in 1998
1986 Tesco - various trading and marketing roles, including trading director for two years and head of corporate marketing
1983 Joined Unilever as a marketing trainee after getting a BSc degree in physics at the University of Birmingham
What skills do you need to get to the top?
The skills that have helped me through my career have been negotiation, drive and ambition. Category planning, financial knowhow and good presentation skills have also helped. Product knowledge is also essential and on top of that, diplomacy and a bit of luck have helped
What advice do you have for other ambitious buyers?
Be clear on what you want to achieve. Plan your career five years in advance and be true to yourself
What do you want from your buyers?
I would look for someone with a passion for the product and who has high standards. Someone with an ability to work well within a team and with good planning and organising skills, and who presents themselves and their product well Barry Williams
Trading director Musgrave Budgens Londis
2005 MBL trading director, headed project to integrate trading team.
2004 Budgens, head of buying
2003 Senior trading controller ambient products, Budgens
2001 United Co-op, head of buying and range management
1998 United Co-op, head of business unit grocery
January 1989 Kwik Save, buyer and senior executive
What skills do you need to get to the top?
Negotiation goes without saying, together with an ability to provide strategic direction at a macro and micro level. Most important, it’s the ability to guide and motivate the people who work on my team and provide the skills and training they need
What advice do you have for other ambitious buyers?
I would advise them not to underestimate the value of their relationships with suppliers and to be as open and honest with them as possible and encourage a clear two-way dialogue. As a good buyer, you should always deliver on your promises and have integrity in all you do. Innovation is also key and you need to develop your ability to identify and manage change
What do you want from your buyers?
New buyers to MBL need to have the right mindset and personality. I always look out for energy, enthusiasm and confidence, and I want people who are open to innovation and can bring new ideas to the team Ian Crawford
Buying & marketing director 3663 First For Foodservice
2002 Buying & marketing director, 3663
1999 Buying director, 3663
1998 Director of trading, Booker
1992 Regional operations director, Booker Cash & Carry
1988 Director of buying, Booker Cash & Carry
1983 After several operational and buying roles, he moved to Linfood Cash & Carry as a buyer and was subsequently promoted to buying director
What skills do you need to get to the top?
In all I have undertaken in life, I have always had a burning desire to succeed, although I have never considered myself to be overtly ambitious. Hard work, tenacity and integrity are a given, but I also place the customer at the heart of my achievements
What advice do you have for other ambitious buyers?
There will always be an element of luck - right place, right time, but success is a reward for past achievement and recognition of future potential. You have to spend time understanding the industry and organisation and establish who the key stakeholders are. You also have to take responsibility for your own developmnet and temper ambition with experience
What do you want from your buyers?
The focus is on personal qualities and characteristics, and I am a firm believer in selecting the individual - experience is relevant but only to a point. I look for a hunger and desire to succeed, but the all-important quality is the ability to execute Matt Simister
Category director Tesco
2005 Tesco, category director, household and cookshop
2003 Tesco, category director, meat, fish and poultry
2001 Tesco, category manager, red meat
2000 Tesco, senior buying manager, meat
1999 Tesco, buying manager then senior buyer manager, dairy
1997 Tesco, customer operations manager, household
1996 Tesco, product manager, health and beauty
1996 Tesco, marketing communications executive
Left Sheffield University in 1994 with 2.1 degree in business and then worked for a marketing agency in London before he moved to Tesco
What skills do you need to get to the top?
Drive, determination and a desire for the whole team to achieve. Passion for the products and the area that I look after, and my focus on performance and development of both the team and myself
What advice do you have for other ambitious buyers?
Build your support network well with others in the team - support them and they will support you. Don’t compete with your peers - compete instead with your competitors. See any changes as an opportunity.
Be confident, but not arrogant
What do you want from your buyers?
People with the thought process and technical skills of a natural buyer. People with drive, hunger and ambition and with a desire to learn and improve
No comments yet