Jake Roy - From Graduate Programme to Trading Manager
Jake joined Screwfix as part of our Grad programme and has had amazing success in his career journey so far.
Tell us a bit about you and your role?
I’m the Trading Manager for the power tools category at Screwfix. My role is to drive sales and margin for the category to support the business’ growth and profitability.
My role’s key responsibilities revolve around negotiating with suppliers, constructing promotional packages, and managing a product range that allows our customers to be equipped with all the tools they need for their job.
I joined the business as a Commercial Graduate. I had been given the responsibility of the cleaning and hygiene category at Screwfix when I joined. After spending just shy of 2 years on the cleaning category, I moved up to the power tools category.
Outside of work I am an avid football fan and support Arsenal. I enjoy playing football and watching Arsenal as a stress relief although the latter has been counterproductive recently. I am originally from Bristol and am a member of the St Thomas Syro Malabar Catholic church. I am part of the Youth Group and Catechism Team.
What’s it like in the Trading team?
The Trading team is like a river that flows throughout the entire business. As we lead on deciding the range, price and promotions - our work touches various teams such as Supply Chain, Product Data, Web and Marketing teams to get our trading messages across to the customer. We have the coveted position of working with a large variety of teams throughout the whole business.
What are some of your career highlights so far?
Creating and implementing my own plans for the cleaning category and seeing customers buy into it. There's no greater satisfaction than customers buying into your plans. And moving to the power tools category as a Trading Manager - a massive challenge but a huge learning opportunity for me. I'm relishing the responsibility and challenge to be the product expert on power tools.
What advice would you give someone looking to start a career in Trading?
It’s an adventure. There will be difficult days but it is incredibly rewarding. You may intricately plan out your Monday morning with tasks - but there will be occasions where you will have to reprioritise in order to react and combat an attack from a competitor on a promotion for example!
Equally, it’s incredibly satisfying to land deals, negotiations and exciting product offerings. It's an opportunity for you to showcase how much added value you are bringing to the business. You deliver results.
Come with:
· an open mind
· a willingness to ask questions
· challenge if you have an idea on how to improve things.
· openness to be pushed out your comfort zone
What does ‘Life at Screwfix’ mean to you?
Life at Screwfix is never boring. There is always something for you to get involved with.
We have several internal workshops, led by external experts, on a variety of topics related to work and personal life, so you have the opportunity to absorb as much support as possible.
Our culture is unique - in my opinion - we are not confined to a heavy corporate atmosphere. There is an unwritten but explicit rule that all teams support each other to do what is right for the business and customer - and that’s what we do.
Humour is not frowned upon and colleagues are open to several cups of coffee and conversations to help support you, celebrate with you and give you feedback.
