Zara Riding (née Heal)

Leading the marketing team for the Convenience (Franchise) business unit, developing commercial campaigns and shaping the strategy across all 11 partners.

Owned seasonal and cultural campaigns across M&S Food including Christmas, Pride, Father’s Day and all religious events.

Developing and executing cross-category seasonal event campaigns that are inspiring, relevant to customers and right first time to deliver strong commercial results. Reporting directly into the Head of Events & Local Marketing I also manage and lead on all religious and diversity campaigns.

Supporting the campaign manager to deliver integrated, cross-functional marketing campaigns as well as day-to-day project managing of the seasonal campaigns. Led the execution of Valentine’s Day 2019 through all channels including Social, Print, Digital, In-store and Online delivering 15% sales increase YOY and record breaking engagement rates on social media. Supported the execution of the Christmas 2018 campaign with a particular focus on publications and OOH which resulted in the best Christmas sales for Tesco in 10 years and a 23% order increase YOY.

Working on site at the head offices of Coca-Cola European Partners I organised promotional merchandise and implemented marketing initiatives for all CCEP clients. Acting as one of the main points of contact for all stakeholder across CCEP, taking briefs and bringing their ideas to life, often with a very tight deadline and demanding clientele. Complete management of innovative in-store display solutions, including organising installs and providing excellent customer service to both clients and customers. Negotiating with suppliers to obtain the best products and competitive prices for the client. Raising POs for suppliers and managing the production of promotional goods from ideas to artwork to delivery. Constantly sourcing innovative products to showcase to the stakeholders to help raise brand awareness.

Managed the sales reports for the key stores of the company, as well as looking after the extensive demonstrator team. Assisted with the regional and sponsorship events throughout the year; helping with planning, logistics and ensuring the smooth running of each event. I have also been tasked with supervising certain events on my own as I did not have a direct line manager at the time. Updating and creating innovative POS items to encourage sales and educate consumers. Active customer service role, replying to customer queries over the phone as well as through emails, letters and social media. Complete control of social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) creating copy and defining content and direction of each channel. Supporting various members of team with ad-hoc requests such as presentations, queries and creative projects.

My responsibilities included working on the till, calculating prices and change as well as waitressing in this Members' Self-Service Restaurant. As our customers were either members of the All England Tennis Club or celebrities, a very high level of service was expected.

My responsibilities included waitressing at The Centre Court restaurant, The Wingfield, serving the public as well as celebrities. I worked as part of a small team, always under pressure to deliver the highest quality service to the demanding public.

A Level Results - Biology: A, Classical Civilisation: A, Critical Thinking: B, General Studies: A & Psychology: A. GCSE Results - 8 A*'s in Biology, Chemistry, Drama, English Language, English Literature, Latin, Physics & Statistics. 3 A's in French, History and Mathematics. Diploma 3 in iMedia.