Arcadia. The UK’s largest privately owned fashion retailer with 8 major brands including; TopShop, Wallis, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge, TopMan, Outfit, Burton and Evans.

They offer a Head Office Level 4 Merchandising Apprenticeship Programme: it’s a two-year course developed in partnership with the Fashion Retail Academy. There’s a Merchandising team behind every product area and they’re busy doing the smart thinking, deciding how to succeed as a business. And as an apprentice, you’ll play a vital role on the team, while launching your career.

What will you be doing?

It’s a real job, putting you to work on live business (you will be matched with a brand that’s a good fit). You’ll be analysing data, pinpointing the trends that drive sales, helping to allocate stock, monitoring and reviewing sales and stock levels, and generally providing administration support for the team. To do many of these tasks much of your day will be spent working on the in-house data base systems and Excel spreadsheets.

Starting out as a Merchandiser’s Admin Assistant (MAA), you’ll help make sure the products are in the right place, at the right time , whether it’s in-store or online. As well as staying on top of the everyday admin tasks, a big part of your role will be allocating new stock to stores. A skilful balancing act, it’s all about satisfying demand while not over-allocating stock so that they don’t have to mark down prices.

Analysing and presenting customer buying and sales patterns, you’ll help guide the whole process, maximising profit opportunities and getting to know customers and stores inside out. One day you might be assessing sales figures. Next, you’ll consult with Buyers over a product sample to decide where to launch the latest creation. You’ll build excellent working relationships with Distribution, Branch Merchandising and the Buyer’s Admin Assistant in your department, as well as managing your UK-based and international suppliers.

You’ll attend training at least one day each month at the Fashion Retail Academy. You’ll work towards a Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship qualification in Business Administration, accredited by City & Guilds. Then, when qualified, you should be all set to take up a Merchandise Administration Assistant role at Arcadia.

Entry Requirements:

To qualify, you’ll need to have achieved , or been predicted to achieve , 96 UCAS tariff points, including two A Levels or an equivalent qualification. You’ll also need to have GCSEs in Maths (grade B or better) and English (grade C or better).