Category Manager - Colney Heath Head Office

About Lawsons

The Lawsons Group is a family-owned business that sells Timber, Fencing and Building materials to both the trade and DIY sectors.

The first Lawsons business was formed in 1921 and the Group has now grown to 32 branches, has close to 750 employees, a turnover of £160m and is highly profitable and cash generative. Net assets now exceed £75m.

The Group has grown rapidly over the last 2 years through several strategic acquisitions and further expansion is likely in the next 2-3 years.

The Role

The Category Manager role will be based at Lawsons Head Office in Colney Heath, St Albans and the position will report to the Procurement Director.

The successful candidate will need to work away from home on occasions when travelling to suppliers, Fortis meetings and/or group branches when the distance is prohibitive for a commute during the working day.

Key Accountabilities…

Developing a buying strategy relevant to the areas of responsibility to deliver increased sales, better localised market share and a greater contribution to overall margin and profit growth
Maximising Fortis buying group terms and negotiating localised supplier terms
Reviewing, setting and management of list prices in order to offer a non-offensive list price which can be used for web sales and to establish a trade terms discounting structure.
Managing and maximising purchasing of stock prior to any price increases and/or reducing stock prior to any downward price movements
Review of company/branch product ranges to maximise group transferred sales and localised sales markets
Working with branch sales staff to give trading advice where rebate knowledge can maximise the sales opportunity
Being aware of competitor activity, conducting benchmarking and competitor reviews, keeping abreast of what is happening in the external market
Identifying commercial opportunities to develop the Lawsons proposition and to effectively exploit these
Forming strategic partnerships and collaborative relationships with external parties and third-party suppliers as required
Influencing and working effectively with peers in the Management team to ensure the current and future success of Lawsons
Collaborating with internal teams to develop a promotional calendar and to deliver all promotions
Integrating and communicating the category strategy effectively with other functions and across the different channels
To affect any stock cleanses with supplier changes to reduce any redundant or slow moving stock
To work on systems for stock rotation, shelf life products
To maximise bulk buying deals

What is in it for you…