Eleanor Jane Ward

A commercially driven and creative Buyer on the high-growth Branded Sportswear & Outdoor department at one of the UK’s largest fashion retailers, with 9+ years’ experience across multiple leading fashion retailers. I bring a strong product eye, a deep understanding of different customers and a natural ability to turn trend, market and trade insight into commercially successful ranges. With experience across buying, team leadership, brand partnerships and strategic growth, I thrive in fast-paced environments where creativity and commerciality go hand in hand.

Supported by a First Class Honours degree, I am passionate about developing customer-focused product propositions and building on a proven track record of delivering commercial growth.

Junior Buyer, Branded Sportswear & Outdoor - MARKS & SPENCER

(2026)

• Currently a Junior Buyer on the high-growth branded Sportswear & Outdoor department, buying across M&S.com and The Sports Edit, with a portfolio spanning lifestyle, performance and outdoor brands including Nike, adidas, New Balance, Columbia, Berghaus, Salomon, Merrell and Helly Hansen.
• Delivering +120% Sports sales growth to £36m in FY26, contributing to a wider £152m Sports growth plan for FY27 (+28% vs LY) through strategic brand partnerships, edited assortments and commercial range building.
• Lead the Nike Lifestyle proposition, securing 17 franchises / c.60 SS27 options with a projected £6–7m Women’s FY27 opportunity, balancing M&S’s broader commercial customer with The Sports Edit’s more premium, curated customer.
• Supported the first introduction of Sports product into M&S’s bricks-and-mortar stores within the wider company, launching key brands including Nike, New Balance and Columbia in the London flagship to support customer acquisition and elevate the Sports proposition.
• Build seasonal ranges using customer, competitor, market and trade insight, identifying growth opportunities and making recommendations across newness, best sellers, stock productivity and option breadth.
• Manage a mix of wholesale, consignment and dropship models, balancing brand breadth and customer choice with margin, profitability and stock exposure; negotiate and improve trade terms with brand partners, securing marketing rebate contributions to maximise ROI of the overall commercial partnership based on trade performance.
• Build strong relationships with key brand partners and cross-functional teams across Merchandising, E-commerce, Marketing, Operations and Compliance, driving launch readiness, trading actions and commercial execution.
• Lead regular QBRs with the largest cash-driving brands, alongside weekly performance reviews, using trade data to drive stock swaps, markdown support, cancellations and rebuys.
• Own critical path and product setup across Sports & Outdoor, resolving data and launch issues and maintaining visibility of delays to protect seasonal trading opportunities; manage and develop three direct reports.

Buyer | Womenswear - ASOS

(2024 - 2026)

Departments: Collusion | Reclaimed Vintage

• Collusion — Womenswear Own Buy: Owned the Womenswear Jersey proposition, developing trend-led products across multiple categories and lead times for the Gen-Z customer.
• Collusion — Womenswear Own Buy: Built short- and long-lead sourcing strategies, including Turkey Test & React, delivering c.2-week lead times and improving in-season responsiveness.
• Collusion — Womenswear Own Buy: Developed and presented commercial growth strategies to senior management, identifying key category and customer opportunities to shape the department’s direction.
• Reclaimed Vintage — Womenswear Own Buy: Owned the £10m+ Reclaimed Vintage department, spanning 13 clothing categories and 750+ options per season, as buying lead for a 10+ person team with 3 direct buying reports.
• Reclaimed Vintage — Womenswear Own Buy: Delivered strong category growth, including +34% YoY in Outerwear and +19% in Accessories, alongside high-volume trend-led opportunities including a 50k+ unit / £700k+ TikTok-driven lounge set.
• Reclaimed Vintage — Womenswear Own Buy: Led international sourcing across Turkey, Milan and the US, developing alternative supplier bases in Spain and Morocco to improve price, flexibility and sustainability; drove progress towards 100% BCI cotton across products.
• Reclaimed Vintage — Womenswear Own Buy: Developed circular product initiatives delivering c.70k units across organic cotton jersey and regenerated denim, using quality and returns insight to identify opportunities for bottom-line improvement.

Senior Assistant Buyer | Womenswear - ASOS.COM

(2022 - 2024-07)

Departments: Womenswear Brands / Trend & Womenswear Own Buy / Collusion

• Managed a portfolio of 30+ fashion brands across emerging SMEs to international multi-category groups, sourcing and launching new brands including Niihai, Zemeta and The Kript, delivering +50% YoY growth / +£400k AW22 sales plans.
• Led product development across trend-led brands and collaborations including the relaunch of Tammy Girl and Ed Hardy, developing exclusive and first-to-market product from concept through to launch to drive customer acquisition and department growth.
• Developed and presented seasonal strategic objectives using international market research, customer insight and sales analysis, identifying key growth opportunities and event-led product strategies.
• Led Womenswear Jersey across all Collusion categories, managing long- and short-lead supply bases and improving delivery, costing, stock and trading routes to maximise commercial opportunities.
• Managed and developed 3 buying team members, supporting progression to Assistant Buyer level, while mentoring 2 Buyers Assistants and training 2 new Assistant Buyers.

Buyers Assistant / Entry Buyers Administrator - ASOS.COM

(2017 - 2019)

• Progressed from Entry Buyers Administrator to Senior Buyers Assistant within one year, developing strong commercial and systems expertise across stock, samples, reporting and brand communication.
• Selected as one of 25 ASOS representatives across retail functions to develop future influencer marketing initiatives and present recommendations to directors.
• Represented the Buyers Administration community through the Retail Buyers Admin Forum, leading discussions with 100+ colleagues and senior stakeholders and supporting peer development.
• Selected as a Super User for a new global IT infrastructure, supporting pre-launch testing and company-wide implementation.

Wholesale Assistant Internship - BRAND PROGRESSION LIMITED - London

(2016 - 2017)

Able to shadow wholesale management and conversations with the brand managers and the buyers. Understanding sample management, brand relationships and product sales analysis to advise partnering buyers decision making.

Buying Internship - THE HAMBLEDON

(2015 - 2016)

Internship shadowing menswear fashion buyer at Drapers award winning independent retailer at seasonal peaks. Assisting with selections at branded appointments such as Champion Europe, Edwin, YMC and Universal Works.

Buying Intern - JACKET REQUIRED LIMITED - London

(2016-08 - 2017-10)

Assisting menswear Buyer of an independent retailer at Jacket Required LTD S/S17' trade show