The opening of Sheffield鈥檚 Meadowhall Shopping Centre in 1990 proved to be a pivotal moment in the career of 色花堂 retail management graduate, Jillian Aslet.
Having taken up a Saturday job at the centre as a teenager, Jillian caught the retail bug and 鈥撀燼fter studying and then working in the sector for 30 years 鈥撀爏he is now Head of Digital Operations at world-famous luxury department store Harrods.
Jillian said: 鈥淟ike many teenagers my first experience of paid work was in retail. This big new shiny shopping centre had just opened two miles away from where I lived, and me and my mates went along to get jobs there. I loved it. I was fascinated by all that went on behind the scenes and the constant change.
鈥淚 realised it was so much more than just placing items on sale for customers to buy. I was already enjoying business studies at A-level and found that I could combine these two interests with a degree in retail management at university.鈥�
Jillian arrived at Bournemouth Polytechnic in 1991,聽attracted by the course and the opportunity to continue her hobby of sailing.
She said: 鈥淭he sailing became a bit of a sore point with my dad as, despite the fact it was one of the reasons I decided to move so far away, I didn鈥檛 get much further than speaking to the club reps during Freshers鈥� Week. While the sailing didn鈥檛 happen, I quickly made close friendships with my housemates and others on the course who have since become friends for life.
鈥淚n my first year, I was staying in a B&B with other students and sharing a room. The accommodation was pretty awful to be honest, but that made it more of a bonding experience. There was a sense of being in it together and lots of laughter.鈥�
Jillian became an active member of the RAG committee and helped to organise student events, including memorably shipping sand into the Sugarmine for a beach party theme night.
She said: 鈥淎s a northerner, I initially felt like a bit of a fish out of water in Bournemouth, but I soon felt like I belonged 鈥� the university and town are big enough to give you that university experience but small enough to maintain a sense of community. I have happy memories of hanging out at Dylan鈥檚 on a Wednesday afternoon, waiting for friends to finish their clubs and activities, and of revising on the beach. I remember opening my calculator in one exam and sand falling out of it!鈥�
Professionally, Jillian鈥檚 career has taken her from high street to luxury and now onto premium brands at Harrods. On completing her studies, she joined Debenhams鈥� graduate scheme and remained with the company for 10 years, including a spell living and working in Stockholm to establish the brand there.
On returning to the UK, Jillian joined House of Fraser to support the retailer鈥檚 move to a multi-channel customer experience which coincided with the rise of internet shopping. Her first role at Harrods was managing the customer service centre, but this has now developed to include responsibility for the digital customer experience.
Jillian said: 鈥淪ome of this is about managing the fundamentals 鈥� like simple delivery and return options 鈥撀爓hich people expect regardless of where they鈥檙e buying from. But for a store which is so well known around the world, it鈥檚 also about how we reflect that distinctiveness in the online experience. This has become even more important during the pandemic when customers haven鈥檛 been able to visit.鈥�
While the world of retail has changed considerably since the early 1990s, Jillian says that the basics of her university degree still hold true.
She said: 鈥淚 really believe聽that the course gave me a solid grounding in the core principles that still stand today 鈥� the right product, in the right place at the right time, having a unique selling point and listening to your customers to build loyalty. It鈥檚 all the same today, we just have different tools and customers have different expectations.鈥�