In our latest career story, we speak to Laura Johnson, who joined our Commercial Team back in January, about her first few months at the company, embedding herself into the team (even with remote working) and long walks in the Peak District!
What’s your role?
My role is within the Commercial function, working specifically in the Tesco account team. We are responsible for managing the relationship between Weetabix and Tesco, working on in-store and online activation plans across all the Weetabix brands.
I work closely with the customer on many things, including product listings, store distribution, promotions, and securing additional feature space outside of the Cereal fixture. Other responsibilities include evaluating our sales performance and trade spend, and adapting where necessary, to ensure we are achieving targets.
How long have you been at Weetabix?
I joined Weetabix in January 2021. I was attracted to the role, as the Weetabix values aligned to the type of culture and company I wanted to work for.
For me, feeling like part of a team is key, and after doing some research on the company, I could see that this was one of the core values for Weetabix. I also loved the idea of working with brands that my family and friends know and love!
Tell us a little about your career/education so far?
My background is in Buying. Before I joined Weetabix, I worked for a high street health and beauty retailer. My time in Buying has given me the experience first-hand of the impacts of commercial decisions, as well as highlighting the importance of having great customer and supplier relationships. I gained some insight into what makes a great Account Manager and was keen to give it a go myself!
What are you most looking forward to in your new role?
Something that I have always enjoyed, even in my previous roles, is getting out to stores and seeing the plans I have worked on come to life, so this is something I continue to look forward to.
Being new to Account Management, I am keen to develop myself in this role. A big focus for me will be on creating a strong sell when making commercial recommendations to my customers, ensuring all decisions are built from both commercial, and shopper insights.
What do you love doing outside of work?
Outside of work I love to travel but have done very little of this in the past year due to Covid! Instead, I have been spending a lot of my free time in the Peak District walking, and like lots of people through lockdown, I have found a new hobby in running! Whilst I’ve loved doing this over the last year, I am keen to get back travelling as soon as I can!
