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Claire James (Photo Credit Kalory.co.uk)

HOT 100 PREMIER BUYERS: Claire James, senior fashion buyer, Aurum Holdings

When asked her greatest business achievements in the past 12 months, Claire James is humbly quick to point out there is no ‘I’ in team.

“The fashion team at Aurum are a true inspiration and all of the successes over the last 12 months, within what has been a tough year for the fashion sector, are attributed to a truly fantastic fashion department with a great team ethos,” explains Claire.

Achievements include opening an additional seven doors for boutique.Goldsmiths just before peak trade in 2015, growing the strength of the fashion store concept and creating greater exposure with the company’s branded partners. E-commerce has also been a true key factor for fashion as the company has seen a healthy growth on the year across all fashion fascias within the Aurum group.

“We have re-organised the fashion structure over the last year within the buying and merchandising teams, which has been a great support to allow for the further expansion of fashion, further supporting the collaborations with our branded partners and also fascia focus across the Aurum group to provide a truly inspiring experience to our customers,” she shares.

Following a tougher 2015 within the fashion sector, Claire expects to see a steady recovery in 2016. For the fashion team, the sky is the limit in terms of looking at new ideas, projects for growth and ways to engage all areas of the business with fashion to see what the company is confident will be a very exciting FY17.

“There’s a saying used within business that I truly believe applies to not only myself but the Aurum Group as a whole – ‘think local, act national’. We are a relatively small team for the fascia’s, distribution and brands that we all manage but there is a true sense of ‘keeping your feet on the ground and working and supporting each other’. This creates a wonderful working environment and team ethic that I feel we all live by at team Aurum.”

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