Carl Schons
BA(Hons) Retail Marketing, 2004
I decided to go to university when I was 23, having worked for a few years after my ‘A’ Levels. I had a good look around the different universities and courses on offer and I decided that Brighton University’s ‘BA (HONS) Retail Marketing’ course was what I wanted to study. I visited the Eastbourne Campus before committing myself and was impressed with the modern facilities that the University offered, including state of the art ‘IT’ centres and an excellent Sports centre. The other massive bonus is that the University sits by the sea and Brighton is only up the coast. My time studying at Eastbourne was fantastic and I enjoyed every minute of my academic and leisure time, made some excellent friends and got to live by the sea.
In reflection some of the most important lessons I learned whilst studying at Eastbourne for my degree involved not academic skills, but people and behavioural skills. These involved working in groups to produce presentations, communication, time management, self-motivation and organisational skills. Now that I work for Tesco, I am constantly relying on these skills and continually stretching and developing them.
From an academic perspective, the Logistics module was one of the most beneficial for my current role as a Distribution Centre Team Manager; however on a daily basis, I can constantly connect other modules from my degree to my present position, one of these being Retail Technology: long gone are the days where orders are produced and loaded via paper and telephone.
In my present role within Tesco Distribution, I manage one of several departments in the Warehouse - these departments can vary on a daily basis and all present their own challenges.
Working within the Distribution Centres is an eye-opener and you really get a feel for how large Tesco is when you start to see the amount of cases we deliver each week. I am currently based at Tesco’s Bonded Warehouse and as an example, last December in just one week; we sent over 1.2 million cases of Wine to our Stores. On our Goods In department some of the loads we receive in are worth over a quarter of a million pounds and a lot of the time these have come halfway around the world, which I can relate to the International Retail module.
Working at Tesco’s Bonded Warehouse also means that I can see some of the impact that Tesco.Com is having on the business. Tesco is already established as one of the leading online retailers in the world. When they decided to promote and market promotions at customers, it has a massive impact in terms of the volume customers order. The volume of cases being ordered online can double, treble or quadruple from normal levels. Through studying marketing, looking at merchandising and e- commerce whilst studying, has helped me understand these trends and patterns.
When I first started my degree I was told one of the most important things in Retail is, location, location, location. I have found this to be true. Tesco have a network of Distribution Centres located around the country, all within distance of major roads and motorways, ensuring we have reliable access to all of the country.
My position as a Team Manager is challenging and one thing I have found is that no two days are ever the same. Working in the Distribution environment means that the majority of the time my job focuses on the operational side of the business, however I also have to deal with and manage personnel aspects such as Disciplinary meetings and investigations. One thing that I can always be sure of is that no matter what I do, I can always relate it back to something I have learnt at University.
Looking forward into the future, I am about to leave Tesco Distribution and go and take up an opportunity to work in the Stores, which I am sure will open up a lot of new challenges and opportunities and enable me to draw further on the experiences and learning gained through my degree. I am looking forward to my new challenge but confident, as like my degree, Tesco have structured supportive training to ensure they develop and get the best out of their people, giving them some of the best managers in the industry.
Long term who knows where I will end up; Tesco is such a big company the opportunities are limitless and I am sure whatever I do I will always be reliant on my degree and the skills I learned during my time at Eastbourne.
When I think about my time at Eastbourne I know I truly had the time of my life and made good friends who I have regular contact with. It has given me the opportunity to build and develop a career in my chosen sector with the knowledge and ability to succeed.
