Please click on a picture to find out more about us
-
-
-
-
-
Claire Beasley, Founding Partner and Joint MD
Claire has worked for some of the biggest names in UK retailing. She started her career at Marks & Spencer and over the next twenty years went on to achieve success with the Burton Group, Sears, Laura Ashley, Arcadia Group and New Look. As well as working in the UK she has also worked in Spain and the United States.
Claire’s career has developed predominantly in retail operations but her focus on people and training and development resulted in her promotion to Director, Retail Personnel and Training at Arcadia in 1999.
After a move to New Look as Retail Operations Director, Claire built on her skills and experience enrolling on the Executive Full Time MBA programme at Henley Management College in 2003. Throughout this period of study, Claire researched the retail recruitment business with ex-colleague and friend Pauline Wood. Having identified an opportunity to specialise in Retail Operations, Claire and Pauline started their recruitment business in 2004.
Building on an excellent track record of delivery, Claire and Pauline launched court & spark in 2008, sharpening their focus to become "the experts" in senior Retail Operations recruitment.
Claire’s experience in Operations, HR and international provides real credibility with both clients and candidates alike and the business is going from strength to strength.
In addition to her responsibilities at court & spark, Claire is also a Trustee of Retail Trust.
You can contact Claire at cb@courtandsparkconsulting.com or on 07901 716657.
back to top
Pauline Wood, Founding Partner and Joint MD
Pauline started her career in retail as a Shop Manager with Laura Ashley, rising through the ranks to become their UK Retail Operations Director. During her time on the Retail Board, Pauline led the retail team through the expansion of the business. She was also closely involved in the strategic planning required to take the company public in 1985.
Pauline was seconded to Laura Ashley in the USA in 1992 as part of the team leading a major retail re-structure. She eventually returned to the UK in 1998 to take up a new position as Retail Operations Director with SF Cody. This role grew as the business then acquired Past Times, Ocean Furniture and Hawkshead clothing.
Organisational changes at Retail Variations prompted Pauline to consider alternative ways of working in the retail industry. Following lengthy research and discussions with ex- colleague and friend Claire Beasley, they identified an opportunity to specialise in Retail Operations recruitment and their business has grown quickly since 2004.
Building on an excellent track record of delivery, Pauline and Claire launched court & spark in 2008, sharpening their focus to become "the experts" in senior Retail Operations recruitment.
Pauline’s considerable industry experience gained both in the UK and USA provides real credibility, but more importantly clients and candidates alike will be working with a retail professional who really understands the roles and relationships, based on first hand, personal experience.
You can contact Pauline at pw@courtandsparkconsulting.com or 07799 674860.
back to top
Andrea Sheerman, Director - Leeds Office
Andrea commenced her retail career in the late ‘80’s working for both the Burton and Sears Groups. Faced with a restructure in 2003 Andrea took this opportunity to evaluate her skills and challenge herself further, choosing to move into the retail recruitment industry.
Andrea quickly developed her head hunting and candidate management skills and due to her success became the Manager of a team of consultants, resourcers and account managers. When an opportunity arose in 2005 to set up and grow a new regional office as a managing consultant with a national recruitment company, Andrea accepted the challenge. In this role she was able to develop her client relationship and business development skills as well as capitalise on her search and selection and networking experience. This allowed her to successfully deliver at store management and area manager level, whilst simultaneously growing the office by a further 3 Consultants.
In 2008 Andrea decided to join court & spark in order to further her personal development and continue to grow her reputation as a professional recruiter, dedicated to achieving excellence in all she undertakes.
Andrea’s approach is based on quality not quantity, preferring to build long-term relationships with clients and candidates alike. She consistently demonstrates high standards of integrity whilst acting as an ambassador for all parties she represents, with a focus not only on skills but culture fit.
You can contact Andrea at as@courtandsparkconsulting.com or on 07979 241079.
back to top
Diane Cave, Senior Partner - Leeds Office
Diane started her retail career as a Sales Assistant in Asda, where she held various positions including Supervisor, Store Trainer and Customer Service Manager. This grounding in store operations gave Diane a solid retail foundation and established an early desire to provide her customers with the best possible service levels at all times.
After 10 years at Asda, Diane made a significant change in her career when she moved to Bradford & Bingley - they were looking for candidates from the retail sector to strengthen their teams and Diane saw this as a great opportunity to build on her existing experience.
What followed was another 10 years of service, 5 of which were spent as Branch Manager managing large teams including mortgage and financial advisors. Diane was extremely successful in this sector, but when she was approached to join a national recruitment company she saw this as a chance to capitalise on all of her customer service experience and made the move.
We became aware of Diane through her growing reputation in the Northern recruitment market where she quickly established a network of loyal clients and candidates. We are delighted that she has decided to join court & spark to assist Andrea Sheerman in building our Leeds Office and like Andrea, she will focus on Store Management appointments.
As you can see, Diane brings a wealth of service orientated experience to court & spark and we can only hope that she plans to spend her next 10 years with us!
You can contact Diane at dc@courtandsparkconsulting.com or 07787 240833.
back to top
Sue Willis, Director - Buying and Merchandising
Sue has a strong retail background, having spent the first years of her career in retail HR, initially with BHS as a Graduate Trainee working in a number of their London stores.
Sue then moved to The Burton Group in a Regional HR role for Dorothy Perkins where she was responsible for working with Area Managers across the UK to recruit, develop and retain the store managers and their teams.
In all Sue spent over 10 years at the Burton Group, working in a variety of HR positions and brands, including managing the HR function for the Finance and Distribution Centre and supporting the senior retail team at Dorothy Perkins. Sue’s final role at the Burton Group was HR Manager for the buying and merchandising population of Principles and Racing Green.
It was her enjoyment of resourcing and the retail business environment that prompted Sue to take her next career move to a boutique recruitment business which specialised in key roles across buying, merchandising, retail operations and HR. Sue spent the next 10 years of her career successfully building her candidate and client base within these sectors, during which time she became an expert in her field, working for many major high street retailers in the UK and gaining a very impressive assignment record. Her work included a high level of confidential search as well as advertised selection.
In 2009 Sue joined the team at court and spark to further develop the business focus on middle and senior roles within buying and merchandising. Her strong retail and resourcing knowledge along with her high level of integrity has earned her a high degree of trust and credibility with clients and senior retailers, and we are delighted to welcome her to the team!
You can contact Sue at sw@courtandsparkconsulting.com or on 07951 023921.
back to top