Gifts - Department Head in City of London

Squires Garden Centre, Common Road, Stanmore, London, City of, United Kingdom

Job Description

Posted Tuesday 7 October 2025 at 00:00

Your primary responsibility will be to provide management support to the Gift Department. Working closely with the Garden Centre Manager to help the department to succeed.

Rota: Full Time, 40hrs with alternate weekends

Main duties and responsibilities

• Maintain good control over stock levels, including accurate ordering and stock clearance where necessary
• Co-operate fully with line management and Product Managers
• Take responsibility for the whole centre in the absence of the Manager
• Purchasing within the company product range within company guidelines
• Feed back on current and new products to optimise range and stock availability
• Close liaison with relevant Product Manager to ensure the optimum range and stock availability
• Use initiative to increase sales in their department
• Sales opportunities are generated through interaction with customers
• Standards of appearance are monitored and maintained
• Organises and allocates team and individual tasks, in line with customer service needs
• Queries and complaints handled with courtesy by all team members, and referred where necessary to the Manager and Product Manager

To be successful in this role, we are looking for people

Squire’s is a family-owned group of 17 garden centres based in Surrey, Sussex, Middlesex, and Berkshire. Since 1936 the purpose of our business has been the happiness of those who work in it. We are committed to growing our business and to promoting the highest standards in horticulture, catering, and retail. We want our staff to enjoy working with us in a friendly, energetic customer focused environment.

Rewards & Benefits

We want our employees to be known for their friendliness, helpfulness, and good customer service, with their whole ethos being ‘nothing is too much trouble for our customers’. In turn we will provide an extensive benefit package, please see below.

• Employee Discount – 50% in Restaurants and 20% in Garden Centre on joining, increasing to 25% after 2 years’ service and 30% after 5 years’ service.
• Holiday (including bank holidays) – 5.6 weeks on joining increasing to 6.2 weeks after 2 years’ service and 6.6 weeks after 5 years’ service.
• Bonus – Non-contractual bonus at Christmas, based on company profit (first year dependent on start date).
• Pension – Defined Contribution Pension Plan; company contributions where eligible following government criteria.
• Attendance – After one year’s service and 100% attendance, one additional holiday day (pro-rata) is added.
• Made A Difference Scheme (M.A.D) – Monthly winners selections for outstanding customer service; winners receive a gift.
• Learning & Development – Opportunities to develop skills and confidence.
• Birthday – After 6 months’ service, if your birthday falls on your contracted day, you may leave early (holiday policy rules apply). After 2 years’ service, a £25 Squires gift voucher (pro rata for <40>
• Cycle2work scheme – After 1 year’s service, 25% to 39% saving on new cycling equipment, cost deducted from pay over 12 or 19 months.
• Child\’s first day at school – After 1 year’s service, come in late and go home early on your child’s first day of school.
• RHS Membership or a Tree/Shrub – After 1 year’s service, choose one tree or shrub up to £50 retail value annually or £50 towards RHS membership.
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) – After 2 years, eligibility to join wellbeing resources.
• Retirement – After 15 years’ service, contracted hours reduced by a fifth for the final 3 months while pay remains the same.
• Free Parking – Available to all employees in designated on-site parking areas.