Commercial Merchandise Manager

Nicoll Entertainment is at the forefront of children’s theatre, producing the most exciting, large-scale puppetry shows to burst onto the scene in recent years. Based in the heart of theatreland, and along with producing our own sell-out shows, we also offer a range of Commercial Merchandise Manager services including tour booking, consultancy, payroll and haulage.

Nicoll Merchandise is the arm of our business specifically set up to run our merchandise operations, from sourcing the best innovative products available right through to point of sale, reporting and evaluating the sales.

We are seeking a dedicated and highly organised Commercial Merchandise Manager to join our team, working in the office to manage and grow Nicoll Merchandise.

Reports to: General Manager, Producers

Oversees: Merch Coordinators

Main Responsibilities

• Researching new and innovative merchandise options, keeping our range always popular and fresh.
• Constantly pushing innovation to make our merchandise operations more eco-friendly and inclusive.
• Work with Nicoll’s sister company in China (Eastside Entertainment) with their head of merchandise to build out merchandise plan and sales strategy.
• Budgeting and forecasting.
• Proposing OTB (based on forecasted turnover, sell through %, gross profit, etc.) to capture all potential selling opportunities 
• Providing pricing structures, markup and markdown and promotion schemes to be used on tours 
• Negotiating on cost, MOQ and managing pre production sampling including payment terms.
• Collaborating with the design team to fine tune products to meet cost /quality requirement and iterate product designs to maximise sales.
• Ensuring overall product quality is in line with Nicoll’s targets and working with suppliers to exceed minimum quality requirements keeping on budget.
• Coordinating stock deliveries/collection to/from our London depot
• Coordinating stock delivery to future venues on the tour schedule
• Liaising with venues to ensure accurate staffing for merch provision and full understanding of what is required from them.
• Managing the Merch Coordinators on the tours, training them to deal with venue staff to get them motivated to sell and report sales accurately and setting up the merch displays to maximise sales.
• Ensure full and accurate reporting of sales from venues and Merch Coordinators, and producing and sending regular sales summaries to our Finance Manager for prompt invoicing
• Generating regular reports for the senior management team, evaluating how we are doing against targets and identifying areas where we can improve sales and range.
• Regularly visiting our productions to check that merch is being setup and sold as has been directed. Advising Merch Coordinators on any points of improvement.
• Managing the storage facility.

Person Specification:

This role is primarily based in our office in central London. The core working schedule will be 40 hours per week, 9:30am – 5:30pm, Monday – Friday. Some weekend and off site working may be required, with time off in lieu given for these. Base salary £30-32k per annum depending on experience, with an incentivised bonus scheme also in place to boost your basic salary if growth targets are hit.

Essential Skills:

• Previous experience in retail merchandising or event merchandise sales or management role
• Highly organised, with the ability to learn details quickly and hit the ground running
• Self motivated and can work independently;
• Confident and articulate, able to encourage and motivate others
• Excellent administrative skills alongside good IT skills and fluency in Word and Excel
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines
• Commitment to achieving high standards
• Positive and enthusiastic attitude, including a flexible approach and ability to use initiative for developing and delivering the job
• Strong planning, organisational and interpersonal skills
• Ability to engage confidently and pleasantly with a wide range of people

Desirable skills:

• Full driving licence;
• Previous experience in the Arts Sector, particularly in theatre/ venue FoH or Box Office

To apply, please submit your CV and a covering letter to recruitment@nicollentertainment.com. Interviews will take place in January 2025.