The Retailer Winter Edition 2023

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NEWS FROM THE BRC

SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW

Whatwasyourbackgroundbefore joiningBRC? Before joining the BRC I graduated from the University of Nottingham, where I received a 2:1 Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry. During the final year of my studies, I carried out a project that focussed heavily on computational chemistry, where I learnt some of the important data analysis skills that I have been able to apply into my role today at the BRC. I also worked part-time at Waitrose, where I first gained some practical insight into the world of retail. What has been the most interesting part of your posting in the Insights team so far? My time in the Insight team has been an enlightening experience. One of the things that I have found most interesting and valuable during my training has been building my programming skills. Although I am still only at the beginning of my coding journey, the more I learn, the more I can see the importance and value it can have in the data world. I have also enjoyed learning about the industry and the breadth of data sources we use to provide insight on the key industry trends. What do you hope to gain from your time in the BRC Graduate programme? My end goal is to build a solid understanding of the Retail sector and be an expert in the latest data analysis technologies so that I find ways to deliver newand valuable insights for our members. I am enjoyingworking alongside colleagues who have worked in or for the retail industry for decades and so I hope to learn and build experience in how to play my part in being a valuable trade association for its members. Tell us a fun fact about you? I am a trumpet player and was part of a music school throughout my childhood. With this, I was lucky enough to tour both Italy and Spain.

Isaac Malhi BRC’s Graduate Insight and CRM Analyst

We caught up with Isaac who joined our brand-new graduate programme last year, to hear a little more about his first few months at BRC. Isaac, tell us a bit about BRC’s graduate programme and your role at BRC? Since I started my new role in October, I have been part of the BRC’s Insight team. Within this short space of time, I have become familiarwith the purpose and workings of our various industry monitors, and have been building my analyst skillset to enable me to produce reports. This period is providing mewith the firm foundation for two further rotations in other parts of the business. I will be moving to the Learning team in April, where I will be supporting development of data-driven solutions (and will also join the Summer School), and in October, I will move to the Membership team where I will be leading efforts to leverage and visualise data from our CRM.