Consumer Lifestyle & Retail.
CONSUMER LIFESTYLE & RETAIL EXECUTIVE SEARCH.
Consumer is our heartland. PartnerWise places senior leaders into the businesses that define how people live, shop and experience the world. From global footwear giants and heritage luxury houses to founder-led outdoor brands, PE-backed DTC challengers and multinational FMCG groups, we recruit the commercial, creative and operational leadership that drives growth at scale.
We have placed over 2,000 senior leaders across 14 years. In consumer, our network runs deep across fashion and lifestyle, beauty and luxury, retail and e-commerce, sporting goods and apparel, and consumer goods and services. Every search is led by a named partner with genuine sector depth, not a generalist covering consumer as one of twenty verticals.
KIRSTY SCHOFIELD.
Global Managing Partner | Fashion & Lifestyle
+44 (0) 7964 425 445
kirsty@partnerwise.co.uk
JENNY DODDS.
Principal Partner | Global Travel Retail, Luxury, Beauty & Retail
+44 (0) 7964 425 538
jenny@partnerwise.co.uk
JOHN CHATWIN.
Global Managing Partner | Active Outdoor, Performance & Lifestyle
+44 (0) 7590 406 743
john@partnerwise.co.uk
Who We Work With.
We partner with consumer lifestyle and retail businesses at every stage of growth and across every market position. Our clients include global brand groups and publicly listed retailers, PE and VC-backed portfolio companies scaling through investment, founder-led businesses with international ambitions, direct-to-consumer and digitally native brands, premium and luxury fashion and beauty houses, sporting goods, outdoor and performance brands, FMCG, health and wellness and food and beverage companies, and high street, travel retail and omnichannel retailers.
Whether a business is repositioning a brand, entering a new market, building a leadership team following acquisition, or navigating the shift from wholesale to DTC, we understand the strategic context behind every hire.
Trusted by.
OUR SUB-SECTORS.
Consumer Lifestyle & Retail is broad. We organise our coverage across five interconnected sub-sectors, each led by a partner with deep relationships and genuine market knowledge.
Fashion & Lifestyle.
Heritage luxury and premium brands, high street fashion, contemporary and emerging designers, DTC fashion businesses, outdoor and lifestyle brands. Led by Kirsty Schofield.
Beauty & Luxury.
Prestige beauty, mass beauty, skincare and wellness, fragrance, luxury goods and accessories. Brands spanning heritage houses, indie disruptors and PE-backed challenger brands. Led by Jenny Dodds.
Consumer Goods & Services.
FMCG, household goods, food and beverage, health and wellness, personal care and consumer services. Multinational groups and PE-backed growth businesses. Led by Jenny Dodds.
Sporting Goods & Apparel.
Performance footwear and apparel, outdoor and technical brands, sports nutrition, activewear, cycling, running and fitness. From global sportswear leaders to high-growth challenger brands. Led by John Chatwin.
Retail.
Omnichannel, high street, grocery, travel retail, marketplace and e-commerce businesses. From global retailers to specialist operators. Led by Jenny Dodds.
LEADERSHIP ROLES WE RECRUIT.
We operate exclusively at Director to C-suite level. Across consumer lifestyle and retail, the roles we are most frequently retained to fill include:
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Chief Executive Officer, Chief Commercial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Digital Officer, Chief People Officer, Chief Merchandising Officer, Non-Executive Directors.
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Managing Director, President, General Manager (Country/Region), Brand Director, Commercial Director, Sales Director, VP Sales EMEA/APAC, Wholesale Director, International Director.
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Buying Director, Merchandising Director, Planning Director, VP Buying, Head of Category.
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VP of E-Commerce, Digital Director, Creative Director, Marketing Director, Director of CRM, Head of Brand, VP Marketing/SVP Brand.
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Supply Chain Director, Sourcing Director, VP Operations, Head of Production, Head of Logistics, Director of Sustainability.
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HR Director, Talent Director, Chief People Officer, VP Talent Acquisition, Director of Organisational Development.
For large-scale leadership build-outs or transformation projects, our Exec-Project service provides a dedicated, scalable search solution. For senior leaders needed on a flexible or interim basis, our Interim & Fractional Leadership practice places experienced executives who deliver impact immediately. For hiring below Director level, PW Talent extends the same sector expertise across the full talent spectrum.
OUR WORLD OF DIFFERENCE.
24/7 AI-Sourcing, powered by PW Edge.
Every search is powered by PW Edge, our proprietary intelligence platform. Eight modules, 23+ live data sources, dual-model AI. It identifies candidates from adjacent industries that traditional search methods miss and gives our clients intelligence no other firm can access
Sector-first, not generalist.
Our partners cover consumer as their primary focus, not as one sector among many. Average tenure on the team is 8+ years. We measure the strength of our network in mapped leaders per sector, typically 500+ across senior roles. We know your talent pool and your competitors' talent pools.
Retained or container. Never contingent.
Every search gets dedicated resource, a defined methodology and a named partner who owns the outcome. Retained mandates carry full commitment upfront. Container mandates stage that commitment (typically 20-30% upfront, balance on placement) but apply identical process rigour. We do not work multi-agency contingency.
Built for precision. Guaranteed.
Brief to shortlist in 45 days, hit on 95% of mandates. Three to five assessed candidates per shortlist. Psychometric profiling via Assessio AI. Every placement guaranteed for 6 months at Director level and 12 months at VP and above. 92% of our clients return for subsequent searches.
LEAD IN STYLE.
Your next leader is already in our network.
Whether you have a live mandate or a succession risk on the horizon, we'd welcome a conversation. Our CEO compensation benchmark is a free, 48-hour deliverable that demonstrates our intelligence capability with no commitment.
WHAT TRIGGERS A LEADERSHIP SEARCH IN CONSUMER.
The businesses we work with rarely come to us because everything is going smoothly. There is usually a catalyst. The five trigger events we see most frequently across consumer lifestyle and retail are:
Brand repositioning or relaunch.
A new creative direction, a shift in target consumer or a fundamental brand refresh demands leadership that can execute the vision commercially, not just creatively.
New market entry or APAC expansion.
International growth, particularly into Asia Pacific, needs leaders who have done it before. The cost of getting this wrong is measured in years, not months.
PE-backed growth acceleration.
Private equity investment brings capital, but it also brings pace. Investors need leadership teams that can deliver against 3-5 year value creation plans, often requiring a different profile than the leaders who built the business pre-investment.
Digital and DTC transformation.
The shift from wholesale-dependent to direct-to-consumer requires leaders with genuine omnichannel expertise, data fluency and a fundamentally different commercial mindset.
Post-merger leadership integration..
Following acquisition or merger, businesses need to move quickly to build a unified leadership team that can deliver against the investment thesis while retaining the best talent from both sides.
PREVIOUS PLACEMENTS.
Head of Sales & Marketing —
VP Ecommerce | EMEA —
SVP Global Sales —
Communications Director —
Chief Operations Officer —
GM Europe —
SVP Global Sales —
Merchandising Director —
Snr HR Director EMEA & LATAM —
VP Wholesale —
VP Buying & Merchandise Planning —
Sales Manager —
Senior Director of EMEA Retail —
VP Distributors —
Head of Buying Sport —
Warehouse Operations Manager —
VP Wholesale USA
UX Researcher —
VP Ecommerce EMEA & LATAM —
Snr HR Director EMEA & LATAM —
Senior Sales Director EMEA —
Key account manager —
Commercial Director APAC —
Managing Director —
Product & Merchandising Director —
Senior Ecommerce Director Russia —
Head of Sales & Marketing — VP Ecommerce | EMEA — SVP Global Sales — Communications Director — Chief Operations Officer — GM Europe — SVP Global Sales — Merchandising Director — Snr HR Director EMEA & LATAM — VP Wholesale — VP Buying & Merchandise Planning — Sales Manager — Senior Director of EMEA Retail — VP Distributors — Head of Buying Sport — Warehouse Operations Manager — VP Wholesale USA UX Researcher — VP Ecommerce EMEA & LATAM — Snr HR Director EMEA & LATAM — Senior Sales Director EMEA — Key account manager — Commercial Director APAC — Managing Director — Product & Merchandising Director — Senior Ecommerce Director Russia —
THE CONSUMER TALENT LANDSCAPE.
The leadership profile that consumer businesses need is evolving. Across fashion, beauty, retail, sporting goods and consumer goods, several trends are reshaping what our clients look for in their senior hires.
The convergence of physical and digital retail means commercial leaders need genuine omnichannel expertise, not just a line about e-commerce on their CV. Sustainability and supply chain transparency have moved from CSR initiatives to core business strategy, requiring leaders who can embed these principles operationally and commercially. PE and VC investment in consumer continues to accelerate, bringing a demand for commercially disciplined leadership that can deliver against investor timescales. The globalisation of consumer brands means businesses need leaders with genuine international experience, particularly across APAC and the Middle East. And AI is reshaping everything from product development to customer experience, demanding leaders who understand how to deploy it as a strategic advantage rather than a tactical efficiency.
We track these shifts in real time through our client work, our events programme, our advisory board roles and our ongoing market research through PW Edge. Every search we run is informed by where the sector is heading, not just where it has been.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS.
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We cover five interconnected sub-sectors: fashion and lifestyle, beauty and luxury, retail (including travel retail and e-commerce), sporting goods and apparel, and consumer goods and services. Each is led by a named partner with deep sector relationships. Our clients range from global brand groups like Adidas and Crocs to PE-backed growth businesses and founder-led challengers.
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Container search is a staged retained model. You pay a proportion upfront (typically 20-30%) with the balance due on placement. It applies the same process rigour as a fully retained search and is particularly effective when paired with a retained mandate, or as a first engagement to build confidence in the relationship.
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Yes. We place consumer leadership across the UK, Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. Our AI-powered sourcing through PW Edge gives us genuine global reach, and our partners have direct relationships across all major consumer markets.
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PW Edge is our proprietary talent intelligence platform. It powers every search we run, drawing on 23+ live data sources to identify candidates, benchmark compensation, map market structures and score cultural fit. It is also available to clients as a standalone subscription for continuous leadership intelligence between search mandates.
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Three things. First, we only work in six sectors. Consumer lifestyle and retail is our primary focus, not one of twenty. Second, every search is powered by PW Edge, giving our clients access to intelligence and candidates that generalist firms cannot reach. Third, we guarantee every placement for 6-12 months because we back the quality of our work. Our 92% repeat client rate reflects all three.
