Wendy Hallett MBE
Wendy Hallett spent 13 years at Arcadia progressing from graduate trainee to store manager and area manager roles, including overseeing Topshop’s Oxford Street flagship store and managing the relationship between Debenhams and the Arcadia brands trading with them as concessions.
In 1999 Wendy devised a completely unique concessions and concept pulling together boutique, young fashion brands and accessories under her own fuse fashion network branded umbrella or in Hallett Retail run concessions in host stores and online and started her own business www.hallettretail.co.uk . Today, Hallett Retail works with over 100 brands and with many of the High Street’s top retailers, instore and online, including Debenhams, DPs, Outfit, New Look, John Lewis, Next and Simply Be. Hallett Retail also operates jewellery concessions in House of Fraser stores.Wendy is a founding Muse in the everywoman Modern Muse initiative (www.everywoman.com) which aims to engage the next generation of female business leaders and entrepreneurs by showcasing successful women of today in all walks of business life. Wendy works with a variety of schools and colleges throughout the UK including taking Master classes and running projects for students at the Fashion Retail Academy, London. Wendy is passionate about supporting young people, wanting to help them make key career decisions while inspiring them to have high expectations of themselves. Work experience students are welcomed and apprentices are employed in a number of departments in order to give real opportunities to young people.
Wendy is also a member of the Women in Business Council, a Government initiative to find better opportunities for women to contribute to the economy. A key focus of the Council is the starting out phase introducing initiatives to help young women understand the implication of their choices at school and improve the take up of Stem subjects