General Manager

The White Company; Greater London; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading retail brand in Greater London is seeking a General Manager to lead their flagship store, ensuring high commercial performance and an exceptional customer experience. Responsibilities include managing a multi-layered team, building strong relationships with head office functions, and driving performance through effective decision-making. The ideal candidate has significant retail management experience, strong leadership skills, and a customer-centric approach. This role offers a dynamic environment in a high-profile retail setting.

Benefits

Comprehensive training programs

Employee discounts

Opportunities for career development

Qualifications

• Proven success operating at General Manager / Store Manager level in retail.
• Experience leading large teams of 50+ colleagues.
• Strong understanding of P&L ownership.

Responsibilities

• Lead delivery of flagship store business plan aligned to retail strategy.
• Create exceptional customer journey through inspiring visual merchandising.
• Build high-performance culture by coaching managers.

Skills

Commercial acumen

Leadership skills

Communication

Organizational skills

Customer-centric mindset

Job description

Our Story

From its inception in 1994, Chrissie Rucker’s vision was to build a company that specialised in stylish, white, designer-quality items for the home that were not only exceptional quality, but also outstanding value for money. In addition to this devotion to simplicity, it was imperative the customer was put at the heart of everything and provided with a second-to-none shopping experience - and so The White Company was born.

Today, the company that began as a 12-page mail-order brochure has become one of the UK’s fast-growing multi-channel retailers and a leading lifestyle brand with 77 stores across the UK & Ireland and a highly successful online business.

Our Role

The General Manager leads our Symons Street flagship store, setting the standard for operational excellence, exceptional customer experience, and commercial performance across The White Company retail estate. This role is accountable for creating an inspiring environment that reflects our brand values, building and developing a high-performing leadership team, and driving profitable growth through outstanding retail execution.

You will lead a varied team of dedicated managers including the roles of Deputy General Manager, Commercial and Operations Managers, as well as a team of Assistant Managers, a Visual Manager, Sales Advisors and Operations team.

The Flagship General Manager is a key ambassador for the brand and plays a pivotal role in shaping innovation, hosting high-profile visits, piloting new initiatives, and influencing best practice across the business.

What you’ll be doing

Driving Performance

• Lead the delivery of your flagship store Business plan, which is aligned to the overall Retail strategy, driving commercial, operational, visual and people performance against key metrics.
• Analyse commercial data alongside insights and observations to monitor performance, identify trends and utilise this information to drive both immediate and longer-term actions.
• Build strong relationships with head office functions, including Retail Operations, HR, VM, Buying & Merchandising, and Marketing. Sharing insights, challenges, and opportunities to influence business-wide decisions.
• Leverage your strong external network to gain insight and opportunities to drive performance.

• Identify operational best practices, and opportunities to continuously improve ways of working to drive efficiency and improve profitability within your store.

Leadership

• Be an inspirational and motivational line manager, supporting your team with continuous learning and development within their roles.
• Lead a large multi-layered team, ensuring every team member knows their part to play and is held accountable to delivering it.
• Build a high-performance culture by coaching managers, growing talent and creating a store environment that people want to be part of and reflects our values.
• Deputise for the London Area Manager over periods of annual leave, and supporting with the day to day running of the London Area.

Customer and Brand Experience

• Create an exceptional customer journey through consistent standards, inspiring visual merchandising and a diverse team that always put the customer first.

• Use customer insights, feedback, and in-store observations to improve and enhance the customer experience.

• Act as a brand ambassador during executive visits, press moments, and VIP customer events.

The skills & experience that you’ll need

• Proven success operating at General Manager / Store Manager level within a high-profile, high-turnover retail environment.
• Strong commercial acumen with confident, hands‑on ownership of the P&L.
• Genuine passion for The White Company brand and its values.
• Customer-obsessed, with an intuitive understanding of creating premium and inspirational customer experiences.
• Proven experience leading large, multi-department teams of 50+ colleagues.
• A calm, confident and credible communicator who builds trust with stakeholders at every level.
• Highly organised, operationally disciplined, and skilled at managing competing priorities.
• Resilient, solutions-driven, and adept at navigating complexity with clarity and focus.

Our Equality Diversity and Inclusion statement of commitment

At The White Company we are committed to creating an inclusive culture that welcomes and celebrates a diversity of backgrounds and identities.

We are working together to ensure our environment is one where people can bring their authentic selves to work, where their contribution is valued, ability enhanced, and perspective appreciated. Where difference is respected, encouraged, and celebrated. Where you can feel you belong.

We are committed to an active Equality Diversity and Inclusion Policy, which starts with our recruitment and selection process.

We’d love you to join us on our journey.

Our Sustainability statement of commitment

We are committed to building a sustainable legacy that will enable a brighter future for people and our planet.’ We believe this should be reflected in everything we do

PRIDE – In everything we do

P – Passionate – We look for team members who are passionate about their expertise or role, who bring the best of themselves to work and have fun with it. We need people who are passionate about offering impeccable service to customers and colleagues.

R – Resourceful – We love hearing from people who use their initiative to solve problems or make processes more efficient. We value people who use their industry knowledge to support the success of the team, and those who care about sustainability.

I – Imagination - The best people at The White Company bring creative ideas and offer solutions to problems. We encourage everyone, no matter how junior, to share their ideas and have a voice.

D – Dedication – We look for people who want to go above and beyond for their team and the business. We love seeing evidence of drive from people who are dedicated to being the best in their field of expertise.

E – Everyone – We all want The White Company to do well and we do that through a One Team, inclusive approach. We need team members who are supportive, respectful – people who share ideas and support team wellbeing.