Acting Retail Correspondent – Financial Times

We are looking for a retail correspondent, to cover a period of parental leave. This is a core corporate sector for the FT, packed with colourful characters, well-known companies and big global themes.

UK supermarkets are competing in a crowded industry where private equity backed chains Asda and Morrisons are striving to recover lost ground. With consumer spending power under pressure, supermarkets are selling more and more customer data to advertisers in an effort to build new sources of profit.

Meanwhile, the adoption of AI presents new opportunities and challenges to retailers, and disruptions to global supply chains are forcing them to rethink where they source their products.

The successful candidate will bring this mix to life with scoops on M&A, restructurings, job moves and the relationships between companies that are prone to both feuds and collusion.

We are also in the market for tales of success, spotting the next multi-billion pound fast fashion brand, for example. As household names, the sector’s companies punch above their market caps in terms of reader interest.

This is a sector where UK-listed names from Ocado to Burberry are international in their outlook. The successful candidate should look for opportunities to contribute to coverage globally, and to piece together analysis pieces that sum up the state of the sector on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond. This will involve close collaboration with colleagues who cover retail and technology, given the competition and UK interest in companies like Shein and the impact that tech groups like Amazon have had on the sector.

Is this the role for you?

The correspondent must be confident about setting their own agenda, making decisions about which companies to prioritise.

Using a financial lens to identify stories is important, but this is not necessarily a role that demands years of corporate reporting experience. More important is a demonstrable ability to build sources and sniff out scoops.