Meet team ASOS: they're in their 20s or 30s, hit the pub together on Fridays, have epic staff parties - and work their butts off

As Nicole Farhi folds and the high street struggles, Britain’s biggest online fashion retailer has posted record profits. Karen Dacre talks to the merry band behind your new summer dress
1 November 2018

The ASOS success story is often told. An online retailer that began life selling homeware and clothes similar to those that appeared in our favourite TV shows is now among the country’s biggest fashion businesses with a market capitalisation of £3.5  billion. In the three months to May 31, ASOS sales rose 45 per cent to £197 million. A trailblazer where etail is concerned, the site ships to whichever corner of the Earth its customers happen to be and stocks a vast number of designer and high-street brands.

Its HQ in Mornington Crescent isn’t a retail office but a planet on which CEO Nick Robertson’s merry band of twenty- and thirtysomethings (the average age at ASOS is 26) eat popping candy — sold in a canteen masquerading as a Soho eaterie — while buying, shooting and, most importantly, selling for Robertson’s cause. They have meetings while sitting in futuristic leather booths or along walls lined with brightly coloured Post-its, and collect their generously discounted staff purchases from the ground floor before heading home for the day.

On Friday afternoons the denim dungaree-clad and Nike Air Max-shod employees — of which there are around 1,200 — are invited to hit the pub thanks to an early-finish policy offered during the summer months. Twice a year they attend one of Robertson’s epic staff parties. Other seasonal traditions include a Christmas decorating contest, for which an inflatable igloo and a Trojan reindeer fashioned from ASOS packaging have previously been erected in the office.

But is it really all fun and games? Here, in a bid to uncover its secret, we meet the machine behind Britain’s booming brand and ponder the life of an employee at Greater London House.

1. THE SOCIAL NETWORKER

Sedge Beswick, 24, social media manager

With more than 4.4 million Facebook friends and 2.2 million Google+ followers, social networking is key at ASOS. Beswick’s job is to make sure it stays that way. The company uses Twitter, Instagram and Vine to turn “follows” and “likes” into sales. VK (the Russian equivalent to Facebook) is another major social tool for the brand. Each day the team unleashes images of hot new items into the social networking sphere. “Our followers get very excited when we talk to them directly,” says Beswick.

2. THE GLOBAL GIRL

Anne-Kathrin Grünewälder, 25, junior sales manager for Germany

The international team ensures that the most relevant products are available in the right countries: bikinis in December for the Australians and multiple colourways for the Germans who like to buy in bulk and return what doesn’t suit. Thanks to its promiscuous delivery policy — ASOS will send an order to anywhere in the world, and to 200 of those free — the site is popular in far-off reaches such as Afghanistan, Zambia, Mongolia, and sales abroad account for 65 per cent of the business. Spin-off sites in high-performing locations such as Australia and Russia are also in operation. Another is soon to launch in China. Grünewälder’s team speaks more than 20 languages (including Mandarin, Russian and Malay).

3. THE BRAND AMBASSADOR

Oliver Tezcan, 33, buying manager, men’s brands

In addition to its own label, ASOS sells more than 850 brands, which account for 50 per cent of the business. Emerging labels and designers are selected by talent programme ASOS Inc to appear on the site, while established labels approach the retailer hoping to be chosen to retail on it. The current brands include everything from See by Chloé to Primark, which launched on ASOS last month. Tezcan’s team recently launched a Premium Brands section to cater for the 30-plus customer who has grown up with the site.

4. THE DESIGNER

Aisling McKeefry, 34, design manager, footwear and accessories

ASOS’s own-label designers work with suppliers in various locations including eastern Europe, China and India. The designers work with a team of models to ensure that each of their prototypes is created in ASOS’s best-selling size 10. The team scours the catwalks for ideas and takes regular trips abroad — LA, Texas and Brazil are favourites. The site began life as a destination for copycat celebrity clobber, and recreating celebrity looks remains a key part of its designers’ remit.

5. THE BUYER

Rachel Morgans, 40, head of womenswear buying

An ASOS buyer must contribute to the 65,000 separate clothing ranges that are stocked on the site at any given time. Selecting dresses for the site is a key part of her remit — there are 4,000 on ASOS at the moment, plus 365 different styles of earrings. The products are housed in ASOS’s huge distribution centre in Barnsley, which is the size of six football pitches. An item of womenswear is sold every three seconds, ensuring that Morgans is a very busy woman indeed.

6. THE TALENT SCOUT

Luke Smith, 27, global brand scout

Smith travels the world looking for small businesses to take part in ASOS Marketplace — an initiative that invites vintage and design boutiques to sell their wares on the site. Its existence means that ASOS shoppers can get a vintage fashion fix online and, in addition, it helps small businesses benefit from retailing on a platform with enormous reach. A champion of small enterprise as well as his own enormous one, ASOS CEO Nick Robinson is currently assisting media graduates Will Chapman and Jack Cheetham in building their Who’s Going? app.

7. THE STYLIST

Daisy Horswill, 30, senior menswear stylist

An ASOS stylist puts together 25-30 outfits each day and works with a host of models — more than 100 are on the company’s books at all times and there are 14 in the office on a daily basis. The stylist chooses the model based on the product — commercial clothing is shot on a model with a mainstream look. Previous faces include Cara Delevingne, who was booked by the production team during her early modelling days. The entire shooting process, which also includes filming a brief catwalk sequence, must be completed in six minutes.

8 & 9. THE PRESS GANG

Annette Burke, 32, head of PR, and Shawn Choudhury, 25, menswear PR co-ordinator

Ensuring that ASOS products appear in all the right places is a major operation for the press office, which employs specialists in menswear, womenswear and brands. The teams engage fashion magazines by creating one-off collections and by enlisting contemporary brands to collaborate. Recent projects include a capsule collection with sportswear brand Puma. Each month an average of 800 ASOS products appear in UK magazines.

10. THE EDITOR

Zeba Lowe, 31, executive fashion editor, ASOS Magazine and ASOS.com

The magazine is now read by more than 450,000 people each month. The publication is printed by ASOS’s own in-house publishing facility. Its executive fashion editor worked at a host of fashion publications before arriving at the company. She also contributes to ASOS Magazine’s weekly app, Fashion Up, which has been downloaded more than 400,000 times and is available in French.

11. THE PRODUCER

Laura Galligan, 28, creative producer

Fashion shoots are an everyday occurrence at ASOS. Some are used to liven up the website, others feature in the magazine and as campaign imagery. Galligan’s creative team is behind the action. A fan of street casting, she scours Britain on the search for a face to fit the ASOS bill. Creating music videos is also part of her remit.

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