Edinburgh Woollen Mill Employee Reviews

great place to work, atmosphere is always good and customers are great! love seeing regulars. only negative is the pay, its hard work for the wage but they dont want to up the pay sadly. other than this i love working here

Pros

colleagues, regular customers, schedule

Cons

low pay

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Enjoyable workplace, good progression

Allocator (Former Employee) - Carlisle, Cumbria - 16 September 2023

Training was very good and was up to speed in my role in no time at all. As I progressed in my time with the company I was slowly given some more responsibilities. Which lead to opportunities for promotion. Enjoyable workplace, the people were brilliant to work with. Really recommend.

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Insights into Edinburgh Woollen Mill

Based on 94 survey responses

What people like

Supportive environment
Feeling of personal appreciation
Ability to meet personal goals

Areas for improvement

Fair pay for job
Overall satisfaction
Sense of belonging

Treated like dirt

Retail Manager Edinburgh Woollen Mill Farnham (Former Employee) - Farnham - 30 July 2023

Was asked to ho on on furlough to close my store as it was not reopening after lock down. I was asked to cover another store as the supervisor was on long term sick, I was then offered another job, which I accepted I asked to have my remaining holiday as part of my notice period only to get told no. So left that day. Awful company to work for.

Pros

None

Cons

Lack of communication

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Basic retail job experience

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Scotland - 20 July 2023

Basic retail experience, good days, bad days.Poor communication from head office, expect too much from management.Not a company I would work for again

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Slow pace

Shop Floor Assistant (Former Employee) - Congresbury - 11 July 2023

Never have a permanent manager , staff turnover is extremely high. My colleagues were so kind. But the company gives no job security at all. Wouldn’t recommend

Pros

No uniform

Cons

Very boring, not allowed to sit down at all

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Great company to work for

Retail Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Stamford - 9 July 2023

I enjoyed my time with Edinburgh Woollen Mill. The staff were lovely, good rate of pay, good discount. It wasn't stressful at work, it was very pleasant to work there. The staff were all very supportive and we were able to have a giggle.

Pros

Discount

Cons

None

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Poor higher Management, poor culture, poor environment

Store Manager (Former Employee) - West Midlands - 9 July 2023

The brand changed for the worse over the years and your experience was based very heavily on which Area Manager you had at the time. In my earlier years it was a lovely brand to work for, and I felt like I was able to flourish in my role, with the support of my Area Manager and it felt like my development was key. In the height of covid and in the year after, Store Managers and teams were treated appallingly, and I saw talented and strong leaders within stores being talked to like dirt and being used and abused to the point of no return day in and day out. Burn out and exhaustion was very obvious and a lack of poor communication (which was minimum to nothing) made for an extremely damaging working environment for all store teams. Culture was non existent and pay for a Store Manager being only a few pence more than a Sales Assistant but with stress that kept you awake at night also helped me to realise how under appreciated we all were. If you want to work for a company that truly treats you like a number this is the place for you. By the time I left, I realised that the place had broken me and it took me a long time to bounce back and know my worth. Not only does it break you, you lose your confidence in your own ability and upper Management seem completely happy and comfortable damaging you in that way. If you want to protect your mental health, this is not the place for you.

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Don't have your back when you need it

Retail Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Saltash - 9 July 2023

Not a good company to work for. Would not recommend them. Terrible communication. No respect for the work you do. Constant complaining if you are not at the standard of others

Pros

None

Cons

None

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Learn on the job

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Coleshill, Warwickshire - 3 July 2023

So the branch I was in was within a garden centre.There was no induction itcwas literally a start date and begin work. So you learned as you worked. My shifts were usually with the store manager and myself. So she supervised my learning on the till. Deliveries were once a,week and that was the only day all the staff were in together. The delivery was all done and completed with in 1 day. It was very overstocked on the shop floor. Way too much stock was out and it made it look over crowded. But this ment the stock room was pretty empty and all sizes were all out for customers. It's not fast paced at all so it's a very relaxed feel to the job. Gives you time to get to know your colleagues and time to chat to customers and get a good rapport with them. Most of the customers are elderly so you need to like a chat and be very sociable as that's,what the customers enjoy. All in all a good job for a more experienced member of staff who can converse on many levels. A younger sales assistant in their teens would possibly struggle with the customer service side. Over 35s staff are more suited to this type of shop and clientel

Pros

Relaxed atmosphere. Lots of opportunity to give good customer service

Cons

Can get a little boring, Not much opportunity for merchandising flair as all stores are pretty standard across the board, So strict briefs on exact garments in the window and strict guide lines on dates for displays, The shops are all pretty much identical in layout so no room for imaginative displays

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Lovely place

Sales Advisor (Former Employee) - Scarborough - 20 June 2023

I loved working here and the manager is lovely and pushed me to be the best I can be and helped me to succeed. They thought me life skills and I now have new skills I can take forward with me in my future working life. I really appreciated the time they took to help me. There is always something to do if your willing to work.

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Jobs at Edinburgh Woollen Mill

Concessions Coordinator

Carlisle

7 days ago

Temporary Store Manager

Windsor

4 days ago

Stock Control Administrator

Carlisle

7 days ago

Great work experience, I miss the staff

Supervisor/Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh - 16 June 2023

I'd highly recommend working here. As retail goes, it's one of the better ones and the people you meet and work with make it all worthwhile. I miss the old Princess Street store. Covid killed it :(

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OK place to work

Sales Advisor (Current Employee) - Wales - 31 May 2023

Friendly colleagues, minimum wage.Always something to do.Customers are lovely and appreciate the help we give.Plenty of hours available if you want them

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Avoid

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Scarborough, North Yorkshire - 24 May 2023

Toxic manager who has favourites and bullies those that are not Not a happy workplace Little training offered and nothing formal at all. Very boring at times

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Lovely staff, badly managed

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Oswaldtwistle - 14 March 2023

Lovely staff, badly managed. No support or encouragement from manager. Hit all my targets and had excellent feedback from staff and customers. Encouraged to stop taking my medication for my mental health.

Pros

Great workmates, great customers

Cons

Managers attitude

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Friendly colleagues

Sales Assistant (Current Employee) - Christchurch, Dorset - 11 March 2023

Friendly colleagues and management makes you feel part of the team Variety in your day swapping round to different jobs makes the day go quick Wages could be better as only minimum wage

Pros

Friendly colleagues

Cons

Minimum wage

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Work anywhere but here

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Gateshead - 29 January 2023

Started working here in July and was thrilled to be in work, lovely customers and lovely colleagues however the benefits and pay are awful. The company is greedy and is very unorganised, on a few occasions I received the incorrect amount of pay. The bullying from management staff is horrendous and working here seriously affected my mental health. You have no time for yourself, friends or family. The company is target driven and does not care for its staff or customers, to them you are simply just a number. Avoid this place like the plague.

Cons

Long hours, bullying, low pay

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treat your staff with more respect

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - England - 26 January 2023

The money was terrible for everyone. even the manger was on poor pay. They don't care about their staff at all. Not enough hours and they just send so much clothing without even thinking about space. Also deliveries were very stressful with the driver not taking back the boxes and just being rude. Didn't even sign a contract till a few months into working there.Most of my colleges were nice and friendly and made my experience a bit better. As well the customers made it a nice place to work. No uniform was given to the staff so had to supply with own. The discount was 20% off but that is the same as what customers can get. To anyone how is thinking of getting a job at Edinburgh woolen mill. DON'T . It's a waste of time and money (or lack of)

Pros

Not much. Just got experience of what bad managing and a bad job looks like

Cons

Too many to list off but one was that the staff were treated with no respect at all.

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Stay clear at all costs

Supervisor (Former Employee) - Gateshead - 16 January 2023

Wouldn't recommend anyone to work here unless you want run into the ground staff turnover was huge managers don't get trained properly so don't know what to do area manager was nothing but a bully along with other store managers I met poorly paid job for the responsibility u have left here because of deterioration of my mental health

Pros

Store discount

Cons

Long hours

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Horrible place to work

Senior Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Wakefield - 11 January 2023

Management don't know how to do a days work, atmosphere terrible, if your face doesn't fit you get the shifts no one wants to work Left on your own to run the store on a weekend Area manager just loves giving orders , nothing is right

Pros

Nothing

Cons

Long hours

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Horrible place to work

Sales Assistant (Current Employee) - Chippenham, Wiltshire - 7 January 2023

Don't work here, the manager is awful. Doesn't care about you or anyone else but themselves. The company as a whole really don't care about the wellbeing of their workers. Work here at your own risk, just be warned you won't get treated right and your health and safety will be ignored because if your ill too often it's alarming and bad for business

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No, no and thrice NO!

Supervisor (Former Employee) - Burton-On-Trent, Staffordshire - 7 January 2023

Job ok, staff nice, Area Manager and other store managers bully. If you go to work for EWM, go in with your eyes open, don't expect support, senior managers want everything from you but give nothing in return

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