TopGear
Year:
2020 - 2024
Service:
Fractional COO
Industry:
Retail / Apparel
Size:
21,500 employees
Top Gear is the most widely watched factual television programme in the world. Getting the merchandise operation behind a brand of that scale right is a different challenge entirely.
The company
Top Gear is the most widely watched factual television programme in the world: 214 territories, an estimated 350 million viewers, and one of BBC Studios' most commercially powerful brands. Behind it sits a licensed merchandise operation that has to perform to the standard the name demands.
The problem
Licensed merchandise is unforgiving. Retail margins are tight, minimum order quantities create inventory risk, and production spread across multiple factories and territories multiplies coordination complexity. Retail windows open and close fast, so a lead time failure is not delayed revenue, it is missed revenue. The brand equity was enormous. The operational infrastructure underneath it was not built to capitalise on it.
What we did
Led the retail strategy and supply chain operation for the merchandise division as fractional COO. Mapped every production partner, retail relationship and cost centre, then executed against a prioritised roadmap. Consolidated the manufacturer base into a tighter network of vetted partners, with formal milestone reporting and quality governance so problems surfaced early rather than at delivery.
Rebuilt the commercial architecture: pricing strategy, channel mix, and SKU level margin analysis, so every range decision was made against a framework rather than instinct. Ran the operation directly across a multi-territory business: suppliers, production calendars, retail timelines, stakeholder reporting.
What changed
£182,000 in cost reduction delivered across the supply chain.
84% reduction in average production lead times. [verify before publish]
A restructured supplier framework capable of supporting global retail distribution at scale.
A commercial model built for repeatable margin performance across the range.
