A career in UK retail
I've spent my career in retail marketing, for some of the best-known names on the high street. I started at Sainsbury's and Blockbuster, then led commercial marketing at Virgin Retail and marketing at Dixons Carphone, where I helped launch the KNOWHOW service brand.
From there I joined the board at Clintons as VP Marketing & eCommerce, then McColl's as Customer & Marketing Director, where I also chaired the senior leadership team. More recently I've led marketing at Bestway, ProCook and SPAR UK.
Alongside those roles I've run my own consultancy, working with businesses turning over £2m to £200m, including House of Worktops and Dry Drinker.
How I work
My approach has stayed the same throughout. I call it customer first.
- Find the friction. Understand what frustrates your customers and what delights them.
- Fix it across the business. Work with operations, buying and digital to remove the pain points and lift satisfaction.
- Drive traffic and conversion. Build a trade plan and communications that bring customers in, online and in store.
- Grow sales at a return the CFO is happy with.
I'm commercial and pragmatic. Marketing exists to grow sales and profit, and I measure my work that way.
Career at a glance
- 2025 – nowSenior Consultant, SG-retailRetail media, loyalty and data strategy for major UK retailers.
- 2025Marketing & Digital Controller, SPAR UK2,500 stores. Cut marketing costs by £1m and grew supplier income from £300k to £1m.
- 2023 – 2024Head of Marketing, ProCook75 stores. Grew like-for-like sales by £3m and lifted NPS from +12 to +22.
- 2021 – 2024Founder, Tim Fairs Retail ConsultancyDoubled sales at House of Worktops from £4.2m to £8m.
- 2021Director of Marketing, Bestway Retail3,000+ stores including Costcutter and Bargain Booze.
- 2018 – 2021Customer & Marketing Director, McColl's1,500 stores. Added £30m of like-for-like sales and launched home delivery.
- 2011 – 2018VP Marketing & eCommerce, Clintons750 stores. Grew market share from 12% to 16% and trebled online sales.
- EarlierDixons Carphone, Virgin Retail, Blockbuster, Sainsbury'sSenior marketing roles, including the KNOWHOW launch at Dixons.
Outside work
I'm based in St Albans, Hertfordshire. I'm a keen cyclist and rambler, and I offer free mentoring to students and graduates who want to build a career in marketing. I also write most days on LinkedIn about retail, where more than 10,700 people follow along.
Work with me
I work with retailers as a fractional CMO, on ecommerce growth, retail media and marketing audits, and with small businesses at fixed prices.
Having known Tim for about 4 years I can honestly say that he is one of the best Marketing/Customer Directors I have met.