Claire Shaw (1991 Leaver) – From Fortnum & Masons to fabulous gifts online

From Fortnum & Masons to Fabulous Gifts Online

I left Merchant Taylors’ Girls School to study for a BSC in Business Studies at Aston University Birmingham, unsure of what my final career would be. After University I moved to London and entered the world of Recruitment for a short while, after which an opportunity came up to join the Queen’s Grocer, Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly, as a Christmas member of staff. I loved it there and was happily recruited on to the Fortnum & Mason Management Scheme, where I worked my way up from the Sales Team to Senior Buyer for Hampers, Christmas, Stationery, Cookshop, Homewares and Books. I enjoyed the fast pace that the role brought, and the opportunity to excite customers by choosing amazing goods to buy.

My role allowed me to travel the globe and to build up a network of suppliers and contacts whom I am still in touch with to this day.

The dream for the “AlexanderandShaw” website came out of my positive experiences at Fortnum & Mason, and the desire to make fabulous gifts more readily available on-line. It took until I left my job in London and ventured back up North with my lovely partner Paul and our baby son Thomas, before this dream was realised.

I have a passion for Buying, and I missed being out and about sourcing great products, seeking the next best thing on the market, the most exclusive product, or supporting great new businesses to succeed in their goals. So after some persuasion from Paul (whose own passion is web & graphic design), I set up my the affordable luxury gifts website.

Claire Shaw
Old Girl (1991 Leaver)