Amy Bell

I graduated from the School of Geography in summer 2014 and, shortly after, moved to London to start my job with CBRE. My role is as a Junior Consultant in CBRE’s retail strategy team, in which we provide strategic advice to retailers, landlords and other organisations to help them make the most profitable business decisions. This involves developing location planning strategies for retailers, both in the UK and across Europe, as well as carrying out bespoke research projects across various retail sectors and channels. On a day-to-day basis, we use gravity modelling to estimate expenditures, carry out catchment mapping and analysis, and work with economic and demographic data to assess the current and future potential of retail destinations.

The role has also given me the opportunity to travel – to date I have visited Austria and Sweden, as well as various cities around the UK. My geography degree at Leeds prepared me extremely well for this role, particularly the Retail Geography and GIS modules. Retail geography gave me a strong understanding of spatial interaction modelling and forecasting turnovers, as well as knowledge of geodemographic software and working with economic and demographic data. GIS courses allowed me to develop technical skills in MapInfo and Arc GIS, as well as a sound understanding of and ability to work with different spatial datasets, which has been very useful when undertaking catchment analysis and presenting data back to clients.

I believe that Geography at Leeds is a great starting point for a career in retail planning – the relatively niche modules on offer have helped me to develop a specific skill set which is very well-suited to the industry that I work in.