Switching Gears with Emma Bray

In our most recent iteration of Switching Gears, we catch up with our Buyer, Emma Bray. We discuss how to ensure communication between suppliers and her book recommendation for women in the industry.

Describe your day as a Buyer at Charge Cars?

One day is never the same for me and that’s something I really enjoy here. From deep dive cost analysis, sourcing new suppliers, negotiating costs and contracts to managing the supply chain, I get to build great relationships with our suppliers, while ensuring that we source the highest level of quality parts. In purchasing you get to work with all areas of the business, and with this you get varying perspectives and a macro vision of how the business functions as a whole. I love the dynamic aspect of my role as a buyer at Charge Cars.

Top tip for someone entering your field of work?

You can learn something from everyone. I think it’s so important to understand the job roles of your surrounding teams in order to work best together. Have a strong vision of what you want to achieve and set steps to keep you on track. Take risks, even if they don’t work out as planned you will learn something from it.

What trend, if any, is shaping your area of work right now?

Material cost trends. It is important to understand and track the cost trends in order to get the best value for money and ensure you are buying in at a good price point for the entire project to keep the business plan sustainable.

Working here, what are you most looking forward to?

To see the end result will be the most rewarding and to be able to celebrate all of our hard work together as a team.

What book would you recommend?

If I could recommend any book to anyone, specifically to women, it would have to be “Untamed” by Glennon Doyle. It encourages women to step outside of, and shatter the glass ceiling that society has built for us.