Ed Burstell

'it’s Ed’s great British adventure. It’s an absolute blast'

Stats:
Name:                   Ed Burstell
Age:                      48
Occupation:         Managing Director of Liberty's Department Store
Best Advice:       Buyers [who don’t engage in wider culture] start to believe their own hype. And when you start to believe your own hype, you live in one world, which is not driven by the customer or the product. It’s driven by you.

5 Key Facts:
I          Former New Yorker, He moved from Bergdorf Goodman to Liberty in 2008 to take up the position of Buying director.
II         Possesses the NY ability to intermix humour and personality with strong business acumen.
III        Believes understanding wider culture is an essential requirement for buying.
IV        Scientist of retail, he sought to understand the DNA of the Liberty's brand.
V         Possesses the tenacity to reinvigorate brands. Is he the next Christopher Bailey?

Brief Bio:
Ed Burstell has adopted Liberty's as his child, and this biography is as much about the store as it is about his character. The charming New Yorker possessed the English eccentricity and age which flows through the Tudor department store within the centre of London. Using the power of 'distanced perspective', he hopes to understand the DNA of his adopted offspring tracing the style lineage of Liberty's from its 1875 origins to decide upon its future. Desperate to re-invigorate this most unique of department stores, he seeks to maintain its reputation as an indicator of style and zeitgeist offering the must-have and the bizarre but never the banal. He is currently taking part in a BBC reality show 'Britain's Next Big Thing which offers suppliers and producers 3 minutes to pitch their ideas. While reality TV is passé, it still offers masses of exposure to Liberty's allowing Burstell to secure the future of Liberty's as a money-making temple of style.