Trainee Buyer

Motorpoint Ltd; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 24,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK car retailer is seeking a Trainee Buyer to manage inventory and support stock purchasing. The role involves ensuring optimal stock availability, forecasting needs, and maintaining data accuracy. Candidates should be comfortable in fast-paced environments, possess strong analytical and organizational skills, and have a proactive approach to inventory management. The position offers a salary of £23,887.50 per annum and a range of attractive benefits, including additional holidays, staff discounts, and training opportunities.

Benefits

Paid time off every month

31 days' holiday plus additional days

Staff discount on cars

Healthcare

Pension

Qualifications

• Ability to learn quickly in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience with inventory management and stock control.
• Ability to work collaboratively with various teams.

Responsibilities

• Oversee inventory management and coordination.
• Forecast inventory requirements to ensure optimal stock.
• Manage purchases to avoid unnecessary expenses.

Skills

Effective time management

Strong numerical skills

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Problem solving

Tools

MS Office

Excel

Job description

Who are we?

We are Motorpoint, the UK’s leading omnichannel car retailer of nearly new cars. At Motorpoint, we all share the same vision:

To be the Car Buyer's Champion, trusted to deliver unrivalled Choice, Value and Quality.

We believe that by creating a fantastic place to work for our colleagues, we will deliver the best possible experience for our customers. So, if you want to work with an amazing group of people who are fun, friendly and get stuff done - and who bring our values to life – PROUD, HAPPY, HONEST, SUPPORTIVE – by working TOGETHER, then Motorpoint is the place to be and we are on a mission!

The Role: Trainee Buyer

Salary: £23,887.50 per annum

Location: Champion House - Derby

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours: 37.5 hours per week, 9am-5pm.

-----

What will you be getting up to?

As our Trainee Buyer, your journey with us will commence by taking on a predominantly inventory-control focused remit, learning all aspects of this and then gradually progressing into other areas of the buying functions. It is our intention that once a certain level of aptitude has been achieved, the successful candidate will help to manage stock purchasing effectively, optimising availability to meet customer needs while focusing on sales targets and maximising margin utilisation. Your responsibilities will include implementing efficient inventory practices, accurate forecasting, and replenishment, whilst monitoring levels to prevent stock shortages. You will need to maintain data integrity, ensuring accurate inventory records. By supporting stock control and store activities, your efforts will contribute to overall sales and profit targets, enhancing operational efficiency and profitability.

The successful candidate will also be able to;

• Uphold and maintain high level of inventory management & coordination
• Accurately forecast and report inventory requirements to ensure optimal stock availability.
• Manage aged stock and invoiced stock effectively, identifying opportunities to improve margin.
• Ensure that all purchasing transactions are conducted efficiently and cost-effectively.
• Maintain a thorough understanding of purchased products, including pricing and volume trends.
• Support in purchasing criteria based stock and non-criteria stock - part exchange & SYC vehicles, maintaining cost-effective stock levels appropriate to budgeted volume levels.
• Expedite purchase orders and resolve issues to avoid unnecessary expenses.
• Manage Purchase Agreements and ensure purchase order accuracy.
• Ensure effective cross functional/department collaboration
• Develop strong relationships and communicate effectively with management, procurement, logistics, and sales teams to manage working capital, optimise space, improve margins, and meet customer needs.
• Promote cooperation between our departments and across the group to enhance operational efficiency.
• Manage and achieve stock Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), continually identifying areas for improvement.
• Identify areas for margin improvement or inventory optimisation and liaise with management to take appropriate action.

What do we need from you?

• Comfortable working within a fast-paced environment with the ability to prioritise tasks
  • Effective time management and organisation skills.
  • The ability to learn and absorb new information quickly within a dynamic working environment
  • Able to work comfortably with a large number of product skus across multi-sites
  • At ease when working with a variety of product groups - varied value, volume, and supply chains
  • Effective communication skills both verbal and written with variety of colleagues, supply base and occasionally customers
  • Strong numerical & data interpretation skills
  • Excellent analytical skills and attention to detail
  • Strong computing/systems-based skills including MS Office and a solid foundation of Excel spreadsheet familiarity/competency.
  • Skilled at problem solving and handling challenging discussions
  • Ability to work on own initiative
  • Proactive approach to role
  • Comfortable in undertaking close inter-department working (i.e. with stock control/logistics and sales)

What is in it for you?

• Paid time off every month to do something that makes you happy
• 31 days' holiday plus days off for your birthday, getting married, or moving house
• Additional holidays for length of service
• Long service awards
• Staff discount on cars and finance options
• Discounts and cashback at hundreds of high street retailers and restaurants through our “My M.O.T” platform
• Smart Tech in partnership with Currys
• Cycle to work
• Pension
• Healthcare
• Enhanced Parental Leave
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
• Vocational and personal development training courses
• Quarterly team socials
• Team feasts
• Scratch card rewards
• Sharesave scheme (SAYE)
• Plus much more!

Closing Date: 16th December 2025

Please note, this role may close before the closing date if the advert receives a high volume of suitable applications, so it is best to apply as soon as possible.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. If you have any concerns about potential barriers in the application process, please get in touch so we can ensure they are removed.