Tom Coltman Store Manager M&S - HIGHRES Full Episode My Duvet Flip Ready.mp4

My Duvet Flip by Jack Parsons

Jack Parsons

Business, Careers

4.2 • 5 Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Episode Guest:

Tom Coltman is a Store Manager at Marks & Spencer, having risen through the ranks from work experience to leadership in just seven years. He's passionate about building confidence, resilience, and opportunities for the next generation of retail leaders.

Episode Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

1:21 Tom’s First Job — From College to Retail

3:10 Finding Confidence on the Shop Floor

5:05 Climbing the M&S Ladder

7:00 Stepping Up During a Christmas Crisis

9:15 What Makes a Great Manager

11:05 Role Models & Lessons in Leadership

13:12 How Empathy Built My Career

15:05 Why M&S is More Than Just Retail

17:22 Managing Stress & Staying Calm

19:00 Helping the Next Generation Flip the Duvet

21:15 Tom’s Duvet Flip — What Gets Him Up Every Day

23:00 Final Reflections & Words of Advice

Episode Partners

M&S

M&S is a trusted global retailer, committed to quality, value, and innovation. For over a century, it has set industry standards by doing the right thing and embracing change. With 65,000 colleagues serving 32 million customers worldwide, M&S places quality at the heart of everything it does.

https://bit.ly/4mVHfLO

Disclaimer:

The content provided on Duvet Flip is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. The views expressed by hosts, guests, brands or contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the show's producers, sponsors, or affiliates. The information shared is not a substitute for professional advice, including but not limited to career counseling, financial guidance, legal consultation, or mental health support.

Listeners and viewers are responsible for their own decisions and actions based on the content provided, and Duvet Flip assumes no liability for any outcomes resulting from reliance on the information shared. By engaging with the show, you acknowledge and agree to this disclaimer.

If you’re struggling with debt, trusted advice and free support can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/debt-advice

If you’re struggling with mental health of any kind, you can find free support here: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/

Transcript

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0:00.0	My name is Tom Coltman. I'm the store manager in Marks & Spencer's.
0:04.0	As a company we employ over 65,000 colleagues and this is my duvet.
0:08.0	Some days you wake up and you have this perfect plan and that plan needs to be paused for a moment.
0:14.0	Is there been anything in your career where you've had to just step up?
0:18.0	Every day in retail and you do get things that come down and they just don't go to plan. Tell us that story. This is my second, third Christmas. I was in a department of Laundrae Kids and Beauty. I don't have kids. I don't wear bras. So that was a great opportunity for me to step up. Tell me a little bit about what management means. You are that front model. What's your advice to anyone who may feel like they can't do something?
0:38.3	We're not all here alone.
0:39.3	We can all work together and how do I lean on them to support me?
0:43.3	What do they flip?
0:44.3	What do you do they flip?
0:46.3	For me...
0:47.3	My name's Tom Coltman.
0:51.3	I'm the store manager in Markson Spencer's.
0:53.3	Before setting down with Jack, I'm feeling very nervous, but also is a great opportunity to talk about M&S. You have to be an ambassador, be a role model, and I understand that there's a lot of young people that are looking for careers. I'm most excited to talk about the struggles and challenges of retail. I hope people understand that you could be, you know, relentlessly dissatisfied. Every day
1:11.0	is a new day. And although you might have had a tough day before, I'd you wake up, flip your duvet,
1:16.0	and move on to the next one. Good morning. Let's get started. So welcome to my duvet, Tom. How
1:23.4	are we? Thank you. I'm very excited. It's an interesting opportunity. You know, first podcast that I've done.
1:29.0	So hopefully, you know, be the first of many. Absolutely. And today's all about hearing about your career journey, but also the fantastic work that you do at M&S.
1:38.9	But I want to start here. Tell me a little bit about where the working world started for you. What was your first job? What did you learn on that job? So interestingly, this was my first job. You know, so I started out, left college, I was struggling to find retail work. You know, interesting, I was looking at other sort of retailers. I wasn't thinking of MNS. You know, it wasn't necessarily my background. Went to the job centre, you know, because I was struggling to find work.
2:03.3	And the lady there said, oh, we've got a position here, which is King's Trust, Prince's Trust at
2:07.9	the time. Never even heard of it. So I was like, all right, I'll try it. And there I was. So started
2:12.6	that, did a four-week work experience, which is a great sort of insight into retail work.
2:19.2	Had some very tough days, got home and I was almost limping with, you know, in the long days
	...

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