In September 2024, Dunelm reported a 4.1% jump in annual sales to £1.71bn for the year to 29 June.
During the same month, GlobalData estimated Dunelm had increased its market-leading share of the homeware sector to 11.5%, edging even further ahead of John Lewis, its closest competitor.
New initiative after new initiative is a feature of the Dunelm growth story right now. It opened its first small-format store, at Westfield London, in December, and that came two months after it announced the revamp of its ecommerce capability by deploying Google Cloud’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered Vertex to improve site search.
An in-tune product development and sourcing team and a laser-focused multichannel approach are clearly at play here, but there’s also something to report on the company culture.
In February, the retailer launched a talent programme, Reach, to empower colleagues from underrepresented ethnic groups to reach their potential in the business.
More than 80 participants have spent 2024 connecting and networking with role models from within Dunelm and outside of the business “to be inspired, expand contacts and broaden horizons”, according to the retailer.
And alongside all this, the seeds have been sown for a movement to support another underrepresented group: women in technology.
From tumbleweed to taking risks
Dunelm software engineer Jo Kalnavarna was the catalyst for helping the retailer’s Women in Tech group gain a new lease of life over the past year. It’s not a new concept at Dunelm, but after arriving at the business in April 2023, Kalnavarna found it had been put on the back burner during the Covid crisis.
“I was a case of ‘where is the women in tech thing?’ – I had to dig it out, but there was tumbleweed rolling,” she says, explaining that she took the lead alongside senior people partner Leanne Orton in establishing a new plan for the initiative.
“I reached out to Leanne and I found out it was happening in the background,” says Kalnavarna. “I thought, ‘We’re past Covid now, so how can we accelerate it?’ I created workshops in London and Leicester, and went out to the women to ask what they wanted to happen.”
She instantly started recruiting for a leadership board for the group. “I thought, let’s build like we do in tech – a board, a task, objectives like KPIs [key performance indicators],” says Kalnavarna.
“I’ve implemented what I’ve learned in tech into this working group, and it has worked well,” she adds. “We have a board, we have tasks we assign, we come together regularly, and we have catch-ups and stand-ups. I would suggest for any communities that want to do something similar, this is an approach that really works.”
Coffee roulette
How does that look in practice? It involves quarterly catch-ups, and networking whereby participating employees play “coffee roulette”, being paired with a different person to discuss different job roles in tech and other career experiences.
Coffee roulette is a monthly event all about making connections to build knowledge and confidence regarding different areas of technology and working life.
Priti Verma, senior business analyst at Dunelm and STEM ambassador, says: “It’s a monthly as-long-as-you-want session where you get paired up with people who you don’t know in tech.
“It’s a way of networking in an age when people are working from home, and it gives you that benefit of meeting someone and understanding their story,” she says. “And if you need some info you have a connection – and you’re making friends at the same time.
“It’s the heartbeat event that happens every single month without fail,” says Verma. “Every month, the tech team are hearing about what women in tech are doing. It wouldn’t necessarily happen organically.”
The plan is to push more people to sign up next year. In general, this work is to help raise awareness of women in technology, create more opportunities for career progression, and give women confidence to apply for jobs they might not otherwise apply for within the tech function of the organisation.
Key to getting women to take on more roles in tech is “representation”, according to Verma, who says imposter syndrome is real – particularly for women who are returning from parental leave or if they’ve taken a sabbatical.
“We need to ensure people are confident and happy to apply for roles – and even if they don’t get the job, that they get the right feedback to help them the next time they apply,” she says.
Underlining her credentials as the designated leader of the women in tech movement at Dunelm, Kalnavarna says she is a “big risk taker”.
“We want to build a feeling of, ‘You have the confidence, you just need to go for it’ – I want to show that attitude,” she says.
“We’re running all these events to show what you can do; just go for it, don’t be afraid, and don’t shy away from it. We’re trying to build a community at Dunelm to show anything is possible here, at least, and one day, you’ll see the wider change in society.”
Women in Tech Week
The landmark moment so far for the reinvigorated group was Women in Tech Week, which ran from 7–11 October 2024. Dunelm created its own internal event to align with the broader national campaign, and used the five days to align the C-suite with the wider tech and engineering team, and create an environment for progress and support.
In a celebration of achievements of women in tech, Dunelm hosted multiple virtual and in-person gatherings – including a Q&A with the retailer’s chief technology and information officer (CTIO), John Gahagan. “This sort of transparency is important in any company you work for,” says Kalnavarna.
Verma calls the session with the CTIO “open and honest”. The hope is that opening up the communication channels like this can get everyone in the organisation considering the different experiences men and women have in terms of tech job opportunities, and how they have historically been viewed and treated in the workplace.
There was also a panel discussion with male allies, where Dunelm tech representatives talked about their experience and insights related to supporting women in tech. The panel was led by software engineering and team lead Rowan Powell, and included the views of Tom Keeber, head of quality, Paul Kerrison, director of engineering, and John Burgess, head of business analysis.
During the week, some of the female tech leadership team spoke about their background, career journeys and experiences – with the aim of conveying how to feel empowered as a woman in tech. There was also an appearance from founder and CEO of Shift Left, Susan O’Connor, a leadership coach, who shared her expertise and guidance with the cohort of Dunelm women in tech.
“We got people in the tech team to understand what women in tech means to them, and which people in tech have inspired them,” says Verma.
“It was a really good week and everyone got what they wanted from it. It wasn’t dictating or spouting out information: it was inclusive, and people were welcome to be part of the conversations.”
The women in tech roadmap
In the year ahead, more “lunch and learn” sessions are set to take place, fuelling knowledge share and helping those involved build stronger connections internally.
Kalnavarna has already helped work experience students understand what being in technology is like, but there are wider plans underway to see if Dunelm’s tech team can get into schools in the Leicester area – near the retailer’s HQ – to help young girls realise early that a career in engineering or tech could be for them.
Getting to women with this message at college stage can be positive, but the earlier girls understand the opportunities available to them, the better, according to Verma, who sees plenty of opportunity to engage primary school age children built around Lego demonstrations, for example.
“When chatting to children about what you do, you can see this lightbulb go on – that’s why I’m a STEM ambassador,” she says.
Kalnavarna adds: “If we start talking about this to people from a very young age, maybe it stays. They will see someone out there who encourages them, have a role model and pursue it [a career in engineering or tech].”
For Verma, the main aim of the women in tech work at Dunelm is raising awareness. “We are fostering an environment so if they’re a women and want to grow and progress, they can, and if they’re a man, they can help and support,” she says.
“It’s about being comfortable in your own skin – and feeling that if you want to be a director, you don’t have to act like a man.”
