About Us

We’re not just saying it, Matalan really is a great place to work . We’ve got a real family friendly culture, which is just one of the reasons why we have so many long serving colleagues who love what Matalan is all about.

We recognise and listen to our Matalan Family members and really value the contribution they make – after all we couldn’t do what we do without our amazing people!

Ask anyone who works here why it’s such a great place to be, and without exception they will say it’s our people who make us what we are.

How it all began

From day one we’ve been a hugely popular and innovative retailer, a pioneer in out of town shopping and a real family value led business in every sense. Many people say we actually invented Value Retailing!

Matalan started in 1985 from humble beginnings when our founder, John Hargreaves, opened a market stall in Liverpool with a vision to bring quality fashion and home products to families at a price they could afford, giving customers the great value we’re still famous for today.

We brought a fresh new idea to the market place with our out of town, retail park concept and soon Matalan became a household name. In just over 30 years we’ve grown from a market stall in the 1980’s, opening our first store in Preston in 1985, and 10 years later we had 50 Stores and a Head Office in Skelmersdale along with an impressive Warehouse and Logistics operation. Fast forward to today and we’re now one of the UK’s top Value Retail businesses with over 200 stores across the UK and Northern Ireland.

Our impressive Head Office has moved to bigger premises on a purpose-built greenfield site just outside Liverpool, this place has definitely got the WOW factor, And it’s got everything we need to take us on the next part of our journey. We’ve also taken Matalan to the high street, with locations dotted across the UK including Oxford Street! And it’s not just on home turf - we’ve also successfully taken Matalan to the Middle East and Europe and have ambitious plans to keep growing.

Our stores couldn’t function without support from our Head Office or our Warehouse and Logistics operation giving us the foundations to achieve our ambitions to be the UKs number one value retailer – in stores and online! Retail is a fast paced environment and our website, Click and Collect, e-Commerce and home delivery networks are currently evolving as fast as the technology that drives them. Coupled with the fact that Matalan has always kept in touch with what our customers want, our ranges have never gone out of style and our people have never lost touch with what makes Matalan the go-to destination for our customers.

At Matalan, one thing that has remained constant is that it’s always been about teamwork and remaining true to our roots as a Value Retailer. Our amazing and diverse people make us who we are and our Values are the driving force behind everything we do. Working here is exciting, collaborative, challenging, and above all fun!

The story so far

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Our values

Our Values were created together with the help of our people and they are simply how we do things at Matalan. Values give us purpose and direction. There are few businesses that live their values in the way we do here at Matalan.

Think Customer

If it doesn't add value to our customers, we won't do it. We put our customers first in everything we do.

Think Family

Our people make us who we are, we know together we are stronger and we're proud to be part of the Matalan Family.

Be Real

We treat each other as we'd like to be treated. We're down to earth and show trust and respect.

Be the Best

We take responsibility, learn fast when things could better and challenge ourselves to be the best we can be.

Think Customer

If it doesn't add value to our customers, we won't do it.
We put our customers first in everything we do.

Think Family

Our people make us who we are, we know together we are stronger and we're proud to be part of the Matalan Family.

Be Real

We treat each other as we'd like to be treated. We're down to earth and show trust and respect.

Be the Best

We take responsibility, learn fast when things could better and challenge ourselves to be the best we can be.

A ‘real’ place to work is also a great place to work. Matalan is real. It knows where it came from, what it’s capable of and believes in treating and respecting everyone as it would like to be respected. It’s a place where talent can be quickly spotted, transparency, everyone pulling their weight, applying their talents and given enough scope to demonstrate their skill and passion.

There is no business quite like us. People stay. There’s an honesty and energy here that allows people to shine and that our customers love. Most of all it’s something very ‘genuine’ that you’d love to be part of.

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Matalan is not for everyone. The same way that everyone is not for us. We’re never pretentious, selfish, unethical or single minded. We live for the team.

Our values set out the template for the way we work and the people we’re looking to attract. It doesn’t matter who, where or what you are, how old or young - if you have the potential, this is the place to be. Where retail is made real.

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Charity/community & ethics

  • NSPCC
  • Alder Hey
  • Retail Trust
  • Hope Worldwide

Being ethical, and supporting communities and charities is very close to our hearts here at Matalan. As well as our local and national Children’s Charities, Alder Hey and NSPCC, we also do lots locally and globally in the communities where we are based which has huge positive benefits and impact.

As a successful family focused business, we want to make a difference to people’s lives and give something back. Whether it’s raising funds and awareness locally through team bake sales, raffles, charity days in stores, handing out clothing to homeless, conquering the Grand Canyon or Sky-Diving out of planes!

Good strong ethics are essential to us too. We sell incredible style at great value, but that doesn’t mean our product sourcing and purchasing is anything other than 100% ethical, with all of our products designed, made and delivered in a way that exceeds our social and environmental responsibilities and any worldwide strict guidelines. We pride ourselves on world class ethical sourcing and manufacturing, working alongside our global suppliers to ensure that we have an supply chain that benefits every community that we’re part of.

So in summary we’re always looking for ways to make a positive difference at Matalan and our people believe this without exception. They give their time, effort and most of all their passion to help change the lives of so many people. Our key charitable partners are…

NSPCC

Matalan are proud to be the biggest and longest standing retail partner of the NSPCC. Every year, colleagues from right across Matalan take part in lots of fundraising activities - you name it, we’ve done it!

To date we’ve raised over £8 million to support the charity which has made it possible for the NSPCC to give 2,100 children over 65,500 hours of face to face support and therapy. Answered over 82,000 calls to ChildLine and visited over 600 schools with the NSPCC Schools Service.

In addition, each year we contribute towards the NSPCC Hargreaves Centre in Liverpool. Our funding helps the centre’s 90 volunteers man the ChildLine phone lines, providing essential support and protection to some of the most vulnerable children in the North West.

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Charity

Family is at the heart of everything we do at Matalan, so on 17th April 2013, we announced Alder Hey Children's Hospital Charity as an official charity partner.

Alder Hey is based in the North West and is a Centre of Excellence for cancer, spinal, heart and brain conditions which means they care for children all over the UK, so this partnership is the perfect way for us to have an impact on the lives of children all over the country.

We've pledged to raise much needed awareness and funds for the hospital, as well as aiming to make Christmas an extra special time for the children and their families.

Each year since our partnership began we’ve created unique ranges to sell on the run up to Christmas to specifically raise money for Alder Hey Children Charity. To date we’ve raised millions through our Alphabet Scarves, Bobble & Beanie and Get Your Stripes campaigns.

Our people not only take part in fundraising, they also donate their time through volunteering at the hospital. In 2015 when the hospital moved to a new building our colleagues spent valuable time volunteering to help make the new environment extra special, creating colourful wall murals all over the hospital – in wards, theatres and family areas.

Soham School Of Hope - Bangladesh.

We don’t just focus on UK Charities, we also want to make a difference in local communities overseas, and back in January 2015 we took our first admissions into a brand new school in Dhaka, Bangladesh – the ‘Soham For All School Of Hope’.

This school has been built to offer children in communities in and around our ethical supply chain a better start in life.

The school gives children the opportunity to learn and train in a safe environment, allowing them the chance to gain better employment prospects when they leave.

In a short space of time, the school has gone from strength to strength with some of the pupils being sponsored by our Matalan colleagues to give additional help and support – quite simply we love to make a difference!

Retail Trust

Our people make us who we are and we recognise how important it is for us an employer to support our employees wherever we can, whatever the situation. At Matalan, we have some of the best HR and Operational teams in Retail and couldn’t ask for more committed people but there are some situations where we need real expertise that’s beyond our comfort zone – this is where our partnership with the Retail Trust plays a huge role.

The Retail Trust provides Matalan and our people with support whenever they are in need. Whether it’s on the end of the phone or face-to-face, the expertise, care and support that the Retail Trust is able to offer is invaluable whenever and wherever they are called upon.

Matalan recognises the importance of this partnership and sees the Retail Trust as an extension of our family and we reciprocate by supporting the Retail Trust through annual donations and fundraising activities, across all our stores.