Terrible management, pay, bad diversity and office politics - Anonymous employee Fortnum & Mason Employee Review

1.0
25 Jul 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

free hot drinks and good food cooked by chefs in staff cafeteria

Cons

quite low pay for a head office job at a big company making millions every year, I was on a lower wage here than what I was on as an intern at Sky, I asked if / when you would be rewarded with a raise or progression to a higher role for hard work and was told they only handed out a maximum 2% raise or a promotion if you've worked there longer than five years, that they don't measure hard work or achievements here. had no onboarding, training or handover and expected to take over entire systems and processes with little to no information, company admitted during a meeting that they didn't actually know what my job is when they hired me nor did they know what they wanted me to do, they were just as lost as i was! head office is just a grey small box on top of their Piccadilly store, its severely cramped and messy, boxes of random products litter the aisles and walkways, people having to squeeze next to each other to try and get a desk space, just a very chaotic environment to be working in. Office politics is crazy here also, lots of backstabbing and having to be careful who you talk to, very cliquey and if you're not in that group then you will be completely ignored making it hard to go into the office and sit with people on the cramped desks, very little few people offer or enjoy helping you if you ask, even if you're brand new, always very bluntly shut down. this job has not helped me CV or helped me gain another job in this area. Diversity is terrible, almost everyone bar literally two people were upper-middle class, white, straight, posh and all loved shopping at F&M, everyone who works there are customers / fans of the brand anyway and it's like they're all not great people telling each other 'exactlyyyy'

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Fortnum & Mason Response
10mo
Firstly, your feedback as an employee matters to us, so thank you for taking the time to share your experience - even though it wasn't what you had hoped. We would also love the opportunity to discuss this feedback further with you, completely confidentially, at a time that’s most convenient for you. Please do email HR@fortnumandmason.co.uk and someone from our HR team will be in contact with you as soon as possible.

Explore other reviews about Fortnum & Mason

5.0
7 Apr 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Staff are professional, the working environment is great

Cons

I didn't find bad things in this company, everyone is friendly

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3.0
25 Feb 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

High staff discount which is really nice- it’s 40%.

Cons

Toxic company culture and managers don’t know what they’re doing.

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Fortnum & Mason Response
2y
Your feedback as an employee matters to us, so thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We would also love the opportunity to discuss this feedback further with you, completely confidentially, at a time that’s most convenient for you. Please do email HR@fortnumandmason.co.uk and someone from our HR team will be in contact with you as soon as possible. Many thanks, Fortnum & Mason HR Team
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