Ed Burstell

A desire to unearth and celebrate British design talent meant that Burstell introduced the yearly Open Call concept – a cross between Antiques Road show, X Factor and Dragon’s Den – where designers from all walks of life come and show their wares to the relevant Liberty buyer and anything that catches their eye gets bought for the store.  The Open Call concept has proved incredibly successful with many of the designers that were discovered becoming best sellers in their particular categories.

Burstell was responsible for the further development of the Liberty Flagship Store through the addition of new product categories and brands, a bespoke print program, a new souvenir line and collaborations with designers such as Manolo Blahnik, Target and Nike that have bought Liberty worldwide acclaim and opportunities in brand new markets. Burstell was promoted to Managing Director in June 2010 and is now responsible for all aspects of the retail business including buying, merchandising, marketing, PR, events and visual identity.

Burstell joined Liberty from Bergdorf Goodman in New York where, as Senior Vice President, he had a turnover responsibility of $275 million.  Prior to that, Burstell was General Manager of the Henri Bendel division of The Limited Inc overseeing all buying and sales, marketing , PR, planning, human resources and finance.

Burstell is regularly quoted in The Financial Times, The New York Times, Women’s Wear Daily, The London Times and Drapers as an expert on retail and global retailing trends. He has appeared on a number of retail related TV programmes including The Junior Apprentice and the main protagonist of Britain’s Next Big Thing. Burstell has also been interviewed for various radio programmes including Radio 4 and LBC.