A Manifesto For Change

Work Like a Woman

A powerful and personal manifesto about how the way we work is in desperate need of change, and how women and men can come together to make that happen for the benefit of all.

Really enjoyed reading this and recommending it to everyone. There aren't many books that can claim to change your life, but this one will.

I loved this book. Ideas, solutions, wisdom, kindness and zero whining... Everyone should be handed this book with their contract of employment.

A force for good, for change. This book will make you change the way you think. Mary is my hero.

Scarlett Curtis, author of Feminists Don't Wear Pink

Mary Portas doesn't want to lean in, she wants a whole new office culture.

Find out why channelling our 'inner goddess' could lead to happiness and success in the workplace.

If anyone knows how to get ahead in business it's 'Queen of Shops' Mary Portas.

Mary Portas is one of the UK's most high-profile and innovative businesswomen. After making her name transforming Harvey Nichols into a global fashion destination, Mary launched Portas, her own creative company, with the mission to transform businesses into brands, places and spaces people want in their lives. Today her team work with clients ranging from Mercedes to Sainsbury's. She has been a regular on our TV screens, advised the government on the future of high streets and developed a fashion label. Her proudest achievement to date is the creation of twenty-six Mary's Living &amp; Giving shops for Save the Children. She is the author of Shop Girl and Work Like a Woman.

'There aren't many books that can claim to change your life, but this one will.' Clare Balding 
 
'A force for good, for change. This book will make you change the way you think. Mary is my hero.' Scarlett Curtis, author of Feminists Don't Wear Pink 
 
Are you ready to be your best self at work? 
 
Packed with advice, tips and decades of business experience from Mary Portas, this is a book for every one of us: whatever level you are, wherever you work. 
 
It's about calling time on alpha culture and helping every one of us to be happier, more productive and collaborative. 
 
It's time to #WorkLikeAWoman. 
 
'Mary Portas doesn't want to lean in, she wants a whole new office culture.' Evening Standard

Shop Girl

The moving and hilarious true story of the early years of Mary, Queen of Shops

Portas writes with wit and verve... The book has the narrative charm of Anita and Me or The Buddha of Suburbia; so when the darkness comes it's genuinely shocking. Shop Girl is a testament to survival. But most of all it is a love letter to her mother, Mary Flynn. Every joke, argument, cake baked, tenderness proffered, sings off the page. 'To my mum - How lucky was I getting you' is the book's dedication. And we are lucky to read it.

Enormous fun, readable, nostalgic, poignant and authentic... Read it then give it to your daughter

Absolutely fabulous... Colourful, camp and unexpectedly heart-rending, I loved it.

Her school stories are hilarious... a nostalgia-fest

Portas's memoir is witty, fascinating and, at times, sad but always compelling

It breezes along seamlessly... with levels of charm, depth and humour

[A] delightful memoir... full of evocative images

Warm, witty and evocative, Shop Girl is a cloudless trip down memory lane

[Shop Girl] is both a beautifully nostalgic look back at a world long gone and a testament to family ties and our inherent strength

Mary Portas is one of the world's foremost authorities on retail and brand communication, and is credited with turning Harvey Nichols from a staid department store into a modern fashion powerhouse. 
 
She is the founder of the creative communications agency Portas, which creates award-winning campaigns for brands including Habitat, Clarks and Mercedes-Benz. She regularly travels the world advising on retail strategy and frequently lectures on the theme of brands and retail. 
 
Mary is a fierce protector of the UK's high streets and has previously advised the British government on their future and continues her vociferous campaigning for high streets and communities. As Global Retail Ambassador for Save the Children she is the creator of seventeen Mary's Living &amp; Giving charity shops, after she redefined the charity shop experience to put the local community at its heart, and in doing so raised millions of pounds. 
 
As well as contributing a column to the Telegraph for eight years, Mary has become a household name through her television series, including Mary Queen of Shops and, most recently, Mary Portas: Secret Shopper on Channel 4.

* THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER * 
 
Young Mary Newton, born into a large Irish family in a small Watford semi, was always getting into trouble. When she wasn’t choking back fits of giggles at Holy Communion or eating Chappie dog food for a bet, she was accidentally setting fire to the local school. Mary was a trouble magnet. And, unlike her brothers, somehow she always got caught… 
 
Britain in the 1970s was a world where R White's lemonade was drunk in secret, curry came in a cardboard box marked Vesta and Beanz meant Heinz. In Mary’s family, money was scarce. Clothes were hand-me-downs, holidays a church day out to Hastings and meals were variations on the potato. But these were also good times which revolved around the force of nature that was Theresa, Mary’s mum. 
 
When tragedy unexpectedly blows this world apart, a new chapter in Mary’s life opens up. She takes to the camp and glamour of Harrods window dressing like a duck to water, and Mary, Queen of Shops is born…

Mary Portas

How to thrive in the new Kindness Economy

Retail and brand expert Mary Portas argues that over the past thirty years the business of what we buy has been dominated by the biggest, fastest and cheapest. But those values no longer resonate. We've come to realize that more doesn't equal better. How we live, buy and sell is changing. We are all ready to put people and planet before profit. The post-pandemic era is all about care, respect and understanding the implications of what we're doing. This 'Kindness Economy' is a new value system where in order to thrive businesses must understand the fundamental role they play in the fabric of our lives. They need to add, not just grow, balancing commerce with social progress. Because we don't just want to buy from brands - we want to buy into them. Full of expert insight and invaluable advice, Rebuild is about resetting the dial. It gives businesspeople pause for thought about how to make money, as well as the practical tools to build back post-pandemic. And it speaks to anyone who votes with the pound in their pocket - all of us who, with social progress in mind, want to spend our money differently and better.

Mary Portas

Books by Mary Portas

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