I met Lorna McKay several years ago and was immediately blown away by her work history. From Harrods to Liberty to QVC UK, she has led a quiet revolution at retail, breaking down the barrier of the cosmetics counter, making testers accessible to shoppers, informing the public, and the list goes on. We shared a similar history starting our careers in executive training before climbing the ladder, working as buyers and then on to passion projects. We caught up over an end-of-summer chat during which I was able to convince this humble lady to share her story with Essencional.

Let’s start at the beginning: where were you born and how did you get into this industry?

I’m from Ayrshire which is southwest of Glasgow in Scotland. My mother was a head teacher and my father taught mentally handicapped children, so I was brought up in an educational household. For our family, teaching people was a responsibility to others, and I followed the path to become a qualified teacher. However, I went to Harrods for a summer job and I thought, oh, I like this! And then I stayed for 14 years.

Fourteen years! Where did you start?

I started in the Kilt department and then the training department because of my background. I was in the executive training scheme which was a great system to find out where your skills and loves lie. You would be moved to different areas in the store and spend two or three months training in that area. At the same time I also attended the College for Distributive Trade and that’s when I knew buying was the thing for me.

My first foray into fragrance came when I was the assistant buyer in Men’s Grooming and Toiletries. I wore (Guerlain) Habit Rouge for ages. I remember launching Cerruti 1881 and it was the first time we had a gift with purchase with a tie. It sold out in two days. Some of the brands I dealt with included Crabtree & Evelyn, at that stage, Molton Brown, and for some reason we had L’Artisan Parfumeur. I fell in love with the creations of Jean Laporte. Mimosa pour Moi was one of my first fragrance loves that I used to wear with Arpège. I was making my own blends without knowing what I was doing back then!

I became the buyer for Harrods own label which was sold domestically but also on an international scale. The business became so big that management decided to split the department into two divisions: foreign and domestic. I’d been running both of them and the only other area that had a comparable turnover was the perfumery. It just happened that the buyers of that department were leaving. I jumped through hoops to make a presentation to show the director what I would do in that role. I’m sure there were other candidates that had more senior careers in beauty than I did, but I understood Harrods and their customers.

At the time we had 300 consultants and about 100 brands. At first I thought, oh this job is so easy, the brands come with their marketing plans all laid out month by month. But after the first year I said, oh no, we’ve got to excite our customers! I challenged the brands to come with something new and innovative to keep their customers and grow them.

What was it like working at Harrods then?

Back then Harrods was a gentleman’s store run by gentlemen (and ladies too). It was such an exciting time then as the store was like “dead man’s shoes” but it was changing. This was in the 80’s and they were giving young people a chance. I was so lucky as the private label buyer, I was allowed to buy any category I wanted and then “Harrodize” it with the green and gold logo. When I moved to perfume I remember the first question I would always ask the brands was, where else are you sold, and if they answered I had to say our conversation is ended – you had to be first at Harrods. Exclusives made people come into the store.

Although I feel being a buyer is the best job in the world, it is repetitive and by the 90’s Harrods was changing. We weren’t as free to experiment anymore. I knew I wanted to do something different.

Where did you go next?

That’s when I was approached by Liberty of London! They didn’t have a proper perfumery in the early 90’s and they asked me to create a perfumery and cosmetics hall for them. I had a two-year contract with them to create the space, negotiate with the brands, set up the space, train the people, and find a buyer.

I was given carte blanche to do what I wanted. I knew Liberty was always a bit quirky, a bit unusual and they wanted to have something different. Back in those days the testers were still locked in a cupboard and you had to ask a consultant to try a fragrance. I took all the counters away so people could access the product. That was revolutionary but it was common sense to me. I was creating a space based on how the customer shopped – not on how the store wanted to present to the customer. I think because I came from a different background, and didn’t come up through the ranks of Beauty retail only, I was in a better position to bring in new ideas. When you come up through an industry you don’t question it the same as when you enter. I had a different experience – my educational background was so important to me.

In my heart I knew then that niche fragrance was coming, and since I knew how the other stores worked I knew there was no place for these brands. I had developed a relationship with L’Artisan Parfumeur by chance, and so I brought them on board. I also got Comme des Garçons which was so eccentric because it came in a plastic bag! Other introductions were Divine, Shu Uemura, Aveda, L’Octée ( brilliant brand wrong timing ).

After the two years at Liberty what was next?

I set up QVC Beauty in the UK after I did Liberty, and then I was a consultant with them for 20 years. When I went to the initial meeting I thought, this is brilliant, it’s taking product into people’s homes. You have to remember this was around 1992 and the internet was just beginning, it wasn’t user friendly. They wanted help to get some brands on board. I knew the big brands wouldn’t go for it, it would be the brands who were open-minded, who didn’t have preconceived ideas and who would be receptive. I brought on Decleor, Molton Brown, Elemis and Liz Earle, a very successful skincare brand.

And today?

About 12 years ago I started work on launching the Perfume Society. The aim is to help people choose better, to empower them with knowledge to make informed choices when they buy fragrance. The brands were so supportive and encouraging in the beginning, and that support continues today. Our magazine, the Scented Letter, is free online.*

Tell us about some of your most memorable projects.

Given my background, I knew the importance of education and I knew there was a disconnect between training and shopping. Consultants are trained on their own brand, and they’re brilliant, but they don’t know so much about other brands or categories. At Liberty I trained the consultants in fragrance and cosmetics in general so they could help the customer anywhere, and then the brands trained them on their own brand. That hadn’t happened to my knowledge before then.

At the same time, I was cognizant of the fact that we needed a tool to communicate to the customer about fragrance to help them choose. I was inspired by a genealogy chart that I used to make a guide to help suggest alternative fragrances to what the customer already wore. It was a sort of a rudimentary diagnostic tool that was saved on a floppy disc. We called it FRED, for Fragrance Education. The customers loved it because it was like a virtual consultant before that even existed! I worked with a geek to create a questionnaire that the customer replied to and then the results came out. Of course, perfume is not an exact science because there’s the emotional connection that you can’t accommodate for in a diagnostic, but it provided a way to start the dialogue and engage.

In the early 2000’s I worked with a perfumer to create the Liz Earle fragrances and that was really interesting because I got to see the other side of the industry, the creation side. I was looking at the ingredients, learning the importance of naturals and synthetics. We had to launch something that wouldn’t scare the skincare customers off!

Now I’m doing Instagram Reels and I don’t really want my face out there, but I feel it’s an obligation to the customer. It shouldn’t be about me. It’s a little dialogue that gives the information that the customer wants to know. I always say, try it to see if it’s right for you, test it on your skin, everyone is different, everyone has different emotions and memories tucked away.

What have you enjoyed most in the various roles you have had?

I love working with people. It’s always been about people. I love seeing a brand or a person flourish. I enjoy helping people feel better!

Let’s talk about retailing today.

It needs to reinvent itself! The beauty of Harrods at the time I was there is that the buyer was right on the shop floor and you don’t have that today. It’s a huge loss. Reading a report doesn’t tell you how many bags shoppers are carrying. I would put buyers next to the selling floor. I learned more walking the department than anything. I remember when Estee Lauder came to Harrods she came into the White Hall and she stopped to speak with 4 or 5 consultants before she came to the office. Talk to the people who are talking to the customers, or talk to the customers yourself. I would ask people, why did you buy that? People liked to offer their opinion, they were happy to communicate.

I used to go in and ask consultants, ok I’m taking away all of your products, but you can only keep one: what would it be and why? I learned so much!

Retail needs to keep offering experiences, exclusives and things you can’t have online. There’s nothing like going into a store and having an experience. It needs to involve theatre, unique products, a reason to leave home! I used to ask, would you queue up in the rain for it? Why not have perfume clubs – make it a community within the store, have people come in, talk about perfumes, have events, bring like-minded people together!

What constitutes excellent service today?

When the salesperson is in the mindset to receive and transmit. Listen to the customer and then react. Don’t just transmit.

People used to go directly to a salesperson because they had a relationship with them. We need to bring that back. Build trust and build a relationship. We’ve taken the relationships away by putting loyalty online.

What were the biggest challenges you have had to overcome in your career?

Big egos and self-important people. Some people think they’re more important, and they’re not. Whether they’re a listener or a performer or whatever, we all need each other and the minute someone thinks they’re more important is the minute it all goes sour.

When something isn’t done in true fairness, I don’t like it. I like fairness and awards for achievement. I like people to challenge themselves, to aspire to succeed, to do the best they can.

What are you excited about now?

People are beginning to understand the emotional connection to perfume and the industry is communicating better about perfume. This has been coming for a long time. How does it make me feel? People are thinking about the fragrance, and they can engage more if they know more.

What advice would you give to others hoping to follow in your footsteps?

If you don’t love it get out, but if you love it give it your all. When you love it it’s your hobby.

After our initial interview in 2022 for the articles on the British Approach to Perfumery. Lorna McKay challenged me to continue to tell the story. How could I disappoint her? Continue to watch this space for new installments on that series.

*Find the Perfume Society and the Scented Letter at https://perfumesociety.org/sign-up-for-the-scented-letter/