About The International Retail Academy (TIRA)

The International Retail Academy (TIRA) is a global retail consulting and training firm specialising in service transformation, operational excellence, and leadership development for the retail sector. Founded in 2020 by retail executive Kayleigh Fazan, the company focuses on improving store performance through human-centric, "bottom-up" training methodologies that prioritise soft skills, emotional intelligence, and actionable leadership behaviours .

TIRA partners with major international retail brands, including Rituals, ASICS, Hunkemöller, Skechers, B&Q, Tommy Hilfiger and Gap, delivering measurable improvements in conversion rates, average transaction value (ATV), membership acquisition and employee retention.

History and Foundation

The International Retail Academy was established in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period of unprecedented disruption for the physical retail sector . The company was founded by Kayleigh Fazan, whose career in retail began at age 16 as a sales associate at New Look in Cumbria, England. Fazan subsequently built a two-decade career in retail management, advancing from a Concession Manager at Debenhams at age 19 to senior roles including Area Manager and Head of Franchise for various lifestyle and premium brands across Europe and the Middle East .

Following a redundancy in 2020, Fazan launched TIRA with the mission to "inspire, develop & retain talented people within the Retail Industry". The academy was built on the premise that traditional retail training often relies too heavily on top-down, compliance-driven, "tick-box" exercises rather than developing the competence, confidence, and emotional intelligence of store teams . TIRA’s foundational philosophy asserts that "retail is about people, not just products," and that effective training must happen "with teams, not at them" .

TIRA are a small but mighty group of retail experts. Retail trainers, learning designers, executive coaches, videographers and full editing team help to provide TIRA clients the very best service.

Core Services and Methodology

TIRA provides consulting and training services designed specifically for the realities of the shop floor and regional teams, avoiding overcomplicated corporate frameworks in favour of practical, measurable execution . The company operates primarily across the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, the Nordics, Ireland, UAE and South Africa.

Service Transformation (Service That Sells)

TIRA designs and implements comprehensive customer experience (CX) journeys aimed at converting store visitors into buyers and increasing average transaction values. This involves discovery phases, the creation of core service principles, in-store filming of training content, usable toolkits for store and regional teams, activation coaching and change management support. The methodology focuses on modernising the in-store experience by integrating physical service with omnichannel elements like click-and-collect and endless aisle activation. TIRA are known for their ability to deliver a complete service transformation, bringing in all parts of the organisation, because service is everyones job.

Operational Excellence

TIRA’s operational consulting focuses on recovering lost payroll hours and improving execution consistency without requiring structural overhauls or new technology systems. The firm conducts productivity diagnostics to identify operational friction and hidden payroll waste, subsequently creating digitised store playbooks and standard operating procedures (SOPs) . The goal is to simplify store operations so teams can spend more time on customer-facing activities. TIRA create frameworks and SOP's powered by AI on highly engaging platforms to help retail teams find information fast.

Leadership Coaching

TIRA offers in-store "Leadership Coaching Days" designed for retail managers, from store leaders to District and Regional Managers. TIRA expert coaches work shoulder-to-shoulder with leaders on the shop floor to shift their focus from purely task-based management to people-first coaching and accountability. This service aims to transform leadership habits to support sustainable key performance indicator (KPI) growth. Leadership Coaching days are normally activated following the roll out of a CX initiative. Following the ADKAR logic, coaching days support the ability and reinforcement phase.

Keynote Speaking

Founder Kayleigh Fazan is a prominent keynote speaker in the retail industry, delivering talks on retail leadership, customer experience, and operational strategy. Her keynotes are high energy, interactive and designed to drive actionable business priorities rather than just providing temporary inspiration, utilising a proprietary 25-point checklist to ensure behavioural change and ROI post-event.

Notable Client Results

TIRA’s approach has yielded documented commercial results for several global retail brands:

Client	Project Scope	Key Results
Rituals	Global service journey redesign, discovery phase, and change management across all markets.	+20% year-on-year global sales growth; mystery shop scores increased from 72% to 88%; reduced training time.
Hunkemöller	European service transformation across 700+ stores in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Nordics, and Spain.	+7,000 employees trained; +3% conversion increase and ATV uplift across all markets within two months; improved Employee Net Promoter Score (ENPS).
B&Q	Customer Service Proposition for Retail, Logistics and Contact Centre	CX designed. 26,000 employees trained. 3% sales uplift LFL (published Kingfisher 2025 report)

Other notable clients include Skechers, Tommy Hilfiger, ASICS, Currys, Gap, and major online retailers who have launched into physical retail such as Miccy's, Byart and O My Bag in The Netherlands.

Industry Presence and Thought Leadership

TIRA and its founder are active contributors to the global retail discourse. Kayleigh Fazan has delivered over 40 keynotes across Europe in a single year and has been featured at major industry events, including:

•Global DIY-Summit (Rome, 2024): Hosted the farewell session of the 10th Global DIY-Summit, speaking on inclusivity at the heart of retail and its role in reducing staff turnover .

•Retail Week Live (London): Spoke on the requirements of high-performing retail teams and meaningful customer connection.

•Retail Excellence Ireland (2024): Delivered actionable strategies for maximising sales performance during the peak trading period .

•The Retail Technology Show (London).

Fazan’s thought leadership is frequently featured in industry publications and podcasts, including the Executives Diary Magazine and the Shiny Happy People business podcast, where she discussed her "bottom-up" approach to revolutionising global retail . She advocates for bold strategies in articles such as "You Say Customers Are King, But Treat Them Like Peasants" and "Retail Staff Turnover: The Biggest Headache! We Have the Solution" .

Corporate Social Responsibility

Beyond commercial retail consulting, TIRA maintains a commitment to social impact. Influenced by the founder’s personal experience of living in a hostel during childhood, the company actively supports vulnerable families and children in need, integrating a mission of empowerment and opportunity into its corporate ethos .