Morrisons' Chloe Summons wins Grocer Gold store manager of the year 2026

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Chloe Summons

Winner: Chloe Summons, Morrisons

Chloe Summons admits nothing can prepare you for the “noise” that comes with managing one of Morrisons’ busiest and most critical stores. Its 90,000 sq ft Norwich outlet is smack bang in the city centre, next to the Carrow Road football stadium. It was a launch store for Morrisons Now and the host of an innovative concessions trial with Holland & Barrett.

However, when she joined 18 months ago, it was clear that re-engaging the 200-plus-strong team would be one of her biggest challenges. Absence was at an all-time high of 8%, and when combined with holidays, that meant up to a quarter of her team could be off at any one time.

Through intense listening to colleague and customer feedback, 18 months later absences sit well below 3%, and the store is close to surpassing its highest ever like-for-like sales. This was all delivered despite the loss of the store’s critical people manager as a result of a company-wide restructure.

“Tenacious” and full of passion, like every great retailer Summons was all over the detail, but it was her willingness to fight for what was right for her store and customers - even if that meant upsetting the apple cart - that most impressed the judges. Take, for instance, her successful fight against attempts to close the store’s Brew Coffee bar. The fixture is immensely popular on matchdays but was at risk as part of company-wide closures. Summons argued to keep the bar as a core part of the store’s offer, and it remains open as one of the only Brew bars left in the business.

“Ambitious” Summons says she likes to foster a “high risk, high reward culture” that helps her coworkers grow, too. Three of her former colleagues have gone on to become managers, but what judges really liked hearing was her acknowledgement that a culture that gets the best out of people is one that respects they have a life outside work. As someone who likes to “lead by example” Summons displayed the self-awareness to realise this was something she needed to apply to her own career. “You have to be able to keep yourself in a good state of mind to be able to look after everyone else,” she says.

How the store manager of the year winner was decided:

The six store managers were nominated by their respective supermarkets from their pool of winners of the annual Grocer 33 store of the week competition. They each made a 10-minute presentation on why they should win, before being grilled for a further 10 minutes by a distinguished panel of judges comprising: Helen Dickinson OBE, CEO of the British Retail Consortium; Renée Elliott, former CEO of Planet Organic and co-founder of Beluga Bean; Ronny Gottschlich, CEO & founder of Heunadel Retail Advisory; Lorraine Hendle, William Reed UK Brands managing director; Adam Leyland, editor-in-chief, The Grocer; and Debbie Robinson, CEO of Our Coop.