Asda North Hykeham, Lincoln: Grocer 33 store of the week

This win has come early in your time here. I’ve been store manager here just under two months, so it’s fantastic. My retail career started at Netto. I’ve also worked as an area manager for Morrisons. I joined Asda when it bought out Netto, so I’m coming on to 22 years continuous service. I was manager in Hyson Green, in Nottingham, and was delighted when I heard I’d be coming here, this store has a bit of a reputation.

What reputation is that? It’s just a solid store with a high turnover. Asda has a long history in North Hykeham, which is quite an affluent area just outside Lincoln. The store first opened in 1969, then it was rebuilt and moved in 1998, so we’re well established in the area. A lot of my colleagues have been here for 40-plus years. We have 295 colleagues and 11 managers.

What are shoppers putting in their baskets? Any surprises? We get a lot of full trolley shops. During the good weather, the key lines have been trading hard, so ice creams, snacks, pop and fresh meat. George clothing is doing particularly well. We’ve also just refreshed our bakery lines, and launched a new self-serve bakery. So, a lot of the basics really. We’re starting to see a lot of new customers.

What’s behind the rise in new customers? A bit of it is around the change of leadership with Allan [Leighton]. We’re in the very early stages, but we’re 100% confident in the plan. It’s clear and simple for our colleagues to understand and have faith in. The reintroduction of Rollback is great. It’s in the DNA of Asda and we’re seeing green shoots in our sales.

One of the key aims of Rollback is to lift volumes. Have you seen an improvement yet? Yes, we’ve seen an uptick. We’ve had year-on-year growth and also growth against our sales plan. Rollback has resonated well. It made Asda famous. Everyone remembers the Asda pocket tap. But importantly, we’ve also really stepped on with store standards, value and the execution of service. This is bolstered by Allan doing what he’s doing and improving availability. It’s improved 5% over the last five six months and we’re seeing the benefits in store. Allan says we’ve conquered Snowdon, but now we need to get to Everest.

How have you spent your first two months in store? I knew a couple of the managers, which has made it easier to settle in. It’s been one eye on the operation but also getting to know everybody. Because the store is so established, it’s been good to come in with a fresh pair of eyes, and a clear direction with regards to standards has engaged the team. It’s been really important to me to communicate the message that we should aim to be the best in town. We’ve got some amazing colleagues – all I’ve tried to do is get them on board with our plans and ultimately make them happy. As the saying goes, ‘happy colleagues equal happy customers’. To win the Grocer 33 gives me confidence we are doing the right thing.

Tell us more about the work to improve service. It’s been reinstalling what Asda has always done. We greet every customer within 10 ft and say bye with a parting message. I know it’s a bit Americanised and cheesy but it means a lot to customers. We’ve not retrained anybody, it’s just been reigniting that ­passion for good service.