M&S named best supermarket in Leicester as it takes first Grocer 33 win

Leicester has a strong food and drink heritage. The home of Walkers crisps since 1948, Everards has brewed its famous Tiger beer since 1849, while merchants have sold wares at what is now Europe’s largest covered outdoor fruit & veg market for the past eight centuries.

Leicester is also one of the UK’s most multicultural cities. Some 41% of its 439,917 residents were born outside the UK, according to Leicester City Council. But at 39.5% the city overindexes on what CACI calls ‘steadfast communities’. And there’s also been dramatic regeneration in the past decade.

In this cultural melting pot, it was the 23,000 sq ft M&S on the Fosse Park retail estate on the south west edge of the city near the M1 that performed best in our mystery shop. A whopping 90 points gave this week’s guest retailer – selected because there’s no Waitrose in Leicester – its first ever Grocer 33 win.

Fosse Park has just undergone a major refit and the “clean and modern” layout wowed our shopper.

Read more:

• Own-label lines help Asda to another victory as cheapest supermarket

• How Fosse Park became the first M&S Grocer 33 store of the week

• What is The Grocer 33 and how does it work?

There were “plenty” of staff on the shop floor, all of whom were “friendly, warm and helpful”. Our shopper was also “extremely impressed” by the store’s impeccable availability, leaving with a full basket. “I cannot think how the experience would have been improved,” they said, delighted.

Similarly high standards were on display just across the road at Sainsbury’s 75,000 sq ft Fosse Park store, which was pipped to victory despite a strong 87 points. Nominated for Store of the Year at The Grocer Golds earlier this year, it maintained its high standards, with perfect availability and “very helpful and attentive staff”. Despite a large number of self-service checkouts, our shopper only had a short wait to use a manned till – which was their preference – and enjoyed the open feel of the “neat” aisles. Their only complaints were a long search to find deodorant, due to unclear aisle signs, and an inability to connect to the wi-fi.

Tesco’s enormous 95,000 sq ft Bradgate Mall store, on the northern edge of the city, was some way behind with 68 points. Availability let it down, with our shopper unable to buy strawberries, triple choc cookies or Whispering Angel rosé. Staff were generally helpful, even if our shopper felt they could have been better deployed around the store. And our shopper was left waiting at the self-service tills, as only one staff member was on duty, despite it being a busy Sunday lunchtime.

Further off the pace in fourth, with 57 points, was the 33,000 sq ft Morrisons on Aylestone Road. The most central location of our weekly shop, it’s located a stone’s throw from Leicester University, Leicester Tigers Rugby and Leicester City FC’s stadia. It was matchday at the latter so very busy, and our shopper was surprised how many picking trolleys cluttered the shop floor. Hygiene was another issue: the men’s toilets were “smelly”. Staff were “excellent”, however. “The abiding memory of this store was the kindness and professionalism” of the security and shop floor teams, he said.

In last place was Asda Thurmaston, located just off the A607 heading north out of the city, which scored 54. Availability was the main problem, despite its 74,668 sq ft shop floor, with four out-of-stocks, and a further two items not stocked. Due to the large size of the store, it was difficult to see navigation signs. Staff were also hard to find, though everyone our shopper met was helpful.