You’re the Morrisons flagbearer in the Bournemouth area. What does that mean for you? Totton and Weymouth are the nearest two big stores, 30 minutes and an hour away respectively. Our dotcom covers all the way to Salisbury, Bournemouth and Ringwood. As a store team, our biggest challenge is making sure standards are consistent, and that we deliver the same experience for every customer.
What makes Verwood unique compared with other stores you’ve worked at? We’re the only major supermarket here and right in the heart of the town. It has a genuine community vibe. We have husbands and wives, mothers, sons and daughters that work here – one of our managers’ mums works on the kiosk. So it’s a truly family store. You can do almost anything you need to do at our store. We have a pharmacy, a café, a Timpson, a petrol station and more. We share our car park with a local public house, so you could even meet your mates for a drink.
Do you have a typical shopper? Families are our biggest clientele. We’re not the type of shop that you pop into and pick up a few items. It’s the weekly, big trolley shop.
You’re new as manager here. How have you settled in? I became store manager here four months ago but previously worked here between 2018 and 2021. A lot of the 200 colleagues are still here, which has given me a great base to start and build with. It’s been lots of regular one-on-ones and colleague roundtables since. As a management team, we lead by example: I spend a lot of time on the shop floor interacting with our customers. I host a ‘drop-in with Carl’ where shoppers can pop in and speak to me. I’ve also done some rounds with our delivery drivers so our online customers get to see who their store manager is.
What’s changed most in store since you were last here? We’ve offered online delivery since Covid, but now the focus has changed to be more immediate. We do Amazon delivery now, as well as Uber Eats. Locally, there is a big focus on immediacy.
Your Market Kitchen was recently closed. How are you using the space? It’s been repurposed as a fresh pizza counter. It was a service we offered before, but it’s now more seamless. Shoppers can order on a screen, our colleague will prepare the food and the customer will get a notification that it’s ready to collect. It means they can carry on with their shopping, rather than having to wait in a queue.
Finally, tell us more about the store’s recent community work. Our community champions have organised lots of in-store events, as well as helping with donations in the community. Recently we’ve welcomed Beaver and Cub groups in to learn a little bit about the work we do. We have a child-friendly till as well, so if they want to have a go at being a Morrisons colleague, they can.
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