You’ve been managing the Farlington store for three-and-a-half years, but we understand you’ve moved? Yes, three weeks ago I moved to a new store in Broadcut. I’ve been covering both while my replacement here recovers from back surgery. It’s been busy, but the teams at both stores are really good, so I’ve been able to pop between both. It makes me super proud that they’ve been able to win this without having me in their back pocket as much.
What’s unique about your location? Portsmouth is an island, Farlington is just off that, and not far from the M27, so we are really easy to get to. Footfall is always busy towards the end of the week, but as trade goes it’s fairly standard. Our basket size is mixed, we get a lot of lunchtime trade from the industrial estate around the corner, families that come in for their weekly shop, then some older clientele, who tend to come in two to three times a week. A bus service stops 20 steps from our front door. It’s a real lifeline for some of our customers and they’d probably say it’s our point of difference.
Tell us more about the team. What makes them so special? We’ve got just over 250 people. They are always striving to be the best. They don’t want to be beaten. Some of them visit our competitors regularly to see how we could do better. But really, it’s how they actively talk to our customers, we want them to keep coming back. One of our biggest challenges here can be turnover, because we’re also so close to the university, but having a great level of experience in our teams helps people settle quickly.
You managed a perfect score on availability. Is that something you’ve worked on? It’s our main focus, because the number one thing that will ruin a customer’s shop is if they have to go somewhere else to get that key item. Our reports show us the areas where we’re weakest. We’ll always try and improve our bottom three, because if you do that your whole availability score will go up. Generally, across the store we try to have a ‘no blame’ culture. My mantra is that there’s never a problem that is one person’s problem. If there’s something that needs fixing that day it becomes everyone’s issue.
What’s changed following your refit last year? We’ve had a glow-up with new screens in the aisles and Nectar Prices glow boxes down our power aisle. The store is looking really fresh.
How are shoppers approaching Easter this year? They’re definitely shopping earlier, which I think is down to us being more competitive than we’ve ever been, particularly through our Nectar offers.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned as store manager? You’re never going to conquer the world on your own – you need your colleagues with you. Once you’re all on board the ship together you’ll move forward much quicker.
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