How does it feel to win this award? You really have caught me off guard here, to be honest. But in any case it is absolutely fantastic. The people here at the store will be delighted to hear about the award. As far as I know, it would be the first time the store has won in the eight or nine years that it has been in operation.

Is this your first position as a store manager?

This is the second Morrisons store I have managed. I first became a store manager in our store in Hillsborough, Sheffield, nine years ago and then moved to this store almost three years ago. I started out in retail 20 years ago at a company called Hillards, which was based in Bradford. I was working at the Hillards store in Northampton when the chain was bought by Tesco. I had a brief spell working at Tesco, but I wanted to move back to my home area, so I ended up joining Morrisons as a trainee manager.

What do you enjoy most about the job of store manager?

There are many things, but mostly it is the morale, the people and the team spirit. The Morrisons culture is strong right from the very top. When you have that it filters all the way down very ­effectively. We aim to be the best grocer in town. We all know that and we work hard to produce the best customer service and availability.

How have things been going in

this store?

The store was already doing well when I got here - there is a very good team sprit here. But that said we have had good growth here in the past two years. It is a large store at 32,000 square feet and just under 400 staff. We have a petrol station and car wash as well, which helps drive people into the store, of course.

What programmes or changes are coming up next at this store?

We don't have any renovations or major changes. We will continue to focus on customer service and getting that right. One of the biggest things that we will be pushing on is checkout service.