Store manager of the year

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Dave Curness, Sainsbury’s Redhill

The sheer scale of the challenges facing Dave Curness just to open for business would have sent a lesser store manager to the warehouse for a good cry.

His store has been a building site since 2014 as Sainsbury’s increases it from 23,000 sq ft to 60,000 sq ft. Everything about the situation is chaotic, from the noise of constant drilling, power cuts and flooding, shop floor blackouts during trading hours, temporary warehousing and staff facilities, a reduced car park that needs constant rejigging, and a long dark tunnel for customers to walk down before they can reach the temporary store (on the plus side, Curness says this cuts down on shoplifters as they have no decent escape route).

Sainsbury’s describe the extension as “one of the most difficult extensions we have ever known” and it’s no surprise they use such emotive terms. Yet Curness isn’t just riding out the storm. He’s energised by it, actively improving the situation both commercially by beating cost targets but also by raising staff morale under incredibly testing conditions, with colleagues saying “we are one team, one family”.

Adam Leyland, editor of The Grocer, said: “Every single finalist delivered a compelling presentation and handled the ensuing grilling from the judges with aplomb. But there is no question Dave Curness, store manager at Sainsbury’s in Redhill, thoroughly deserves this award.

“The man is a phenomenon: a bundle of energy, a mine of metrics, an entrepreneur, and a fighter, for his team, and for what he wants and needs to do the best possible job, and who sees every challenge as an opportunity to outperform expectations.”

Store manager of the year: how the winner was decided

The six store managers were nominated by their respective supermarkets from winners of the annual Grocer 33 Store of the Week competition. They each made a 10-minute presentation on why they should win, before being grilled for a further 10 minutes by a distinguished panel of judges comprising: Adam Leyland, editor of The Grocer; Paul Foley, founder and managing partner, Foley Retail Consulting; Lorraine Hendle, managing director retail and manufacturing, William Reed; Tim Mason, CEO, Eagle Eye; and Nick Read, CEO, Nisa

Finalist

Adesuwa Ogbomoide