There was glowing praise for Morrisons in Auchinlea, Glasgow, this week.

"The staff were, without a shadow of a doubt, the happiest and most helpful I have come across in all my years," said our mystery shopper. No items were out of stock, and the store was clean and well-merchandised.

Tesco Extra Loughborough had no out-of-stocks but own-label pizza and bananas were running low. When he needed assistance, our shopper was told where the items were and was also asked if he wanted to be taken there. The checkout operator was friendly and offered help to pack.

Asda Stowmarket had no out-of-stocks. Three helpful assistants tried to find Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc before a more senior member of staff told our shopper it had been delisted. Our shopper found the store confusing to navigate but staff were helpful, especially at the checkout.

Six items were out of stock in Waitrose Crewkerne, which opened six months ago. One assistant was helpful when the shopper enquired about the French Fancies, but another on bakery "was offhand", according to our shopper. No help was offered with the packing.

Own-label rump steak was out of stock in Sainsbury's Taunton, which had run out of supplies because of a promotion. Samples of Febreze drawer sachets and South African apples and pears with recipe cards were being given out.


Winner:  Jacqueline Crisp, deputy store manager, Morrisons, Auchinlea

How do you encourage good service at your branch? We do observation checks on checkout operators every week and feed back how they interacted with the customers. In our staff area, 'motivational boards' highlight if a member of staff is consistently exceeding expectations. We get their approval first so they're not embarrassed. We have had 100% of staff sign to be assessed for an NVQ certificate in retail skills.

How do you keep queues down? The intelligent queue management system monitors how many customers are coming into the store and indicates to the checkout management team that they'll need another two checkouts open in five minutes, for example, rather than waiting for a line to build up. Our approach is to have at maximum one customer being served and one waiting.

Why is Morrisons a good company to work for? It's a very exciting and innovative company with a clear vision to be a food specialist for everyone. Morrisons encourages stores to work as one team, and I find I can rely very much on my senior colleagues. Our area managers and regional specialist teams are also very approachable and supportive.

How well is the store trading currently? We're 8% ahead of last year, which exceeds the area and Scotland average. Market Street itself is outperforming, with oven bake up 17% and bakery up 12%. A lot of that has to do with us striving to maintain freshness, value and service when times are tough.

We aim to have the same freshness throughout the day. If a customer comes in at teatime they know they can get freshly cooked chicken and bread that hasn't been sitting there all day.

What would make the biggest improvement to the store? Our petrol station is the busiest in Scotland as it's located right by the central belt of the M8. We have a small shop on the forecourt, but I would love to make it much bigger, with more fresh products, coffee and a bigger selection of groceries. I think that would bring more people into the petrol station and also to the main store.

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