The scenes caused by the floods across northern England last week were reminiscent of a Hollywood disaster film. But the heroic efforts of Morrisons' staff in Bramley, Rotherham, were very much reality and the team richly deserved this week's Top Store award. With three Morrisons outlets in Rotherham, it is no surprise that CACI data shows it as the best suited format to the area. When the other two closed, however, it meant the pressure was really on. Yet the 38,000 sq ft store still managed to produce a full basket. The effort made by staff went above and beyond the call of duty, according to store manager Darren Atkinson, who to compound matters was on holiday at the time. "There are two other Morrisons but one was closed because of power failure and the other shut for four days," he said. "We were serving the whole town and our takings last week were the same as our busiest week of the year, just prior to Christmas. My deputy, Tony Sherlock, was in charge as I was on holiday last week. Tony and the staff were magnificent." Atkinson praised staff for arriving to work early and working past their usual hours to help out with the extra shoppers. "The transport guys also did a sterling job, delivering our stock via small B roads as the main routes to Rotherham were inaccessible," he added. "I was proud of my team before this award and this is the perfect cherry on the cake."



Q&A with Darren Atkinson Store manager of the week


 


How did the floods affect ­availability? After looking at the sales figures and hearing that our competitors were being forced to close, my deputy manager, Tony Sherlock, ordered a delivery of 10,000 cases rather than the usual 5,000. It was just as well because we were much busier than usual and serving the whole Rotherham area. We had our usual team of 14 men unloading double the number of cases than usual. Our night shift workers were even giving up their days to help out. I don't mean to sound sentimental but there was a real sense of the old Dunkirk spirit last week with the staff pulling together with their backs against the wall. I say 'we' but I was house-bound relaxing and catching up on my Sky+! Do you think you'll keep your new customers? Well, our main competitors have always been the other Morrisons stores nearby. There is an Asda close by but they struggle with availability and have been no threat. Hopefully all the new shoppers that visited us last week will realise the grass is greener at our store. What products are selling well at the moment? We have lowered the prices on CDs and they are shifting ever so fast now. I've got a boot full of them myself! One-off purchases such as plasma TVs and iPod transmitters are also popular. We had the store refitted last year and renamed the non-food area to At Home. It's more upmarket and smarter now. I've just increased our trolley count to compensate. Shoppers are walking around saying 'we need beans, soup, bread, an iron and oh let's get a TV too'. It's just as well these new trolleys are big! How do you instill such high staff morale? We treat each other with respect and have got bucketloads - forgive the pun - of team spirit! We were also the biggest fundraising Morrisons store in the country last year.


 


Asda Perth, Perthshire 2 It's just as well our Asda shopper is not superstitious because the Perth branch was congested with ladders as staff replaced promotional signs. The pork pies and McCain hash browns were out of stock and our shopper wasn't charged enough for the frozen garlic baguettes. But the staff were helpful when asked for assistance. We visited on 29 June at 4.48pm. Our shop lasted one hour and seven minutes. Time spent at the checkout was five minutes. morrisons Rotherham, South Yorkshire 0 This Morrisons coped well under pressure as it was the only large store in the Rotherham area to stay open throughout last week's floods. Despite double the usual number of shoppers, it offered a full basket. The cheerful staff were helpful and succeeded in keeping the shelves well-stocked and the queues to a minimum. We visited on 29 June at 8.30am. Our shop lasted 49 minutes. Time spent at the checkout was five minutes. sainsbury's Leamington Spa, Warwickshire 0 This clean and tidy Sainsbury's may have had a few packing trolleys in the aisles but it provided a full basket and was very well-stocked. Our shopper was guided to products rather than being told where they were located. Help was offered to pack bags at the checkout and the receipt was free of errors. We visited on 29 June at 3.40pm. Our shop lasted 35 minutes. Time spent at the checkout was four minutes. somerfield Cramlington, Northumberland 1 The chirpy staff were busy on the shop floor, taking care of a delivery when our shopper visited. The checkout assistant forgot to charge for the own label Diet Cola and the parsnips were out of stock. Pre-packed kiwifruit was not available. The store was quiet and only one of the five checkouts was operating. We visited on 29 June at 8.50am. Our shop lasted 49 minutes. Time spent at the checkout was two minutes. tesco Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire 0 It was a well-organised and buzzing operation at the Tesco store on Resolution Road in Ashby de la Zouch. Customers were pouring through the doors and shelf-stackers were restocking shelves. More checkout staff were summoned as the queues began to get longer. The checkout assistants were chatty and helped to pack bags. We visited on 29 June at 11.55am. Our shop lasted one hour. Time spent at the checkout was seven minutes. waitrose Balham, London 0 The only activity at the Waitrose on Balham High Road was provided by the packers and stackers in the aisles. Our shopper had to pack his bags with no help from the checkout assistant and the store did not stock the frozen baguettes or the WeightWatchers ready meal. We visited on 29 June at 6pm. Our shop lasted 25 minutes. Time spent at the checkout was four minutes.


Topics