How was trade over the bank holiday weekend? Very busy. The weather was awful, but we find that drives people into the store. If it is sunny, everyone goes off to the coast! Our fresh promos did well, like our three for £10 on meat like chicken, lamb and rashers. 

What else is selling well? At the moment Back to School is going brilliantly. We have a big uniform range as well as stationery and lunchboxes. We are also selling a lot of long-coded items suitable for lunchboxes like big boxes of Capri Sun. We do a lot of promotions around this time to help offer value to the family for lunchboxes, like multibuys. There are also a lot of people coming back from holiday and restocking the fridge. 

What other big promotions are Asda running? Our biggest headline promotion is the Asda Price Guarantee – that is our biggest marketing tool at the moment. We believe we are the cheapest supermarket and we also offer the best value. We have an £8 deal on beer, which has been supported by the latest APG advert. We are now selling big packs of beer for a single low price point, rather than a multibuy deal like two for £16. 

You have a lot of local competition. How do you stay ahead of them? I put it down to my fantastic colleagues. They are experienced, fun and helpful with the customers. I get a lot of compliments about the colleagues in the store. We focus first and foremost on service. We have huddles every morning where we discuss the positives and talk about how to fix any negatives. 

Do you think that level of service makes for loyal customers? I think it does, yes. We are the only Asda in Norwich, but there are 14 Tescos – including Tesco Express. They seem to be popping up everywhere at the moment. There are also three Sainsbury’s and two Morrisons – so if you like Asda you come over to this side of town! 

Have you made any changes in store recently? I have spent quite a lot of time making the store look tidier: retiling the roof, cleaning up the car park and decorating inside and out. I like to get the walls repainted every three months to keep the store looking clean. 

How do you personally make a difference in store? I am one for detail. I like an uncluttered foyer – ours is quite old so it isn’t very light and bright, so its important that it is tidy. And I am quite pernickety about cleaning. But I also have a lot of fun. I don’t like sitting down, I would be out on the shop floor all the time if I could be. I like to get stuck in. 

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