Asda Watford Supercentre: Store of the Week

In 2011 you won The Grocer Gold Award for manager of the year for your work in Slough and Wembley. What lessons have you taken from those stores to Watford? I always tried to get the best out of colleagues. In Wembley it was a very diverse area ethnically and for many staff English was not their first language, so I had to find new ways of supporting staff in that respect. In Watford I had to again work out where staff were feeling challenged. The new section leaders are fantastic but they don’t have experience. It’s my duty to give them the right amount of direction and offer support by building their confidence, because so many are so new to their role.

Asda is suffering from the ­biggest sales decline in eight years - are sales declining in your store, and if so why do you think that is? These larger supercentres are worst affected, as people move to convenience store shopping. Generally, the desire to drive across town to do a big shop is diminishing. But there’s nothing at our Watford store that makes it stand out as struggling more than other similar- sized supermarkets.

Do you think the extra £1bn Asda is investing in price cuts will help sales at your store? Yes, I think price makes a huge difference to our customers. Sticking to low prices on everyday commodities like milk is important - it’s part of our mission statement and makes us a trusted retailer. With Christmas coming up, we will have a lot of price reductions on spirits too.

How do staff in your store feel about Asda’s recent management restructure? To me it seems pretty good instore, now. We have obviously gone through much change but what’s been great is seeing the new talent that has been able to rise through the ranks because of new opportunities created.

What do you think shoppers enjoy most about visiting your store? We have really friendly staff and so much space in store. Even when it’s busy, shoppers have plenty of room. But with this much shop floor, we have to really think about layout. It has to be easy to navigate round the shop- not overwhelming, so we make sure there is plenty of signage everywhere.