Darren Swain, Tesco Beckenham: G33 store of the week

You won Tesco’s award for manager of the year last year. And now this. What’s the secret? My team are all happy, we work hard and have fun. I’m really proud a mystery shopper has come in on our busiest day and seen how great my staff are.

You started as one of the youngest ever supermarket managers, what do you say to people entering retail now? I began stacking shelves aged 16 and became manager of my first store when I was 19. I’m 46 now and believe the opportunities are just the same, whether you go to university or start stacking shelves, as long as you get the right training.

You scored highly on service in our mystery shop. Has Dave Lewis’ drive on this helped? I have 400 staff and I know a very big percentage are totally focused on providing good customer service. When I started more than 30 years ago it was drilled into us that everything Tesco did was about the customer. With Dave Lewis coming in there’s been a real shift back to that.

How’s Project Reset going? Very well. We had become over- stocked in certain areas and are trying to make the shopping experience easier and less confusing. I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of complaints I’ve had from customers.

Last year you lost your 23-year-old daughter Emma, who also worked at the store, to cancer. How have staff helped you cope? I feel they’ve become my family. They have been with me all the way. On the day of my daughter’s funeral, Tesco had to draft in about 250 staff from other stores because so many wanted to come. It’s obviously the worst thing that can happen but the staff have helped me cope. This year 120 of them ran Race for Life in her memory and raised £7,000. I’ve also had many customers come up to me and say how sorry they were. I’m proud my daughter has touched so many people’s lives.