Sainsbury's Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire: G33 store of the week

How does your store perform compared with the rest of Sainsbury’s estate? It is probably outperforming the business by 2% to 3%. We’ve seen massive improvement in clothing and general merchandise. Clothing is up 8% to 10% by value in our store in the past quarter compared with the same period last year, general merchandise up 6% and produce 8% to 9%. It’s the third time I’ve won the Grocer 33 in 23 years. I think great standards, availability and consistent customer service always drive customers into the store. Where we have taken price action over the past 18 months, we are seeing those areas come to fruition. 

What improvements have you made? The biggest thing in the past 12 months is how we’ve reduced our stockholding - by at least 75%. We’ve put a lot of focus on managing our stock to such a position to where I would say it’s probably world class compared with the competition.

Are you hopeful of getting an Argos concession in store? I am hopeful of having a refurbishment this year, but it’s not been signed off yet. If Argos is part of it and we feel it’s right for the store, then great. Argos will bring to the business the technology we are probably missing at the moment to help push our non-food operation. 

You score highly on shop floor service. How has that been achieved? We do a morning huddle with all our colleagues and we talk about service, and we give each other feedback on the shop floor if we see anything that’s good or anything we need to improve upon. It’s part of the everyday routine. Colleagues give me feedback as well.

How do you make a difference? I lead by example, showing colleagues what needs to be done and I’m very much about training on the shop floor. I spend 80% to 90% of my time on the shop floor with colleagues, supporting and giving guidance to make sure we do the right thing. We do the basics every day and every week.