Why do you think you beat the competition this week? I’m really quite confident that my staff offer a great level of service. Last November we upgraded our refrigeration and refreshed the layout. During that time we also revisited our ‘helpful and friendly’ ethos and relaunched with great service. 

Was customer service a problem before? The talent was there, it just needed to be nurtured. We talked to staff about their irritants, the things that stopped them offering great service. We identified things such as the rotas not being in the right place, and spent quite a bit of money on staff facilities. There has been a massive improvement since we reopened and we scored 100% in the mystery shopper assessment for six periods on the trot. 

What did you change about the layout? It makes much more sense in terms of the flow through the store. We moved every single packet of grocery, every single box of nonfood and all the fresh food. We’ve had positive comments from customers since. 

What impact has it had on sales? The basket spend is up by just under double figures. It’s harder to assess the effect on footfall because a new Asda opened on the same day that we relaunched. 

Are you confident you are better? Most definitely. They’re only 34,000 sq ft, so it’s really difficult for them to compete with us. I visit the store every week and in terms of range and availability we beat them hands down. 

At Tesco’s full-year results Philip Clarke said the company could do better in the UK. Do you agree? Phil is 100% right that there’s more for us to go and get. The cheapest marketing tools are free and that’s our staff, so we really need to focus on enhancing that aspect. Our stores are great places to be, provided we put the right focus into them. 

What’s the most difficult part of your job? The most challenging thing is trade and trying to get an extra penny or pound from every customer. In terms of basket size, if I can get an extra £1 from every customer who visits the store, that’s an extra £40,000 per week. You have to fight hard for the customer but if your stores are great and your people are great, then you’re on the right road. 

Have you managed to take advantage of the warm April? We launched the barbecue lines at the right time and marketed them well. You really have to be careful in terms of the volume coming through, but we’ve had very little wastage.  

Topics