Winner: Tesco Extra Salisbury
Store manager: Nick Helps
Opened: 1989
Size: 115,000 sq ft
Market share: 29.4%
Nearest rivals:
Lidl - 0.1 miles
Aldi - 2.3 miles
Iceland - 2.4 miles
Waitrose - 2.5 miles
Store data source: Analysis by CACI. Call the market planning group on 020 7602 6000
The store is 30 years old this year. Are you planning to celebrate? We certainly are. We have a big party planned for all the staff in October that everyone is looking forward to. We still have a number of staff who have been here since the store opened - in fact we have some who have been with Tesco for 40 years.
Does having all that experience help in terms of customer service? It does help, but there is no real secret to good customer service. It comes down to good training and engaging with people in the right way, so that they in turn will engage with customers in the right way. As well as plenty of experienced staff, we have a great mix with lots of energetic younger staff.
Tesco is celebrating its centenary this year. What has been the highlight so far? Without doubt it was our Tesco Dance Beats fundraiser for Cancer Research UK last month. It was the best charity event we have done in all my 20 years at Tesco. We had local groups in the foyer doing street dance and older people ballroom dancing. I obviously had to get involved, which was great fun, and we raised a load of money for charity.
How has summer trading been so far? We had a tough time last year in the town, as the nerve agent poisoning meant tourist numbers fell and it hit trade - but then we had eight weeks of unbroken sunshine and sales were great. So while tourists are coming back to the town and customer numbers are up, it’s still a tough comparison against last year. I will say our distribution has been the best it has ever been, in terms of planning for hot weather-related lines and reacting to sudden temperature spikes.
You were at one of the Metro stores affected by the announcement of job cuts this week. How was that? It is never easy news to deal with, and so it was important to be there to support staff as best we can.
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