My Guest Blogger - Becca Boyle

Hi, I’m Becca Boyle, Store Manager at the newly-opened Homelands food store and proud member of the Women in Retail Working Group. Thanks for inviting me to be your guest blogger this week, Phil!

It’s been a busy time for Food Retail, with six new stores opening so far this year. It’s great to see new stores opening in areas where there is a real need for them – where we can really bring something to the community and recruit new, loyal members for the Society.

I feel so lucky to have been appointed as Store Manager at our brand-new Homelands Store in Bishop’s Cleeve, Gloucestershire. Homelands is a brand-new housing estate in Bishop’s Cleeve, which is now huge for a village! That’s meant there’s more than enough trade to go around for both us and the existing Bishop’s Cleeve store.

Looking around the purpose-built store, you can really see the investment that’s been made by the Society and everything has been done to a very high standard. We’ve had some really positive feedback from customers and received over 200 overwhelmingly-positive comments through Talk2Us since the store opened in April. Our customer satisfaction rating is already 86, so nicely above the benchmark of 80.

With a Costa Express machine, instore bakery and great product range, the store has become popular quickly and, although it’s a convenience store, it’s big enough for people to do their weekly shop. During one of the sunny weeks we had recently we took over £35,000 and we’re consistently doing over £30,000 a week now, which is a really good sign.

How my Midcounties journey started

Although Homelands is a new addition to the Society, I most definitely am not. I started working at our Northway store 17 years ago when I was in sixth form. I left for a while to go to university, but came back while I was figuring out what I wanted to do next. My new manager was so engaging and positive about the Society that I got the ‘Co-op bug’. So, it wasn’t my original plan but now I can’t imagine myself working anywhere else.

I worked my way up to a Team Leader at Northway before applying for an Assistant Manager role at the Montpellier store in Cheltenham and was lucky enough to get it. It really fast-paced, really busy, with lots of festivals and things going on and I really loved it. I was there for 15 months before being offered a Store Manager role at the original Bishop’s Cleeve branch, meaning I already know the community well. I then went on to manage five other stores in the Cheltenham area. When I heard that Homelands was going to open, I was really keen and spoke to my manager about it. I really wanted a new challenge and I was so excited to be offered the role heading up the store.

Building my own dream team

Pippa Williams (left), Lorraine Jacques - Team Manager (top middle), Rob George (middle bottom), Jon Pearson (top right), Oliver Wilson (middle right), Reece Haywood (bottom right)

The best thing about managing Homelands has to be having the chance to build my own team from scratch. Three of my colleagues were already Midcounties employees who moved over to the store, but the rest I recruited and trained. I loved training them and getting them enthused about our values and membership. I think that’s one of the reasons why our membership drive has been a huge success and we’re seeing around 15% membership participation so far, which is great and higher than expected in a new area.

Colleagues who’ve worked for other retailers in the past can really see the difference between us and the other big retailers, with our focus on the community and our values. We’re already planning to do fundraisers and get out and about in the community when we can and we’re all looking forward to that.

My colleagues would agree with me on this, that the great thing about Midcounties is that you feel valued and you’re treated like a person, not just a number.

Plans for the future

One day, I’d like to become a District Manager, but I’d always want to stay involved in stores. I’ve also really enjoyed being involved in the Women in Retail Working Group and I’m looking forward to speaking at the Roadshows in September and October. I hope lots of colleagues will come along and ask me questions. 10 years ago I didn’t think I’d ever be a Store Manager, but here I am!

I think encouraging more women into senior roles is about removing barriers and changing perceptions. Some people believe that you need to put in really long hours to be a Store Manager, but there’s been so much work done on de-tasking SMs and there’s now a good work-life balance. You could even look at a job share. I’m hoping that the Women in Retail Working Group and Roadshows will help to break down those barriers and misconceptions and I’m so proud to be a part of that change.

Use these links to read more about the Homelands store opening or the Women in Retail campaign. I hope you enjoyed my guest blog – feel free to leave a comment below or give it a ‘heart’.