My Guest Blogger – Jamal Athuman

Tell us a bit about yourself, Jamal

Hi, my name is Jamal Athuman, I’m 20 years old and live and work in Swindon. I started at Midcounties last November as a Customer Service Assistant and now I’m a Team Leader.

It’s been great working here. Everyone I’ve met is so friendly, from Customer Service Assistants to District Managers. I’ve always enjoyed helping people and was brought up to always offer a helping hand.

I grew up in a loving and caring home where I was taught to care for other people and I think that’s something I want to do for the rest of my life. I try my best to transfer these skills into my role at Midcounties and it feels like a perfect fit!

What do you like to do outside of work?

The things that I’m interested in might seem a bit strange for a 20-year-old. For example, I really enjoy gardening. There’s nothing I love more than being in my garden looking after my plants.

It started out as a one-time thing last year when I bought a tomato plant, and I enjoyed it so much that it led to me buying all sorts of seeds this year. I even cleared some of my garden so I could plant potatoes and carrots. My little brother Rafi loves to help me in the garden and he’ll often come out and water the plants with me first thing in the morning. 

What was it like to star in the Review of the Year 2022-23 video?

When my Store Manager, Beth and our District Manager, Adam asked me to get involved, I thought why not, it could be interesting.

The day of filming was quite the experience. I walked out onto the shop floor and there was a massive camera, lights and a microphone. It was a really great experience, but I was very nervous after being told it would be played at the AGM.

Watching myself on camera wasn’t actually too bad though, I thought I didn’t do a bad job. I even had customers coming up to me in the shop asking if it was me that they saw on the video. I became a little bit of a local celebrity!

But, looking back on it, I would definitely do it again. It was an amazing experience and I hope I get to do stuff like that more often. (P.s if you want to see my part - flick to 1:01 in the video!)

What do you like best about working for Midcounties?

I love the feeling of community we have at our shop. Every customer who comes in always has a smile on their face and will always give you a friendly hello. It’s nice chatting to customers and hearing about their day.

I also love my colleagues. We always have a great laugh, and all get along.

Working for Midcounties is fantastic. The amount of support I get from all my colleagues, our District Manager and even other colleagues at different stores is amazing. No matter the problem, there’s always someone to help.