How has your day panned out so far?

It's been really hectic, actually. I got to work at 6.30am and then spent the following three hours doing some large orders of fresh produce, meat, chilled and off licence.

Once I'd finished with that I had to check off a delivery and then do a bit of tidying up. It's 1pm now and this is the first time I've had a break all day. I'm just about to have a spot of lunch at my desk.


How do you plan to spend the rest of the day?

Hopefully, I'll be able to leave at 4pm today, but in this job you never know what's going to happen. I've got quite a lot of staff on holiday at the moment and some are off sick, too, although I've not had anyone call in saying they've got swine flu yet! The team are really good at pulling together when we've got staff shortages, but nevertheless I do often end up covering shifts and working much longer than planned, which isn't ideal.


What's the best thing about your job?

I have a great team and we really have a ball together; I'm always laughing. My brother also works in the business and we have a great relationship, which makes for a fun atmosphere. It's nice for the staff, too, as it feels like one massive family. I also get real joy out of watching an idea that I have had develop and bear fruit. Even something as simple as moving a product or display to another part of the store where it is more popular is really satisfying. I also love the interaction with customers. We have quite an elderly client base and many of them love to come in for a chat and a catch-up.


How's business?

Despite all the doom and gloom that you see in the newspapers and on TV, we're finding that business is really good at the moment. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that business is flourishing. It's by no means a walk in the park, though. We are in a residential area with lots of competition and we have to make sure that we are playing at the top of our game at all times. This is certainly not a time to be complacent.


Have you got anything exciting planned for the summer?

Yes! We recently acquired the local post office and are planning on moving it into the store later in the year, which should really help to boost our trade. The idea has been well-received by the local community, particularly the more elderly people as they will be able to do everything in one place. The store is being extended to make way for the new post office counter and building work is due to start on August 10. We're hoping that it will all be finished by September 9.

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