Store Manager - Webbs, Cheltenham

We have a fantastic opportunity for an experienced Store Manager to join our Cheltenham store. Reporting to the Executive Chairman you will ensure that Webbs Cheltenham remains at the forefront of premium Garden Centre retailing; through excellence in standards across all categories (including food and restaurants), highest levels of customer service, a continual colleague development approach and adherence to the long-established Webbs values.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensuring excellent retail standards and delivering commercial targets: Line management of department managers for Seasonal, Leisure, Gardening, Plants & Outdoors and Pets. Ensuring sales targets are met, wage to sales budgets achieved and shrinkage is managed.
• Work with the Head of Brand & Digital and Director of Buying to ensure visual merchandise resource delivers seasonal changeovers with premium retail panache, according to plan and brand guidelines.
• Work with Head of HR & People to ensure resource is in right place at right time including seasonal peaks across all site activities.
• Work with Warehouse Manager at Wychbold store to ensure that product categories have the right mix of merchandiser resource, to ensure full product shelves, working to newly installed merchandising procedures in line with EPOS system.
• Ensure we remain a Garden Centre of Excellence and The Destination Garden Centre for the Midlands in the GCA annual audit.
• Lead weekly store standards walk for Chair, Director of Buying and Head of Brand & Digital and to regularly walk the customer journey.
• Ensure POS standards are maintained across all departments and to work proactively with the Marketing and IT teams in evolving an inhouse POS system for department level signage production.

Creating a culture of customer delight at all times:

• Management of site customer support ensuring our store is clean, welcoming on entrance, exit and through to final car park interaction.
• Management of site customer service relations channelling all customer enquiries for Cheltenham departments.
• Ensuring all interactions are handled in a timely and constructive fashion, GDPR compliant and with agreed tone of voice.
• Managing the Duty Manager rota to ensure visible management presence on shopfloor at all times, that is capable of handling customer service elevations and emergency scenarios.
• Work with Head of HR & People to roll out training across the store.
• Work collaboratively with Food@Webbs and Events teams to ensure resource and standards are in place to deliver excellence in experience.

Developing people and systems, for service improvement and efficiency gain:

• Ensure Webbs Cheltenham contributes to the continual improvement of the overall company Great Places to Work score, by developing trust culture amongst colleagues, ensuring colleague development/progression and inspiring leadership with empathy and motivation.
• Ensure Managers are developing specialist knowledge and colleague progression in their teams.
• Champion the use of new warehouse inventory management system to ensure accurate stockholding figures, recording of wastage and greater customer stock visibility in store and online.
• With the Finance Director and Director of Buying develop up to date mark-down policy, to protect margin and ensure mark-downs are presented to customers with high retail standards.
• Champion the use of workflow and reporting systems such as Teams and Business 365, for better communication and business intelligence at store and category level.

Ensuring a safe working environment for colleagues and contractors at all times:

• Use the store management teams and security personnel to ensure safe and effective opening/close-down store routines.
• Regularly test all security, fire and emergency protocols, so teams are well drilled and ensure Duty Managers are capable of showing calm leadership in an emergency event.
• Feedback to Head of Estates all store repairs and maintenance requirements in a timely fashion.
• Ensure Duty Managers are available for contractor welcome and day to day management.
• Work with Head of Estates to ensure all areas of retail site operations remain a safe place to work and that departmental health and safety responsibilities are adhered to at all times.

Minimum Requirements

• Experience of large format store management with high turnover, ideally at a high-quality positioned retailer.
• IT literate in office and working knowledge of EPOS systems. Tech savvy is a major plus.
• Strong leadership skills with the capacity to listen and respond.
• The ability to influence, listen and understand the external perspective to inspire and think broadly about new ways of doing things.
• Strong coaching skills. Must be able to give feedback to ensure common ways of working.
• A passion for spotting, driving talent and creating a successful team culture.
• Ability to resolve challenges and build trust between the full store team.
• The ability to set clear objectives that link directly to each department, which are aligned with Webbs overall business objectives and brand values.
• The power to create a culture that fosters and values collaboration.
• Broad thinking and willingness to accept opinions, beliefs or behaviours that are different from your own.
• Understands the dynamics of working for a fast-paced family-owned business that has a heritage brand, in a modern age, and strong community ties.

This is a full time and permanent position, working on average 39.5 hours per week on a 2 week rota. This involves working 4 weekdays plus every alternate weekend (you would work 4 days one week and have one weekday plus the weekend off, then you work 6 days the following week, including both weekend days).

Our Reward Package Includes:

• Competitive salary
• 25% colleague discount on most categories from plants, gardening, furniture, clothing and food.
• 50% colleague discount in our restaurants
• Holiday entitlement 33 days inclusive of bank holidays
• Pension and life cover
• Healthcare schemes (upon completion of 6 month probation)
• Free parking

If you’d like to join our fun, friendly Webbs team then please apply now or send your CV to jobs@webbs.co.uk