Retail Sales & Operations Manager in Crook

We are looking for an exceptional Retail Sales and Operations Manager who will be responsible for the leadership of our team in Crook, County Durham. The successful candidate will be a self-starter with a can-do attitude and have a proactive, positive outlook. They will have an exceptional passion for delivering customer service and will be able to demonstrate this passion for delivering WFF’s unique ‘good fashioned service’ ethic. They will want to make a real difference to our customers' lives.

Wiltshire Farm Foods, part of the apetito group, is the UK’s largest ready-meal supplier, cooking and delivering over 330 different delicious frozen ready meals across the UK primarily to the elderly, their family members and healthcare professionals. We’re dedicated to making a real difference to our customers’ lives, by bringing sunshine to their doors through our commitment to provide good old-fashioned service. Our intense pride drives us to continuously innovate and improve, ensuring our products and service exceed our customers’ needs. This is all whilst being an ethical and sustainable organisation that believes in doing the right thing.

The Retail Sales and Operations Manager will take ownership of their territory and view it as their ‘own business’. They will strive to produce outstanding results through embracing national support provided whilst owning and enhancing local relationships with customers and within the local community in which they operate.

The successful candidate will have 4 clear responsibilities that they will be expected to deliver exceptional results against. These are depicted within the Wiltshire Farm Foods triangle of success:

• Happy Teams - Good Old-Fashioned Service
  • Empowering and enabling them to do whatever it takes to delight the customer and deliver brilliant, good old-fashioned service.
  • Developing and supporting the team to talk about our food passionately and knowledgeably.
  • Creating an environment where your team respects and supports each other, providing them with an opportunity to always strive to do their best—for our customers—and for their colleagues.
  • Creating a culture that prioritises the health and safety of your team members, above all else.
• Costs of Local Distribution (COLD)
  • Delivering the agreed target for the Cost of Local Distribution within the local depot.
  • Relentlessly focusing on labour, vehicle, depot and local marketing costs as principal levers.
  • Reviewing performance of each month with the Regional Manager.
  • Ensuring all necessary actions agreed are executed to keep the depot on target.
• Growing Sales
  • Implement all national campaign activities for new and existing customers.
  • Ensure all CRM activities are executed.
  • Implement local growth initiatives to deliver targets agreed (sheltered housing, CSA training etc.).
• Community Engagement
  • Ensure that you and your team are engaged and immersed within the local community, providing a means for further local sales growth.
  • Appropriate community organisations.
  • Local hospitals.
  • Healthcare professionals—individuals and groups.

Essential Experience, Skills, and Abilities

• Establishes exceptional relationships with customers.
• Demonstrable experience of delivering sales and profitability targets, a natural affinity for setting high standards with a relentless focus on providing the best service.
• Experience of leading a team of people, creating a culture of engagement, and developing a team to achieve their true potential with a willingness to be ‘hands-on’ in supporting the day-to-day operation.
• Ability to interpret data to determine the key levers to ensure success.

We encourage you to apply even if you’re not confident you meet all the essential criteria.

Desirable Experience, Skills, and Abilities

• Retail, care, hospitality, or own business experience.
• Experience of implementing and compliance with Health & Safety processes.
• Experience of managing employee consultation and implementing change initiatives.

Qualifications

• GCSE or equivalent Maths and English.
• You must have held a UK manual driving licence for at least 2 years. All offers of employment are subject to a Driving Assessment, Driving Licence checks and basic DBS checks.

Benefits

• Competitive salary – accredited Living Wage employer.
• 33 days holiday per year, including bank holidays (which are considered a normal working day).
• Option to purchase up to 5 additional days holiday per year.
• Discretionary annual bonus scheme.
• Pension scheme – employer matched contributions up to 4%.
• Life assurance scheme worth at least 1× annual salary.
• Free turkey or voucher at Christmas.
• apetito perks scheme including salary sacrifice options and retail discounts.

As a family-owned business, we take great pride in being a company that makes a real difference and is dedicated to creating outstanding meals to be proud of. We develop a range of products designed to enhance health and well-being for all our customers. We are driven by a passion for service and dedicated to feeding some of the UK’s most vulnerable people. We proudly support British food and farming, focusing on using the best ethical and sustainable produce in alignment with our goal to reach Net Zero by 2040. Our ethical standards are recognised by the ETI and we are an accredited Living Wage employer. We embrace inclusion, empowering individuals from diverse backgrounds. Our commitment to making a real difference extends to customers, communities, and staff and we’re on a mission to build an inclusive workplace where everyone reaches their full potential.