Find a job 
Featured Companies 
Featured Universities 
For Companies At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead store operations, drive sales, and create an amazing customer experience.
- Company: Join Dobbies, a leading garden centre retailer with a rich history.
- Benefits: Enjoy generous leave, discounts, financial support, and development opportunities.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in a vibrant team while nurturing your leadership skills.
- Qualifications: Retail management experience and strong communication skills are essential.
- Other info: Be part of a passionate team dedicated to customer satisfaction and growth.
The predicted salary is between 36000 - 60000 £ per year.
Our General Managers play an essential role in delivering customer experience across our stores - driving sales, promoting customer loyalty, maintaining high operational standards and smashing commercial targets.
Responsibilities
- Take full ownership of the store management, ensuring everything is in place to hit commercial targets with responsive management of budgets and cost controls.
- Overseeing the complete business operation, maximising profitable sales and growth while creating a unique customer focussed environment.
- Taking the lead in creating a great place to work for everyone on a day-to-day basis whilst thinking ahead to ensure your team have a development journey with Dobbies.
- Sparking your team’s passion for delivering the best customer experience possible by creating a brilliant customer journey.
- Observing your team’s service levels, identifying ways they can improve and finding the best way to suit that individual in coaching them to improve.
- Working closely with our central support teams, maintaining excellent communication, stock supply and response.
- Ensuring all compliance with health & safety regulations, whilst caring for employee and customer welfare at all times.
Who We Are Looking For
- Retail management expertise with proven experience of leading multiple direct reports and their teams.
- Commercial awareness and understanding of budgets, profitability from driving retail sales and improved ways of working.
- Ability to identify training needs. You’ll be effectively coaching and training all levels ensuring teams are delivering a first-class customer experience.
- Excellent communication skills. You’ll ensure that successful initiatives and actions are shared across the business and that performance is monitored.
- Adaptability. You’ll act quickly and enthusiastically to changing priority, workload and concepts.
- Positivity managing change. You’ll lead the team through each season with care and motivation to deliver best.
- Can demonstrate our values at all times - we’re one team, getting better every day. We bring a smile. We live and breathe gardens. We make it work for our customers.
What We Offer
- Generous annual leave entitlement. Use your holidays when you want with limited statutory days off required.
- Treat yourself with generous uncapped discount across our stores with 50% off in our restaurants, 25% off in the Garden Centre and 10% off in our food halls.
- Access to Stream - support your financial wellbeing, with ability to access earnings ahead of pay day, save for the future and financial advice.
- Access to Retail Trust - seek confidential support, access to a virtual GP, free counselling service and discounted retail rewards with our employee wellbeing platform.
- Access to Dobbies Academy - continue your development with our eLearning platform and development programmes.
- Thriving culture; the Dobbies team are passionate, diverse and committed to making it work for our customers.
About Us
At Dobbies, we’re proud to have a history dating back to 1865. We were founded by James Dobbie and are the only garden centre retailer to have stores in every nation across the UK. Our passion and joy for gardens and plants is what makes us special. In our stores, we showcase this through own brand and branded products, concession partners and services. We champion garden living all-year-round. Many of our stores feature a restaurant or coffee shop, where customers can enjoy refreshments or meals in a relaxed and welcoming environment. We offer a calendar of events and experiences that bring people and communities together, and we have a national charity partner that both our colleagues and customers raise money for. We’re committed to being a great place to work. We’re one team and we encourage our colleagues to be the best version of themselves, every day; to share their wins and celebrate success. Together, we make it work for our customers.
General Manager in Milton Keynes employer: Dobbies Garden Centres
Contact Detail:
Dobbies Garden Centres Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land General Manager in Milton Keynes
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Get out there and connect with people in the industry. Attend events, join online forums, or even hit up social media platforms like LinkedIn. The more people you know, the better your chances of landing that General Manager role!
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! When you get the chance to chat with potential employers, make sure to highlight your retail management expertise and how you've driven sales in the past. Use real examples to back up your claims and demonstrate your commercial awareness.
✨Tip Number 3
Be proactive! Don’t just wait for job openings to pop up. Reach out to companies you admire, like Dobbies, and express your interest in working with them. Sometimes, creating your own opportunity is the best way to land that dream job.
✨Tip Number 4
Apply through our website! We love seeing applications come directly from candidates who are genuinely interested in joining our team. Plus, it shows you're keen on being part of our culture and values. So, don’t hesitate – hit that apply button!
We think you need these skills to ace General Manager in Milton Keynes
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Passion for Customer Experience: When writing your application, let your enthusiasm for delivering an exceptional customer experience shine through. We want to see how you can create a unique environment that keeps customers coming back for more!
Highlight Your Leadership Skills: Make sure to showcase your retail management expertise and how you've successfully led teams in the past. We’re looking for someone who can inspire and coach their team to deliver top-notch service, so share those experiences!
Be Clear About Your Commercial Awareness: Don’t forget to mention your understanding of budgets and profitability. We love candidates who can drive sales and improve ways of working, so give us examples of how you've done this before.
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you don’t miss out on any important updates from our team!
How to prepare for a job interview at Dobbies Garden Centres
✨Know Your Numbers
As a General Manager, you'll need to demonstrate your commercial awareness. Brush up on key metrics like sales figures, profit margins, and budget management. Be ready to discuss how you've driven sales in previous roles and how you plan to do the same at Dobbies.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Style
Prepare to talk about your experience leading teams. Think of specific examples where you've coached individuals to improve their performance or fostered a positive work environment. Highlight how you can spark passion in your team for delivering exceptional customer experiences.
✨Communicate Clearly
Excellent communication is crucial for this role. Practice articulating your thoughts clearly and concisely. Be prepared to discuss how you've maintained effective communication with support teams and how you ensure everyone is aligned towards common goals.
✨Embrace Adaptability
The retail environment can change rapidly, so be ready to share examples of how you've successfully managed change in the past. Discuss your approach to prioritising tasks and adapting strategies to meet shifting demands while keeping your team motivated.
