Rising Star Awards: The next generation of retail leaders

Gillian Eke, Sainsbury’s Store Manager of the Year, Scotland and Ireland

It isn’t every day that a member of staff gets a personal email from the company’s chief executive, so when Eke saw that Sainsbury’s boss Justin King had been in touch, she knew she was doing something right.

King was the first to congratulate her the day after winning her regional store manager of the year award. “He’d heard about me winning the award and he emailed saying it was an amazing achievement and fantastic news for the company,” she recalls.

King wasn’t the only member of Sainsbury’s who recognised Eke’s achievement. When she returned to her store at Forest Side in Northern Ireland, the staff gave her a hero’s welcome. “They put a life-size picture of me winning the award outside the store,” she says. “My colleagues felt that they were a part of my winning. I couldn’t have done it without their support.”

Since winning the award, Eke has enjoyed extra career responsibilities. She oversaw Sainsbury’s acquisition of a family-owned store in Northern Ireland and was responsible for recruiting and training the new staff.

Part of the thrill of winning, she adds, was the awards night itself and the glamour of the occasion. “It was one of the best nights I’ve ever had,” she says. “And for my colleagues to see someone from Northern Ireland down there in London it was like I had gone to see the Queen.”

Steven Jenkins, Co-operative Group, Retail Apprentice of the Year

For someone who not long ago lacked self-belief, Co-operative Group’s Steven Jenkins has come a long way.

12 months ago, he was deputy manager of food at the grocer’s Harbour store in Portsmouth and since winning the Retail Apprentice of the Year he has taken huge strides in
his career – so much so that in the coming weeks he will take over his
own store.

“Winning the award has done a lot for me and I’ve really started to progress,” says Jenkins. “They’ve recognised that I’m doing my job properly and it’s a great feeling.”

One of the main benefits, he adds, has been the difference it has made to his self-esteem.

“I was lacking in a lot of confidence before I won the award,” he says. “It’s given me a big boost in everything I do. Now I can communicate better with people, which is very important. I feel more useful and more resourceful.”

He adds that being nominated was a total, but very welcome, surprise. To go on and win, he adds, was “overwhelming”. Jenkins says: “It was a feeling of pure amazement for me. I felt like I had achieved so much and been recognised for it.”

He is now looking forward to getting his own store once the location has been decided. A year ago he might not have dared to take on such a big challenge, but with his new-found confidence he is undaunted.

Joanna Bartlett, Blackwell, Buyer of the Year

A year ago the idea of owning a stake in the company she worked for was only a pipe dream for Bartlett, who was then head of range for Blackwell. Now the former buyer is poised to start her new role as director of buying at the bookseller’s Design arm. This a new division that will sell the company’s own-brand products wholesale to other retailers. Her dream of becoming a stakeholder has come true.

She says that winning the award was a turning point in her career. Before, taking over the buying for an entire arm of the company “wasn’t on the cards”, she says. “Things have moved on quite a bit since then. Winning the award gave me a massive confidence boost and it was great to be acknowledged and recognised by the industry.”

Bartlett adds that The Rising Star Awards are the ideal way to give retail employees that extra bit of recognition for their work. “You might be doing very well in you work, delivering great products or hitting your sales targets, but you might not be recognised for it,” she says.

Her advice to anyone who is nominated for an award is to be relaxed and simply tell the judges “how you do what you do and why you do it”. Confidence and passion, she says, will help nominees stand out. “They could see I was someone who was doing it for the love of retail rather than because it was just a job.”

Gary Brown, Signet, Store Manager of the Year, North of England

Brown scooped a regional Store Manager of the Year award after impressing the judges with how he was running the group’s H Samuel store at Meadowhall. Less than a month later he was made H Samuel regional manager for the South Midlands region, one of the largest area manager zones in the country.

Being in charge of the most profitable store in the UK division of the company was bound to make Brown stand out. While winning the award was a great honour, he is also keen to point out what it meant for the company and his colleagues.

“The award wasn’t simply for me,” he says. “When I think about the time and effort that was put into training me by my colleagues it makes me realise that the award is for them as well. The award has inspired me to pass this training on to others.” As area manager, he now has the chance to do just that.

He adds that winning the award has also brought benefits to the company. He explains: “As an area manager if you’ve got something like the award behind you it gives confidence to your team. They know who you are and they know you’ve won this for all the right reasons.”

Brown says winning the award gave him the confidence to believe in the methods he had built up as a store manager and take them to area managership. “My ambition now is to take one of my store managers back to the awards,” he says.