The meeting this month took us to Waitrose in Harpenden where the branch manager, Chris Prest, was to give us a talk.
Chris welcomed us on our arrival with a short talk on the programme for the evening.
We were divided into two groups, one group lead by Chris and the other group lead by deputy manager, Mark Porter.
We had a tour of the shop floor with inform
ation on each section we arrived at.
The challenges (and there were many) that had to be met each day were outlined.
These included the seasons, weather, the size of the shop and many other problems that arise.
There is a comprehensive training programme that is ongoing for all the staff, so learning never stops.
All the staff focus on customer service. At the food service counters this is particularly important.
Chris stressed that for example at the fish counter, all fish was line and not net caught and was always fresh.
We moved on to behind the scenes with the loading bay first stop.
Next came the dining/ board room, were there was a large table groaning with a large buffet for us to sample some of the wares that were for sale in the shop, plus a glass or two of wine.
Chris told us the different retail firms he had worked for until finally he arrived at Waitrose in Harpenden four years ago as head of the branch.
He has Mark, his deputy, in charge of merchandise and Yvonne Wigmore in charge of checkouts, food counters and the office.
All the staff members are partners and enjoy the results of that. We learnt a great deal from this visit and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Beryl Wright gave the vote of thanks for a memorable evening. We made our way back to our transport, the local care bus that we had hired for the evening, with thanks to Dave King, who was our driver.
We stopped at The Chequers at Redbourn to complete the evening and conduct the rest of our business.
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