Sea to store - Our Tesco

---

br e w

t ed

Our magazine, exclusively for colleagues Winter 2015/16

by you...

The real thing Our expert Christmas tree supplier reveals his secret to growing the perfect festive forest

Sea to store

Never forget

Counter colleagues set sail on a fishy adventure

Justin’s emotional walk in daughter’s memory

Sheffield West Street Metro Customer Assistant Georgina Simpson was a lifesaver when she rushed to the aid of a customer who had collapsed while in store.

Peterborough Extra Green-fingered volunteers got their heads down to design and create a remembrance memorial garden close to the store.

North Wembley Express Rema Boumerdassi (pictured left) won two coveted titles at the Sales Assistant of the Year Awards 2015.

Hello

Eston Extra Colleague Frank Harker cycled past eight stores in the north-east on a journey dubbed the Tour de Tesco to raise cash for our charity partnership.

Belfast Distribution Centre Driver Michael Booth ran the Great North Run with friends and family in memory of his sister, Lesley, who passed away suddenly last year. The runners raised money for Crohn’s & Colitis UK.

Walkden Extra & Farnworth Extra A team of colleagues from two local stores spent a day in the sun giving Walkden Community Cricket Club a much-needed lick of paint.

Pembury Superstore The store in Kent celebrates 15 years since it opened – meaning lots of celebrations for loyal colleagues who have been there from the start.

Chorley Buckshaw Superstore Colleagues and customers clubbed together to buy Customer Assistant Chris Halpin a new bike after his was stolen.

Honiton Superstore Colleagues from across Devon made Team Tesco Tweed to support the annual Jolly Good Jaunt. The charity walk is organised by Hospiscare to raise money for hospices in the area.

Wow… we really can’t believe it’s already the third edition of t. Hasn’t the year gone quickly? As we’re all aware, 2015 has been a tough year for the company. That being said, everyone should take credit and be proud of how resilient you’ve been throughout the turbulence. Being part of the panel allows us to hear about so many stories of the fantastic successes from up and down the country. Bringing t to life simply wouldn’t have been possible without these and it makes putting the magazine together much easier. A huge thank you to everyone. This year also saw the first UK Colleague Conference – a day that brought us together as one team and really delivered the message that, whatever area of the business you’re in, we are ultimately

working towards the same goal: serving Britain’s shoppers a little better every day. This edition of t rivals Santa’s workshop with how jam-packed it is. Allow yourself to get excited about Christmas, New Year and beyond with stacks of great festive (and not-so-festive) stories to read. You’ve given us some great feedback about t so far and we’re really looking forward to bringing you even more exciting news and features in 2016. As ever, feel free to contact any of the panel if you’d like to suggest a story idea. Contact details for us all can be found on OurTesco. Whatever you’re doing for the rest of the year (and the beginning of the next one), we send our best wishes to you all. See you in 2016!

Your panel

Give Tell us what you think Share your stories on Yammer, by post at the address below or email to [email protected]

&Take Find out more about our panel Log on to OurTesco to read short biographies on our panellists and get in touch with them on Yammer

Tesco Editor-in-chief: Simon Rew; Contributor: Deborah Hatch Summersault Editor: Chris Evans; Content Director: Justine Ragany; Sub Editor: Kate Feasey; Art Director: Wayne Hayton; Designer: Natasha Lipinski Cox; Production Manager: Julia Fulford; Advertising: Adam Turner. Photography Tom Campbell, Ewen Weatherspoon, Harry Chambers, Roy Kilcullen, Kevin Nicholson, Jonathan Pow. Get in touch with us by post Colleague Communications, Cirrus B, Shire Park, Welwyn Garden City, AL7 1GA

Share your pictures by using #TimeForT 3

Contents REGULARS 6 Range reset is go Our product refresh is taking our stores by storm

My life in…

travelling

9 Dawn of the undead Colleague signs up as an extra in zombie movie

Chris Howells A passion for new experiences has already seen adventurous Chris work in five countries around the world. Now he has added number six to the list, as he swapped life at Wootton Bridge Express on the Isle of Wight to become Lead Trade Manager at Lerwick Superstore – the most northern tip of Scotland.

16 FEATURES

From south to north “I’d been in the Isle of Wight for seven and a half years and it was time for a change. I saw the role at Lerwick Superstore in the Shetland Islands and got it – opportunities like that don’t come up too often. I’ve lived in the Tropics, so know what the heat is like, so the Shetlands will provide the opposite. Not many colleagues can have transferred from one end of Britain to the other.”

10 The 12 ways of Christmas How we’re making the festivities go with a bang 22 Delivery date UK & ROI CEO Matt hits the road for our customers 26 Gone fishing Fishmongers get to grips with Gold Training 34 Here’s to the new year Take our quiz to help decide your resolution

ISLE OF WIGHT

LIVING IN THE BUSH

This is the life

“I moved to Tanzania in 1985 and joined a bunch of hunters to live in the bush for about a year. I learned how to survive out there and started taking pictures of animals when I went on safari. I’ve always been an outdoors person and sleep better in a tent than I do in a house.”

“I worked in an anti-terrorism camp while I was living in Pakistan. We were helping the locals to eradicate terrorists”

38 This is for you, Sophie Store Manager Justin walks in daughter’s memory 41 Showing our support How we’ve joined forces to help the nation’s military

Our magazine is printed on FSCapproved paper Please recycle after use

SHETLA N ISLAND D S

Fighting the war on terror “I worked in an anti-terrorism training camp while I was living in Pakistan. We were helping the locals to eradicate terrorists by teaching them how to protect themselves. I was working for the Americans – Condoleezza Rice (former US Secretary of State) was my boss!”

FAMILY TRADITION “Moving around is something that’s always been part of my family. My grandad worked on the East African railway, so we always had Swahili artefacts around the house. I love experiencing new countries and my wife, Sam, is the same – she was born in Holland and brought up in the Far East, so anywhere with family is home to us.”

“I might be 50 but this won’t be my last move. I’ve always lived my life by the motto, ‘never look back’ – that way you can only move forward and do something different. After the Shetlands, I’d like to go somewhere else: if Tesco said they wanted me to go to a store in Asia, I’d go. I’d work in the Outer Hebrides if they wanted me to.”

Boost your career If you’re planning your next move, search ‘internal opportunities’ on OurTesco – colleagues can see positions 14 days before they’re advertised externally. Applications are now open for our 2016 Early Careers programmes too. Apply for our school leaver, summer internship and graduate opportunities at tesco-earlycareers.com

5

Value… guaranteed

Simplifying our range

We’re making sure our customers never pay more for their branded shop and can be reassured they are getting great value, thanks to our Brand Guarantee. By offering an immediate price match on branded grocery products, we are helping customers on their weekly shop while removing the hassle and inconvenience of having to carry around all those vouchers.

Customers have told us that they want an easier shopping trip. So we’ve set about simplifying what’s on our shelves to help them find more of what they want to buy at prices they can trust. Colleagues across the business have been working hard over recent weeks to reduce the range and improve the availability of the products that our customers love most. The changes include removing a product or pack

Product reset to make shopping trips easier for our customers size, based on the feedback from customers. The range reset is helping us to get the balance right between providing choice and convenience, and improving availability of the most popular products, while keeping to our commitment to deliver the widest choice and best value in the market. Here’s what colleagues – and a customer – have to say about the reset project so far.

What’s hot? Look to the stars Love it or loathe it, you can’t fail to notice that Star Wars is back. It’s one of this year’s most eagerly anticipated movies and our range of galactic products is sure to be a hit.

How will you spend your retirement? The new Tesco Retirement Savings Plan is here, so it’s a good time to think about how you’re saving for yours

A UK FIRST Our Brand Guarantee makes us the first UK supermarket to automatically take money off customers’ current bill, based on a price match with all other leading retailers. We made the change after listening to feedback from colleagues and customers about making shopping trips easier. It is the latest step in our plan to bring us back to our slogan of Every Little Helps. Customers can take advantage of Brand Guarantee both in store and online to help people get more from their shops. For all the latest on Brand Guarantee, visit OurTesco.

Check out the things causing a stir with us (and what’s not so in style)

Enough to last

“A team of six of us have been working through the night to make the changes. We’ve seen a dramatic change, with several products and brands moving or being replaced. It’s been pretty seamless and the new layout has highlighted any new brands and reduced-to-clear lines. “The change has been smooth and the instructions from the central teams have been easy to follow. “Availability has improved for customers and prices are better. I’ve also noticed that some of the healthyeating products have given the range a new lease of life. After hearing all the updates about where Tesco is going, this brings it to life.”

Many of us are living longer with better health, so it’s important to make sure you have enough money to enjoy every year of your retirement.

Start saving The earlier you begin, the more you’ll have, but it’s never too late to make a start and take advantage of the extra bit of money we pay and the tax relief you receive. At Tesco, when you save between 4% and 7.5% of your pay, we match it (so you’ll get double your money) – that’s £20 for every £8 you save, including tax relief.

STEPHEN CARTY, CUSTOMER ASSISTANT, COVENTRY CROSS POINT EXTRA

“The range has changed but I can still buy everything I need from Tesco. Even if I have to try an alternative to something I used to buy, I can get all the products on my shopping list.”

Your choice New laws mean people over 55 in a defined contribution pension

“Some customers have contacted us about products and we’ve suggested alternatives. We haven’t received much contact, which suggests customers are responding well.”

SALLY PALMER, CUSTOMER

The latest innovation from our tech gurus

NAME Kitchen Concierge. JAMES LAMONT, CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT CENTRE

WHAT IS IT? Our winning entry at the Retail Week

scheme – like our new Tesco Retirement Savings Plan – have got more flexible options for when and how they access retirement savings. This means that you can now choose to take your retirement savings all as cash or a bit at a time (called drawdown). Or if you’d prefer a guaranteed regular income for life, you can use some or all of your savings to buy a pension annuity instead.

Want more info? Contact Pension Wise for some free and impartial advice at pensionwise.gov.uk or if you’d like to see how much you might have for your retirement, try out our Tesco retirement planner at TheColleagueRoom.com

Healthy food… for less

We’re making it more affordable to eat healthily. Our healthy living range is growing and now includes a host of tasty treats, such as our butternut squash spaghetti.

What’s not? A stressful Christmas Avoid the festive frenzy. We’re doing lots to ease the pressure, including selling party foods that cook at the same temperature.

Broken resolutions Have trouble sticking to your New Year goals? If it’s keeping to a diet or taking up a new hobby, make 2016 the year you finally achieve it. Maybe.

Hackathon, the Kitchen Concierge is a great way to come up with recipe ideas and shop for ingredients while rustling up a meal.

Once the customer selects a recipe, a display shows the cooking method and allows them to add items to next week’s shopping basket.

HOW DOES IT WORK? Speaking into a device, the customer is shown a list of recipe ideas based on their most recent Tesco order.

WHAT’S NEXT? After winning the award, Tesco Labs will adapt the idea so it fits in with a trial for other connected home devices.

7

HOW TO…

… survive a zombie apocalypse

Q& A Pooja Jois, Manager, Space, Range and Display – Property Services With the Hindustan Service Centre (HSC) in India relaunching as Tesco Bengaluru, Pooja explains what it means

Things are changing in India. What’s happening?

We’ve changed our name from HSC but will continue to develop solutions across the business to make colleagues’ jobs easier and to serve customers better. What is the local significance of the name change?

By changing, we’re recognising the skills and knowledge here, and the role colleagues play to serve customers. The change has reinforced bonds between colleagues in Bengaluru and across the business. Bengaluru is also the local name for Bangalore, which instils pride. What sort of impact have the changes had on colleagues?

With the changes in the business and our new structures, we see us adding more value to the work we’ve been doing. It’s a new chapter in our journey and we’ll continue to serve our customers a little better each day. What’s the aim for the future?

Our focus is to increase our contribution and keep the customers at the heart of everything we do. Our plans include improving the colleague experience across a number of sectors, including finance, people, channel, technology, product and enabling services.

Launching new careers With the help of the Prince’s Trust, we’re giving youngsters work opportunities across the nation “I graduated in 2012 but couldn’t find a permanent job anywhere – I just wanted to work,” explains Customer Assistant Charles Foster, as he looks back at his struggle to get employment. “I did a few temporary jobs but found that it was hard for new graduates to get the chance to prove themselves.” It wasn’t what Charles (pictured above) had envisaged after leaving Salford University. Instead of cutting his teeth in a permanent position, Charles found himself bouncing between temporary jobs and unemployment. His big break finally came in the shape of our Launch programme. Working with the Prince’s Trust as part of its Movement for Work scheme, we have been giving 18- to 24-year-olds who aren’t in work, education or training (NEETs) for more than six months the chance to get valuable on-the-job experience and vocational employability

training. Wherever we can, our ambition is to find them permanent jobs, with 80% of the 750 Launch recruits we’ve put through the programme achieving that. “It has changed my life,” says Charles, who is now on a management development plan at Stretford Extra after a successful placement. “I couldn’t pay my bills and was facing up to moving back with my parents. Launch helped me to build a career.” This November is the second anniversary of our partnership with the Prince’s Trust to help reduce youth unemployment and we’re already working closely to select the next wave of starters, who will get opportunities across the UK. It’s more than a year since Charles went through the programme and he says the benefits stretch a long way. He adds: “I can’t think of a better idea to help young unemployed people to prove themselves and get into employment.”

When horror-movie lover Bobby Wallett took a day out of Lichfield DC to be an extra in zombie flick The Infected, he picked up some useful survival advice NEVER GO ANYWHERE ALONE “We filmed one of the scenes at a retail park on the outskirts of Tamworth. I was part of a pack of zombies and had to pretend to kill someone – it was a bit strange. It’s never a good idea to be on your own when there are zombies about.” ALWAYS PLAN AHEAD “I’m really into zombie movies and loved The Walking Dead, Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later, so it was a dream come true to be

Bobby (far right, in black) joins the crowd for another, er, high-speed chase

involved in something myself. All those films show that, if you’re going to survive, it’s important to have a plan and stay close to food.” SILENCE IS GOLDEN “It might seem like a good idea to jump in a car to make a quick getaway, but that just attracts attention. When I was staggering around, we were always in big hordes. If one zombie spots you, there are more coming.”

GET OUT OF TOWN “Don’t go near towns or cities if there’s an outbreak – there are more zombies there. One young lad had the right idea when he cycled up to us while we were filming. He saw us dressed as zombies and went back the way he came from… very quickly.”

Our superhumans Meet our crew of extraordinary charity challengers, who are doing their bit to boost the fundraising totals of worthy causes

SNAPPED! The weird and wonderful places colleagues take their copy of t Digital Marketing Manager Ashwin Naiksatam’s dad enjoys the first edition in India.

When in Rome, make time for t. It’s not exactly how the adage goes, but it didn’t stop David York when he visited the Italian capital. While the Reading Whitley Street Express Team Leader enjoyed the Roman ruins of the Colosseum, he also took the time to grab a snap of himself holding up the first edition.

If you’ve been out and about with our magazine in tow, share a picture on Yammer with #snapped

Nathan Tracey Dotcom Manager, Fratton Park Extra

A host of Lionel Messi wannabes took to the field for charity in a colleague football tournament on the south coast. Organised by Nathan and colleagues, the competition saw 28 teams from Groups 46 and 47 go for glory. More than £700 was raised for British Heart Foundation and Wellbeing of Women, with Burgess Hill Superstore taking the trophy.

200

footballers taking part

Sean Burke Service and Insight Operations, Welwyn Garden City

1,344

metres climbed Anyone who has climbed Ben Nevis during the day knows how tough it is, so it was no surprise that Sean Burke found it even harder at night. He tightened up his hiking boots to conquer the UK’s highest mountain as part of the Ben Nevis Midnight Challenge. Thankfully, Sean isn’t scared of the dark and collected £6,107 for the Alzheimer’s Society.

Jill Connell Customer Service Manager, Dundee Jill Connell’s generosity saw no bounds as she rallied her colleagues to help raise donations for a local church that was ransacked by criminals. TVs were stolen and items were left damaged at Coldside Parish Church in Dundee following a break-in, and Jill managed to raise £360 – and lots of groceries for the cafe – to help the recovery.

£360

raised for charity 9

Festive celebrations

The 12 ways of Christmas The h festivities f are here h again and d we’ve got all sorts lined up to make sure this year’s celebrations go off with a bang

1

THERE’S SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

Want more? Watch a video of our Christmas shoot at OurTesco. com/xmasshoot

Christmas is a time for getting together with friends and family, so it’s important to make sure everyone is happy while maintaining festive traditions. From a variety of food options – for the day itself and all the parties around it – to a raft of decorations and the presents, we’ve got it all covered. For the first time, we’ve divided up our Christmas food into sections based on occasions to make it easier for customers to find what they want. There’s Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and something for New Year too, which can be mixed and matched for all tastes. We’re also offering an extensive frozen food range for customers short on time and loads of Free From products so everyone is catered for and, as you’ll read on page 13, the quality is just as high. Add to that our distinct Christmas themes for this year’s decorations, some great F&F outfits and brilliant stocking fillers, and everyone’s got something to shout about.

11

Festive celebrations

Prosecco & Elderberry Crisps “The crisps are different to what you’d normally get. They fizz while you eat them, which I’ve never known anything like before.” CHERISE RUMORE, TRING SUPERSTORE

Free From Profiteroles

Celebrating in our own way

2

“They were great and I didn’t know they were Free From before I tried them. I wouldn’t have believed it because you can’t tell they’re any different to the standard ones.”

“My family does Christmas the Slovakian way, even though we’ve been in Northern Ireland for 10 years now. We eat carp and lentil soup, and open presents on Christmas Eve, which is our main celebration. While most people put their decorations up at the start of December, we wait until the week before Christmas Day and leave them up until 6 January.”

KIRSTY MCDADE, DUNSTABLE EXTRA

Hot or Not Croquette Roulette “Things like the croquette roulette are really fun and are good entertainment for a Christmas party with people of all ages.” JAMIE RALPH, AYLESBURY EXTRA

“The two-tier Christmas cake is really good and one of the best I’ve had”

KAROL GYORE, BELFAST DC

“We hold Christmas Day at our house and I’m always the organiser. I decorate everything and get the food ready. My husband is the only one who eats turkey, so I normally cook roast beef or gammon. I like to have everything sorted, so we sit down and decide what we’re going to order two months before the big day.” TRACEY EDWARDS, PERTH EDINBURGH ROAD SUPERSTORE

WAYNE COLLIER, BERKHAMSTED METRO

3

… and for dinner

FOOD TO WOW ANY GUEST

From traditional classics to new ideas that can’t be found anywhere else, our Christmas spread is sure to leave people salivating. For the first time, we’re catering for almost every guest that is coming round for dinner with an in-depth range of frozen and Free From products – with our gluten-free products really standing out. To ease the stress of hosting a get-together, our finest* party food all cooks at the same temperature, meaning more time to enjoy the party. We set a group of hungry colleagues loose to taste test a selection of the products in this year’s range.

(l-r) Connor Green from Dunstable Extra, Cherise Rumore from Tring Superstore, Jamie Ralph from Aylesbury Extra, Wayne Collier and Shameem Owen from Berkhamsted Metro, and Kirsty McDade from Dunstable Extra

“I tried out some of the frozen and Free From Christmas dinner options. The Turkey in Ten had all the flavour of a joint cooked in the oven and the Frozen Roast Potatoes are the best I’ve eaten. The Free From Yorkshire Puddings tasted as good as any others I’ve had. Everything was cooked in 40 minutes, so it was really convenient.” JOE MAYATT, STORE MANAGER, HASTINGS HAVELOCK ROAD EXPRESS

13

Festive celebrations

4

WE’RE HELPING STORES DURING THE RUSH

As the aisles get more crowded in the run-up to the big day, we’re sending in reinforcements to help store colleagues at their busiest time of year. Following the success of Feet on the Floor during last year’s festivities, we’re doing it again. Each of our office colleagues has already started their rota of regular shifts in stores – offering valuable support to serve our customers. The help doesn’t stop there though. We’re using the next few months to trial a new online tool that, if successful, could give colleagues across the business a chance to suggest and discuss possible improvements to the way we work. “It allows colleagues to put ideas forward and comment on others to develop them,” explains Capacity Manager Kirk Bowen, who used the site after his first shift. “You can see if others have had similar ideas and get the chance to discuss them together.” And if any of those conversations produce a new idea that we can introduce, Feet on the Floor will keep giving all year round… not just at Christmas.

5

Every little helps this Christmas

6

Our tips to survive the sales season

We’ve put our customers at the heart of this year’s TV advertising campaign – thanks to the help of celebrity friends, Ruth Jones, Ben Miller and Will Close. The trio are forming a new Tesco family, who will appear in a series of TV ads that re-establish our famous Every Little Helps slogan. The adverts focus on the different ways we are helping customers throughout the festive period, with the first two looking at our finest* and Free From ranges. The family will become a regular fixture on our screens over the next few months and made their first appearance on a Brand Guarantee ad in October. Turn to page 47 for a behind-thescenes look at filming for the ads.

• It’s always busy during sales season. Stay calm by seeing your colleagues – and customers – as being in the same boat as you. A smile or kind gesture goes even further in hectic times. • If you hit the sales yourself, pick a calming colour and imagine you’re breathing it in to help you relax. As the image spreads through your body, focus on how it is helping you to chill out. • There might be even more customers than usual, but don’t forget that going that little bit further can still make a big difference. 15

Festive celebrations

7

Keeping it real

The pot-grown trees and our Nordmann fir cut trees were a hit last year, but Kjeld is working on a host of new varieties. “If we want to make a tree narrower or heavier, we simply take in seeds from Siberia and try a new species,” Kjeld adds. “We’re working on 10 different varieties, including the Pot-Grown Blue Spruce. It’s hard and prickly, but people love the colour.”

Our Scandinavian supplier reveals his secret to growing the perfect Christmas tree… move to Scotland “There must be something in the air up here,” smiles Christmas tree grower Kjeld Kristensen, as he weaves his 4x4 along a dirt track flanked by fir trees. “Once the harvest is over each year, I vow never to put myself through it again because it’s so intense. But this is my 16th time now, so I keep coming back for more.” Speaking without even the slightest Highland twinge to his Scandinavian lilt, Danish-born Kjeld is making his way through Drynie Woodlands, the home he and his family have made for themselves just north of Inverness. A home enveloped by Europe’s biggest Christmas tree farm. Around 600,000 of the 7.5 million trees that surround Kjeld’s vehicle are cut carefully by hand in a painstaking annual harvest that spans five weeks of chopping from 5am each day until well into the night. PERFECT FOR PREENING

Despite being in the Scottish Highlands, surprisingly there are no heavy winters or frosts to contend with. Thanks to the warm Gulf Stream coming into the Moray Firth estuary, a mild breeze keeps the farm unseasonably warm all year round, while the mercury plunges across the rest of Scotland. The real mystery is in the art of growing Christmas trees Kjeld’s way. Born into a proud farming family in Jutland in southern Denmark, the traditional farmer likes to keep his methods and ideas a closely guarded secret. As Kjeld pulls up in a low-lying field, this year’s intake of trees is already being graded and measured. “The secret to growing a great tree is all up here,” Kjeld says coyly, tapping the side of his head. “But handling every

A DANISH CHRISTMAS

Kjeld’s group of farmhands enjoy the unseasonable warmth

tree is very important to me. We trim and shape them by hand, and if the quality is not good enough, we leave it in the ground. We try to grow the trees as evenly as possible and most look exactly the same.” A young farmer in Scandinavia during the 1980s, Kjeld decided to up sticks and start his own tree farm – and family – in Inverness. Since then, the farm has swelled from 40 to 1,000 hectares, while his family has grown to include four children. But the expansion has been meticulously planned. “We plant roughly six trees for every five we cut,” says Kjeld. “This is not forestry. Our trees are grown for purpose in exactly the same way as the cut-flower industry.” What’s more, the farm’s pot-grown variety of trees can be transferred to the garden after Christmas, so they don’t leave any waste either.

After nursing his saplings for between 8 and 10 years until they’re fully grown, ready to be cut and sold, Kjeld has no desire to see any of his beloved trees go to waste. To show the trees off in all their glory, Kjeld has designed custom-made display pallets to keep them standing tall and looking lush throughout the festive period. After spending most of the year tending to trees that will be the focal point of people’s Christmases, how does the Danish expat decorate his home to toast the festivities? “We go for a Nordmann fir, only twice as big as the ones we sell. We don’t put much on it – no tinsel, real candles and not too much bling. I want to see the tree,” he adds. “When the children were small we had a pot-grown tree for each of them – one in every room, with useful gifts such as socks and pencils for every day running up to Christmas.” The useful, advent calendar-like presents are a Danish innovation and as he descends through the last green field Kjeld reveals another Scandinavian ritual: “It’s tradition in Scandinavia to gather around the tree in the evening for drinks and to sing songs together, so we do that too.” It must be Christmas spirit that’s in the air. O Our range of Christmas trees are available to buy with Clubcard Boost for the first time this year.

17

Festive celebrations

9

How we’re offering a helping hand

Whether it’s helping those a little less fortunate than you or making your own money go a bit further this Christmas, we’re on hand to assist. Keep to a budget If our great-value Christmas products aren’t enough, get some tips to save money or reduce your food waste throughout the celebrations at realfood.tesco.com and lovefoodhatewaste.com Neighbourhood Food Collection Our twice-yearly event is happening again from 3 to 5 December. Volunteer to take part in your local collection or add a few products to your shopping list to help us hit our five-million-meal target.

8

Thank you vouchers We’re giving colleagues exclusive discounts and offers to get the festive season off to a good start. Keep an eye out for yours in November.

WE’RE HAVING FUN FOR CHRISTMAS

We all know it’s busy at this time of year, but that isn’t a reason not to get into the festive spirit. There’s all sorts going on across the business this Christmas, including this year’s festive fundraiser, Every Little Elf. It’s a great chance to get involved with your community and add to the £5 million we’ve already raised for our National Charity Partnership with Diabetes UK and British Heart Foundation. There are loads of things happening locally too, with colleagues coming up with their own ideas to raise some cash (and a smile). One store doing just that is Egham Superstore in Surrey, after they shot a calendar with male colleagues dressed in a selection of seasonal outfits. Lead Trade Manager Laura McCormick says: “Lots of colleagues have committed to buying a calendar and our local British Heart Foundation shop has agreed to sell it too. It’s the talk of the store.”

10

F&F is warming customers’ hearts (and heads)

For the second successive year, we’re selling a variety of special Christmas hats to raise some cash for charity. On sale in 600 stores all over the UK, the 12-piece festive range includes headgear for men, women and children, and is gathering funds for The Trussell Trust and FareShare through sales. Last year’s range sold like hotcakes and, with prices starting at £5, the hats are great value too, so get yours quickly. MALTESERS® and MERRYTEASER® are registered trademarks. ©Mars 2015.

19

Festive celebrations

Picking “We have a device on our wrists that directs us to the location of products our customers have ordered. It’s an efficient way of working, which helps when it’s busy at Christmas. Our role is to be obsessed with quality and accuracy, therefore, delivering the perfect order.”

“We’ve got a Customer Journey team in Fenny Lock who work closely with our CECs. It means we can follow up on calls even more effectively – giving customers great service”

MARK MACPHERSON KAREN HUTCHISON, BUSINESS PARTNER, CEC

Unloading Packing

“All products delivered to the Fulfilment Centre are quality and quantity checked to ensure defects are not passed on. We scan each product and place them in a red tote, which then travels along a conveyor ready for one of our colleagues to put away in a specific location in our pick tower.”

“All our customer orders are packaged to protect them during transit. Our new system tells us which size package the order should go in. If we identify any defects in the order, we have an alert mechanism that triggers a colleague to investigate.”

LUBUBI MAMBOLEO PAULA SIERZCHULA

11

DELIVERING CUSTOMERS’ PRESENTS

While most children are looking to the sky on Christmas Eve to spot Santa’s sleigh, their parents will have already collected their gift deliveries. Fenny Lock Fulfilment Centre in Milton Keynes is the hub of our customers’ non-food online orders all year round, but it comes into its own at Christmas. A major redevelopment project ended in October, so colleagues at the state-of-the-art site are more than ready for this year’s shopping lists. Fenny Lock has been handling orders from customers all over the UK since it opened in 2013, but recent changes mean we can now handle more orders at peak times compared to last year – with colleagues manning several thousand product locations in the centre. As the big day approaches, here’s how Fenny Lock colleagues are sprinkling their festive magic to make sure our customers have their presents all wrapped up.

Dispatch “We’re at the end of the conveyor belt to pack the orders ready for the lorry. All of the orders are scanned to help us track the journey end to end. Throughout the day, we must focus on making sure customer orders are dispatched on time through one of our lorries or carriers.” RACHEL STEPHENSON

12

Gifts that are out of this world

Get ready for customers to go mad for Star Wars this Christmas as the crew goes on another adventure. With the new movie set to get sci-fi fans excited, we’ve got a wide range of Star Wars toys available in store and online, from an extensive Lego range to lightsabers, figures and BB-8, a cool app-enabled droid that reacts to your interactions. Colleague Communications Panellist Mark Kanaris, Store Manager at Sheffield West Street Metro, got his hands on some of the toys to try out before they hit the shelves. He says: “We’ve already been inundated with requests for Star Wars toys in store. The Jedi Master Lightsaber and Millennium Falcon are particular must-haves, with children, and parents reliving their youth.” 21

Delivery day

Life on the road

Our customer delivery assistants must do a series of vehicle checks before hitting the road

UK & ROI CEO Matt Davies slips on his high-vis jacket to go out on a delivery run

Ant and Matt (far left and far right) make one young customer’s day with her delivery

The heavy patio door slides across to reveal two smiling Dotcom drivers. Loaded up with trays full of products, the duo look up from the home delivery to greet their customer with a warm hello. “Hi, I’m Matt,” offers the taller of the two with an outstretched arm. “Nice to meet you,” returns the customer as she shakes Matt’s hand. It might all seem like a pretty normal greeting for a customer receiving their online order, but there’s a difference. Matt isn’t your usual Dotcom colleague. He’s our UK & ROI CEO and today he’s sampling life on the road as part of a visit to Chesterfield Extra. He’s being shown the ropes by Customer Delivery Assistant Ant Turner, who is also a member of our Colleague Communications Panel, as they tour Derbyshire on a delivery run. One person who isn’t fazed by the pleasantries is two-year-old Ella, who rummages through the basket to find her treasure: a pack of chocolate buttons. This is just one of several drop-offs the double act completes on their trip and, as Matt leans down to speak to Ella, it’s clear he’s revelling in the chance to join Ant visiting our customers at home. Once they’ve parked up after their final call, Matt and Ant discuss what they have gained from the experience.

“Matt got to hear some of the feedback we receive from customers along the way” ANT TURNER, CUSTOMER DELIVERY ASSISTANT

How was your day working together? Matt “It was great and reinforces how important our home shopping experiences are. We’re going into customers’ houses, building relationships and delivering to them every week. That relationship is just as much of a powerful influence on whether people shop with us or not as our prices or availability.” Ant “As we travelled between jobs, Matt and I spoke about how important the relationship between drivers and customers is and, although he knew it already, it was good to be the one to show him what we do each day. It was a really great chance to talk to Matt face-to-face.”

Matt, why were you so keen to spend time doing deliveries as part of your visit to Chesterfield Extra? Matt “This is the second time I’ve been out with a Dotcom colleague and I’ve also spent a lot of time picking for Grocery Home Shopping in store. I’d love everybody in the business to experience that so they can see the full impact it has on our customers. I can never spend enough time talking to customers and colleagues across the country.” Ant “Matt was really up for getting involved too. He was keen to push the barrow and understand everything that had to be done for each delivery.” What do you both get out of sharing experiences like this? Ant “We spoke about the business and what it’s like for drivers. Matt got to hear some of the feedback we receive from customers along the way. We do have ways to pass this on, but having Matt here meant he could hear it first-hand.” Matt “Someone said to me the other day: ‘what I see I don’t remember, what I’m told I forget but what I experience I understand’. To me, doing this is all about experiencing the drivers’ point of view and helps me to understand the challenges we face.”

23

Double up

Delivering to customers’ homes is an important part of our multi-channel ambition

for you, friends & family

Did you encounter any challenges on the day? Matt “We had to get across Chesterfield to make sure that we delivered on time but had to maintain a strong link with each customer at every delivery point. You’ve got to experience that for yourself to see how it’s achieved.”

£16.50

What stood out about the reaction you got from our customers? Matt “Today’s interactions showed how pivotal Dotcom is to our customers’ shopping experience. We gave a free bouquet of flowers from the store to an elderly lady who’d just celebrated her 90th birthday and saw a two-year-old girl who was excited to get her chocolate buttons. They were wonderful moments to see and it’s our challenge to make more of those happen for customers every day.” Ant “We promised to return with another pack of buttons for the little girl, which is all part of building a stronger relationship. We deliver right across the age and social spectrum, and you don’t know who’s going to open the door – you need to adapt to each delivery.” Did you enjoy meeting each other? Ant “Matt is just an everyday guy and instantly put me at ease. He’s got a calming effect on people and that’s good – I could have been quite nervous driving the CEO around, but I didn’t feel it at all.” Matt “Ant’s a great guy, who is totally in touch with what our customers are thinking and feeling. When you spend time with Ant and other colleagues like him, it just shows how all of us are playing our part to serve Britain’s shoppers a little better every day.”

Give Tell us your tips for improvement Join the conversation on Yammer and see how colleagues are serving customers

a month

“The driver-customer relationship is a powerful influence on whether people shop with us”

at no extra cost st

MATT DAVIES, UK & ROI CEO

&Take Read Matt’s weekly musings Matt writes a Thought for the Week to colleagues each Monday – keep up to date by visiting OurTesco

500MB 1GB data

500 1000 minutes

5000 texts

No upfront cost 24 month contract

You can share all our colleague offers with up to 4 of your friends and family.

For more deals and information visit a Tesco Mobile Phone Shop or call 0345 900 1015 Exclusive colleague deals only available from Tesco Phone Shops and Telesales to eligible colleagues. Subject to availability and status. Continued employment with Tesco required, visit www.ourtesco.com/our-benefits for other eligibility requirements. Based on a 24 month contract. Included minutes/texts are to calls/texts to 01, 02, 03 and UK mobile numbers only. First monthly payment taken at point of sale. Visit tescomobile.com for other call charges and T&Cs. For our credit offering, the Financial Conduct Authority is our supervising authority. Colours may vary. Contracts limited to 5/colleague.

Counter training

Going for gold With our fishmonger training bringing gold standards to our counters, t gets up at the crack of dawn to find out what it takes to pass 27

Counter training

I

t’s 5.47am and the coastal town of Newlyn is in a deep slumber. Apart from the faint splash of puddles underfoot and the irregular rhythm of waves against the breakwater, the harbour is serene. At least that’s how it seems to the uninitiated. But first impressions can be deceiving. Just feet away from the Cornish B&Bs that glow sleepily over the quay like a reassuring night light, a secret society is already wide awake. If visitors to one of Britain’s southern-most points know where to look, a peek around a large steel door reveals a room full of men in long coats and knee-high wellies. Something fishy is going on. Literally. “Newlyn fish market is one of very few shout auctions left in the country and we try to keep it as traditional as possible,” explains fish buyer Edwin Hosking to four bleary-eyed Tesco colleagues. “We come here looking for the best quality. A big indicator is how much the eye is shining and that the fish hasn’t got any defects from when it was caught.” Edwin works for Falfish, one of our biggest UK fish suppliers and an approved trainer for the Fishmonger Gold qualification we offer to our counter colleagues. While entrance to Newlyn fish market is normally limited to registered buyers who have funds in a secured bond, the doors have been flung open to show our customer assistants how the fish they serve goes from sea to store. BACK TO SCHOOL The first stop on a course that captures all the knowledge and skills a professional fishmonger needs to give top-class service to customers, Newlyn’s market is the perfect scene setter for what’s to come. Rows of red trays displaying the finest catches are surrounded by scores of buyers bidding for fish that will be sold in stores or chalked on to the specials board of Cornish restaurants. As each auction ends, a blue tally is dropped into the tray to confirm the sale. Truro Superstore’s Jodie Sheldon is impressed. “It’s good to see where it all begins,” she says. “We get the fish delivered to our stores and we don’t know how it gets there. Seeing it for myself helps me to understand the industry and I can pass that on to my customers.” As the sun rises from behind St Michael’s Mount on

The speedy scallopers get shucking (above); Phil gets stuck in (below)

Tour guide for the day Jessika (second from left) shows off the sardine boat

the horizon, the harbour’s collection of fishing boats is slowly illuminated outside the market. Just as there is a wide variety of fish on sale inside, the cluster of boats bobbing in the harbour is equally diverse, from large beam trawlers and gill netters to hook-and-line boats. “The fishermen go to sea day and night, and bring back their catches to be graded during the small hours of the morning, before the market starts at 6am,” says Falfish Account Manager Jessika Inkster, as she leads our group towards a fishing catamaran that spent the night on the sea catching sardines. Called Lyonesse, the boat’s deck is covered with draping nets and large bins to give the sense of what it’s like to be aboard a fully operating fishing boat.

Golden courses shining brightly The Fishmonger Gold Training isn’t the only qualification store colleagues can do to improve the service they offer. The Meat Gold is a similar knowledgebased course that provides everything needed to deliver top customer service.

Similar to the fishmonger course, Meat Gold is created by the Food Ops team and takes learners on a journey from field to plate. Your store manager and people manager can provide details if these courses – or others – are available.

“When I joined my store, I didn’t want to work in food. Now I’m really passionate about fish” JEN GOLDSWORTHY, CUSTOMER ASSISTANT, REDRUTH EXTRA

After a tour and a chance to quiz the Lyonesse’s skipper, it’s back to nearby Redruth for the practical and theory stages of the training. GETTING HANDS-ON Housed at Falfish HQ, the newly built training facility is the jewel in the supplier’s crown. Developed especially for Tesco colleagues to do the Gold Training, the centre has state-of-the-art counters, a cookery demonstration area and filleting sinks for up to 12 people. Falfish’s centre is one of four course locations, with others in Pontypool, Grimsby and Billingsgate, London. The four learners on today’s course have already completed the three-day qualification and were selected for the short refresher course to show off what they’ve taken from being Gold standard. And for Jen Goldsworthy, from

Redruth Extra, it has awoken a new passion. “When I joined my store, I didn’t want to work in food. Now I’m really passionate about fish,” recalls Jen, who was one of the first of more than 800 colleagues to have done the training since 2012. “It gives you the confidence to talk to customers. When customers realise you’ve got the knowledge, you want to keep learning. Since I’ve taken the course, more people use the counter.” BRINGING FISH TO THE COUNTER A trip to the depths of Falfish’s factory highlights what is done to take the fish bought at the market in Newlyn and prepare it for sale in our stores. The loud clatter of the supersonic scalloping is first. A haze hangs over the speedy shucking, as lines of workers remove the scallops from their shells and it’s easy to imagine that it’s steam from their workstations. Next up is the white fish room, where an array of seafood of all shapes and sizes is being filleted before being packaged for delivery. Observing the filleters slicing their way through the fish, experienced fishmonger Phil Man reminisces about his time in the industry. Based at Redruth Tolgus Superstore, Phil is in his second spell as a counters customer assistant at Tesco and also used to run an independent fishmongers of his own. “I’ve been working with fish for 45 years, but I still took knowledge from the training,” Phil says, while picking up a blade as part of the knife-skills class. “Seeing the journey helps you feel part of the fishing community. It makes a difference and gives you a greater understanding of our role.” It’s at this point that the quartet’s expertise comes to the fore. Getting stuck into the practical disciplines – filleting fish and laying out a mock counter – our learners’ customer service experience shines through. It’s time to get messy.

29

JOIN OUR FESTIVE FAVOURITES AND HELP RAISE FUNDS FOR AGE UK THIS CHRISTMAS

Kitted out in white coats and blue gloves, the colleagues chatter away between themselves about how the counter will look. Using our standard counter appearance as a basis to the layout, the four share suggestions, such as grouping species and using ice to make the fish stand out more. Falfish’s experts are on hand to offer tips and to finesse their work. Then it’s time to eat the fish. As a final meal is rustled up to showcase the variety of tasty dishes that can be made from our counters, chat turns to the love of fish. “I was born into a Filleting the Falfish way (above); fishing family and have polishing up on their cookery skills (right) been involved in the community ever since I was young,” says St Austell Daniels Lane Superstore colleague Jo Goode. “Finding people who are passionate is really important to encourage customers to buy from our counters. We need to capture that passion and training courses like this help with that.” By spreading the message and passion throughout the country, Cornwall’s clandestine fish markets might not stay such a secret.

(l-r) Phil, Jodie, Jo and Jen show their expertise to lay out the mock counter

“Seeing the journey helps you feel part of the fishing community and Tesco” PHIL MAN, CUSTOMER ASSISTANT, REDRUTH TOLGUS SUPERSTORE

TEXT GIVE TO 86777 TO DONATE £1 TO AGE UK AND PREMIER FOODS WILL MATCH YOUR GIFT WITH ANOTHER £1*

Give Share the tricks of the trade Search out relevant Yammer groups to discuss your career and your tips for success

&Take Want to develop your career? There’s loads of colleague career and training opportunities. Speak to your people manager for more

*Premier Foods has already made a contribution of £50,000 + VAT and will further match your £1 gifts up to an additional maximum of £50,000. You will be charged £1 (the “Gift Value”) plus one message at your standard network rate. Age UK will receive 100% of the Gift Value. Campaign closes on 24 December 2015 at 11:59pm. You will not be able to give a text gift after this time, but you may still incur your standard network message charge if you try. You must be aged 16 or over to send a text gift. You must obtain permission from the bill payer before sending a text gift. By making a text gift, you agree that Age UK may text and call you in the future from time to time. If you’d rather we didn’t, text DECLINE to 85010. For Full terms and conditions visit www.ageuk.org/premier. Age UK, Registered charity number 1128267.

Simpler service

Making service simpler

If you see it, simplify it There’s lots more we can simplify and we want to hear how you think we can make it easier to give our customers better service. Yammer is the place to share your challenges and top tips to keep it simple. If you don’t know how to use Yammer, find out at OurTesco.com/yammer-faqs

New plans to benefit us and our customers Colleagues want Tesco to be simpler and we all know that making it easier to serve customers is critical to our success. We’ve made a start by introducing a simpler purpose that unites us all – serving Britain’s shoppers a little better every day –

and by stripping back our measures to focus on what really matters most through The Big 6. That’s the big picture, but with lots of simpler changes happening across our business, it’s the perfect time for colleagues to get involved and make a difference.

Making it easier for your money to go further We’re introducing a couple of new initiatives to give colleagues extra SIMPLER PRIVILEGECARD You can now order a second Privilegecard, so another member of your family in your household can get discounts at Tesco too – making it easier to shop with us. The Privilegecard discount cap has also increased from £800 to £1,000 a year. To get your second card, visit TheColleagueRoom.com

A simpler shopping trip Making it easier to serve customers is a no-brainer – by freeing up time, everyone can focus on delivering a brilliant shopping trip

SIMPLER SAVINGS

With low everyday prices everything’s rosé 3661-35-71-2

We’re saving time (and paper) with our Brand Guarantee. The scheme offers simple, immediate value rather than vouchers – leaving behind the scraps of till roll that would get lost, discarded or, perhaps most frustratingly, wouldn’t scan. For our customers, no vouchers mean no waiting or wondering if they could have got a better deal elsewhere. And for colleagues, it’s one less thing to worry about at the checkouts, so we can focus on great service.

Better everyday prices on selected wines

MAKING OUR WINE PRICES SIMPLER

WELCOME TO THE COLLEAGUE ROOM

One of the biggest things we hear from customers is that they want simple, stable, low prices. And over the past year we’ve responded by improving availability, making our prices more stable with fewer changes and introducing simpler promotions. Our wine range is a powerful example. We know customers don’t trust that half-price wine promotions offer real value. So instead of running half-price promotions, we’re offering the same simple, low prices on wines – all the time. That’s better for colleagues as it means fewer labels to change and a clearer range with better availability.

TheColleagueRoom.com is our brand-new self-service website for colleagues. You can currently use it to manage your Tesco Retirement Savings Plan and order a second Privilegecard. Over the coming months, more benefits will be available on the site, so you can make even more choices in one place. To register, you’ll need your employee number and your 12-character One Time Passcode (OTP) from your payslip.

“The only way of making any money is by simplifying the business and making sure we have products on shelves” Customer Service Assistant

You must be over 18 to purchase alcohol.

33

New Year quiz

Healthy living Be more active

What’s your resolution? It’s that time again when we start to think about our ambitions for the new year. If you need help deciding yours, take our handy quiz for some pointers

Take a break

Do more for others

Tring Superstore colleague Cherise Rumore ponders her new year goals

What is your biggest regret for 2015? A. I feel guilty about not using my gym membership more B. I feel guilty about having yet another takeaway and finishing that last pack of chocolate chip cookies C. I feel guilty that I haven’t got enough time to tick everything off on my to-do list D. I feel guilty that I haven’t visited my grandparents Which celeb do you admire most? A. Jessica Ennis-Hill – I get tired just watching her! B. Nigel Slater – delicious, healthy food… that looks nothing like what I’m eating C. Gwyneth Paltrow – actress, mum, blogger, author, but how does she always look so serene? D. Bob Geldof – his commitment to helping others is humbling What’s most likely to be gathering dust on your shelf? A. Medicine ball and Dyna-Band B. A vegetable spiraliser and my Hemsley + Hemsley cookbook C. Spa voucher and that novel I’ve been wanting to read for ages D. A brochure of charity fundraisers that I’d love to take part in at some point

You’d love people to say to you… A. ‘You’re always so active. What’s your training plan?’ B. ‘You eat so well. Tell me how I can make sure I get my five a day’ C. ‘You’re so calm. I feel chilled out just talking to you’ D. ‘You’re so kind. It’s great spending time with you’ Which of these luxuries would make the biggest difference to you? A. A personal trainer to keep me on track… and away from another night in front of the TV B. A personal chef to take the effort out of eating a well-balanced diet C. A personal assistant to tackle all the little things I need to get done each week D. A bottomless bank account to give me the time and money to support all the people and causes that mean most to me Which Star Wars character do you identify with most? A. Yoda – he needs to look after himself to stay on top of his game B. Jabba the Hutt – chomping on unhealthy things is Jabba’s flaw C. C-3PO – you’ve always got something on your mind D. Darth Vader – it might not be intergalactic domination, but your ambitions come first

If you had a remote control for your life, what would you do? A. Rewind to when you could run around the school playground for hours without getting tired B. I’d delete the cream cake I just scoffed C. Either rewind to being a child with no responsibilities or fast forward to retirement D. Pause to make more time for other people Which of the following achievements would make you proudest? A. To run the London Marathon B. To win the Masterchef crown with my top cooking skills C. To live a completely stress-free life with no worries D. To have helped build a school in a third-world country

Turn over to discover your resolution 35

And our survey says… Tot up your scores and plan your aims for 2016

MOSTLY A – LET’S GET FIT

MOSTLY B – HEALTHIER EATING

You’d love to be fitter and now’s your chance. Why not set yourself some achievable fitness goals to keep you motivated? Perhaps you could sign up to a charity challenge and plan a training regime for it. If that’s not your bag, don’t forget that all colleagues get discounted gym memberships at health clubs across the country. Visit OurTesco to find out more.

Keeping to a healthy, balanced diet would be a great resolution for you. It’s easy to start making a difference: try to make sure you’re eating plenty of fruit and veg, and drinking lots of water. To help, January sees the launch of our new healthy living ready meal range – Beautifully Balanced – with all products including at least one of your five a day.

MOSTLY C – TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF

MOSTLY D – HELP OUT YOUR COMMUNITY

It sounds like some me time is in order. Keep some time every day for yourself, even if it’s just 10 minutes. Asking others to help with tasks might give you time to do that, while practising mindfulness could be the perfect antidote. Treat yourself to some Treaclemoon Coconut Bath and Shower Gel, and pretend you’re on a tropical island.

Perhaps doing things for others would make you feel good. This could be anything from raising money for charity to helping children read at the local school. There’s always lots of charitable activities happening at Tesco. Find out what’s going on in your area on our National Charity Partnership website at tescocharitypartnership.org.uk

Give Tell us about your resolution Share your score on Yammer and give us updates on your goal by using #NYResolutions

With even

more choice ® * of Andrex in store how clean will you feel?

&Take Let us give you a helping hand Keep an eye on OurTesco and our other websites as we help you make a little difference to your life

*Majority of stores, subject to availability. ®Registered Trademark of Kimberly-Clark Worldwide Inc. ©KCWW

Justin’s charity challenge

“It’s bloody hard – nothing prepares you for that”

Want to donate? You can add to Justin’s fundraising total by donating to his Just Giving page at justgiving.com/ Justins100kmwalk

Inspired by his daughter’s cancer fight, Justin Kline embarks on a charity walk to keep her memory alive It was the worst moment of Justin Kline’s life. Sat in a doctor’s consultation room, Store Manager Justin and wife Janice are told the heart-wrenching news no parent should ever face. Their seven-year-old daughter Sophie has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour and only has months left to live. Within a few weeks, Justin’s lively little princess had gone from a carefree schoolgirl with her entire life ahead of her to a victim of the deadly childhood disease, Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). DEVASTATING NEWS “Sophie was a healthy, bubbly seven-year-old girl,” recalls Justin, as he looks back at the time his family was delivered the news. “We noticed a squint in her eye and took her to the opticians. She was having an MRI scan within two weeks. When we were told she had a tumour, my world felt like it was falling apart around me. “You’re told that news, then have to go out and tell her everything will be alright, even though it’s not. It’s bloody hard – nothing prepares you for that.” Long days spent desperately trawling the internet and contacting experts in search of a cure were in vain, and Justin had to brace himself for the terrifying inevitability. Ten months after the initial diagnosis, Justin, Janice and their 13-year-old son James said an emotional goodbye to Sophie at their family home in Dorset. But not before making some priceless memories, with trips to Disney and Lapland at the end of last year. “We had one last Christmas together as a whole family. It was so hard putting on a brave face for that amount of time,” Justin recalls.

Sophie (second from left) enjoys happy times on a family holiday to Sydney

“For the first few months we tried to go on as normal. In January, Sophie started to show the symptoms. First she couldn’t walk, then she lost the use of her hands and eventually she couldn’t talk either. It was difficult to see her getting worse day by day. She was diagnosed in July last year and passed away this April. It went so quickly.” A WALK IN HER MEMORY To commemorate Sophie’s brave fight, Justin set himself a gruelling challenge. A 100-kilometre walk over two days, visiting 33 of our stores along the way. Justin isn’t alone in his task. As the 33-year-old walks each leg of his journey, from his local Poulner Express in Ringwood, he is joined by colleagues for extra motivation. The lifelong Bournemouth fan also drops in at the Premier League club’s Dean Court stadium to meet manager Eddie Howe, who is a patron for Julia’s House – the hospice that supported Sophie in her final days. And to mark his efforts, golden chevrons are added to the fascia at Justin’s Weymouth Metro. As Justin crosses the finish line at Poole Extra – the store located closest to Julia’s House – Janice and James greet him with a warm embrace. Their family may have gone through an unimaginable ordeal over

Justin gets a vote of confidence from Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe (right) Colleagues gather at Poole Extra to congratulate Justin for walking 100 kilometres in two days

the past 18 months, but they’re still as strong as ever. “Janice is a rock, but we couldn’t have done it without the support of the trained nurses from Julia’s House,” explains Justin, with his wife by his side. “Sophie didn’t go to the hospice because the nurses cared for her at home. Getting that moral and mental support is important, as well as the chance to have a cuppa while they played with her. “When it’s an illness like Sophie had, it’s more about care than cure, so I wanted to give something back to them for what they did for us. The hospice is heavily reliant on fundraising, so whatever we give makes a real difference.” As Justin goes home for a well-earned rest, his total

continues to rise towards £125,000, thanks to overwhelming support from colleagues and customers. With his story spreading on Yammer and other social media channels, Justin is receiving messages from across the UK. He adds: “I knew I could get sponsorship from the stores locally as I’ve worked with lots of the store managers, but to have support from elsewhere is truly amazing. It’s great to be part of the Tesco family and I’m so grateful to everyone who has helped – I couldn’t have done it without the support. “I just want to make a difference and do something to make sure Sophie’s memory lives on. Whatever I do for charity, it’s nothing compared to what she went through.”

39

Armed forces

e d i s y b Side

rporate o c s e rc fo d e rm a signing the show to ry a it il One year on from m e th h it in tandem w g in rk o w e ’r e w t, ountry c r u covenan o g in rv e s le p o support for the pe 41

Armed forces

Grub’s up at our armed forces breakfast in Aldershot earlier this year

There’s a military uniform at every turn in Catterick Garrison Superstore

Get involved

F

ull Corporal Dean Nolan knows he made the right decision at the right time. After 26 years dedicated to Queen and country, the father of two made the life-changing choice to call a halt to his military career and embark on a new challenge. From travelling the globe serving in the army to handling the emotional responsibility of repatriating friends lost at war, Dean’s career had many highs and lows. And his instincts told him it was time to stop. However, like many ex-servicemen, Dean didn’t find it easy. His next mission was to find the perfect role to make the move from the forces to Civvy Street. That’s when he discovered our career transition programme. “When I looked at my options for a second career, Tesco was somewhere I could use the leadership skills I’d developed during my time in the army,” explains Grocery Manager Dean, as he shows t around his latest post, Catterick Garrison Superstore. “After a long time in the army, you become so used to the basic tasks you have to do. It came to the point that I knew I could either move into an office management job or leave. So I left. “I’ve been in Catterick since 1997 and my family has made it home, so Tesco was a great opportunity to stay here. It provided a new challenge because I had to learn everything from scratch and was given a mentor to help bridge the gap between the military and retail.”

A BRAND-NEW START Helping Britain’s servicemen find careers after the military is one promise we made when Chief Customer Officer Robin Terrell signed the Ministry of Defence’s corporate covenant on Tesco’s behalf last November. We pledged to support military families, help reservists to volunteer in the forces and raise money for military charities. In November we also launched

Join our Armed Forces Network by visiting OurTesco.com/our-armedforces-network

DEAN NOLAN, GROCERY MANAGER, CATTERICK

“I know that not everyone coming out of the military is fortunate enough to get a second career straight away, although a lot has changed over the past five years, thanks to companies like Tesco.”

“Having job security if my husband does get posted elsewhere again is a big thing for us” CHARLIE AITKEN, CUSTOMER ASSISTANT AND MILITARY WIFE, CATTERICK

our Armed Forces Network to bring together former and current members of the military and their families – giving colleagues the chance to meet like-minded people across the country. The network will also organise several activities, ranging from social events to ones supporting colleagues with armed forces links. Now successfully immersed in life at our Catterick store – which sits at the heart of Europe’s largest military base – Dean is a huge advocate of the partnership. Although he hasn’t turned his back on his military background just yet. “I see this store like a company within my regiment,” Dean jokes. “The store manager heads it all up, team managers are like commanders, supervisors are corporals and so on. Seriously, any organisation that takes on ex-military people is getting a good deal. They’ll get a grounded, organised and driven person.

“Tesco was somewhere I could use the leadership skills I’d developed in the army”

Dean showed his bottle to walk away from life in the armed forces and into a second career

Charlie knew she’d still have a job with Tesco – despite moving hundreds of miles away to be with her husband

FORCES ON THE FLOOR Catterick Garrison Superstore is one of the stores that benefits most from our commitment to the forces. A walk around the aisles highlights how important the store is to the military community in the north-east town, with men and women in combats browsing the shelves at every turn. So it’s no surprise that a large collection of the colleagues have strong military links. “Tesco has made a massive difference to my family,” says Customer Assistant Charlie Aitken, one of several military wives working in Catterick. “I used to work at a store in Windsor, but when my husband got posted here, I transferred too. “We’ve got three children, so having job security if he does get posted elsewhere again is a big thing. It takes the worry away for what might happen because you don’t always get a long notice time.” That’s not all. With some families moving away from their home towns to be posted at garrisons across the country, we also remain flexible with rotas and giving time off to make sure they can look after their children and enjoy priceless time together when tours end. It’s an approach that’s brought Tesco to the forefront of military communities. A united feeling added to in Catterick when the store took the lead in fundraising for The Royal British Legion’s annual Poppy Appeal and became one of 14 nationwide to fit a poppy on the ‘O’ of its sign to show support for the cause. “The forces are the heart of our community, so we need to do a lot to support their needs,” says Store Manager Jason King. “We’re in regular contact and always hold events to show how important they are to us. We had military bands at the front of store during the Poppy Appeal and held a Help For Heroes breakfast earlier in the year to say thank you.”

43

Robin Terrell (above right) backs the corporate covenant and signed it on our behalf; Sarah and husband Joe are a prime example of a family on both sides (right)

And the partnership is going from strength to strength. Recent Catterick forces recruit Joe Cocker only moved to the north-east from Cyprus this summer and says in the short time he’s been here, Tesco has made a huge difference to him and wife Sarah, who joined the store as a customer assistant. “Tesco seems to understand what it’s like to be in a military family,” adds the Unit Welfare Officer. “After being deployed in a country like Cyprus, where many wives can’t work, it’s great to see Tesco helping military families get jobs in the community. “There are a lot of jobs advertised for military personnel too and many ex-service people come here after leaving. Tesco is known throughout the area for their forces support and I can definitely see myself moving here in the future.” With a reputation like that, we hope even more people will be making the right decision to join us in the future.

“Singing for the Queen was beyond my wildest dreams”

When Customer Assistant Angela Fife got involved with the Military Wives Choir, she was delighted to find that we were singing from the same hymn sheet. In-between shifts in Catterick, Angela is part of the famous musical group and counts a Christmas number one, an Albert Hall appearance in front of the Queen and a world record among her career highlights. “I’m proud to be one of three founding members in the choir,” beams Angela from her normal post on the checkout. “It’s such a laugh and we’ve done some amazing things. I’d always wanted to go to the Albert Hall, so to sing there in front of the Queen was beyond my wildest dreams. “It was hard work for two

days, but it was absolutely brilliant.” As a recognisable face in the military community, Angela is a local celebrity and is regularly asked about the choir. Despite some of the great experiences she’s had as part of the choir, she came close to not being part of it at all. “I wasn’t going to join in at first, but I got dragged into it by the other wives – I haven’t looked back since,” Angela says. “I never miss a rehearsal or concert. I love raising money for charity and getting together with the wives. “For the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, we did 34 concerts and Tesco supported me – I wouldn’t get that in any other job.”

“I wasn’t going to be involved and got dragged into it by the other wives”

find me in the cake aisle

TV ad campaign

Lights, camera, ACTION As the film rolled on our new TV advertising campaign, four of the Colleague Communications Panel went on-set to record their own behind-the-scenes video Michelle and Ciaran

Jade

'ZENWUKXGEQNNGCIWGDGPGêVUHTQO Tesco Bank

Ant

MICHELLE “Our job was to record a video of what was going on while the adverts were being filmed. The filming happened over two days, so me and Ciaran did the first day, and Jade and Ant did the second one.” JADE “We interviewed people who were working behind the scenes. There were colleagues from Newmarket, the film crew and the cast there – it was a great atmosphere and everybody was excited.” CIARAN “I was nervous at first, but that soon passed. One thing that stood out was how much goes into a short advert. It’s intense – everything has to be perfect.” MICHELLE “The chemistry between me and Ciaran was fantastic. We bounced off each other while filming the video and mixed with the other people in the ad. The Christmas adverts were filmed on our day, so we ended up having a sing-song in the snow.” CIARAN “It was my idea to do some singing for a bit of fun – even though neither of us can sing. Who’d have thought it would make the final video?”

ANT “My favourite bit was speaking to the scriptwriter. When he initially wrote the script, he didn’t know which actors he was writing for and had to adapt the lines to fit each of their characters.” JADE “It was a weird feeling to be on a film set. Most of the extras were colleagues, so it was the first time most of us had ever seen anything like that before. It’s good that colleagues got to play a part in the ads.” MICHELLE “I got to interview Ruth Jones, Ben Miller and Will Close – although it took some setting up to get right. I’d been sitting next to Ruth earlier in the day, but didn’t realise it was her until afterwards. Typical me!” ANT “I spoke to the actor who was playing the checkout assistant in the ad. As she becomes a more recognisable face, it’ll be exciting to say I got to interview her while the first ad was filmed.” CIARAN “It was great to see one of the ads on TV for the first time. I didn’t know when they were going out, so it was a surprise to see it appear on screen.”

Whether you want to collect GZVTC%NWDECTFRQKPVU on your everyday spending, you’re looking for insurance to help protect your loved ones, or you want a little extra travel money when going on holiday, 6GUEQ$CPMECPJGNR. With a range of exclusive colleague deals, why not see what we can do foryou?

8KUKV1WT6GUEQEQOVQêPFQWVOQTG

The devil was in the detail as the film crew prepared for the cameras

Colleagues joined the cast as extras for the TV adverts

Want to watch the video? Check out the video our panellists made on set at OurTesco.com/adbts – and don’t forget to keep your eye out on TV for our ads

Fake snow was used to give the Christmas ads a wintery feel

47

Win with us

WIN!

WIN!

A year’s gym membership

Try out a selection of our relaunched hair and skincare range, courtesy of a sumptuous t giveaway. World Beauty was released in October to offer a range that caters for all women. It includes lines from top cosmetic brands PAKS, Vatika and – exclusively to Tesco – Tamese & Jackson. Most of the products in the range are usually only available from specialist retailers, so by offering them on our shelves, we’re making it easier for customers to get what they want. There are 10 goody bags of products to give away to t readers. If you’d like to be entered into our prize draw to win one, simply send your name and contact details to us at [email protected]

It’s time to get active at a Nuffield Health centre Get your year off to the perfect start with a 12-month subscription to a Nuffield Health Fitness and Wellbeing Centre for free – by winning t’s top prize. Each of Nuffield Health’s 77 gyms across the UK are fully equipped with cutting-edge fitness equipment and also offer access to on-site swimming pools and spa facilities (for after your workout, of course). And with a team of experts ready to help you plan your fitness regime, do you need any more motivation? The winner of the competition will receive all the usual benefits of a year-long membership with Nuffield Health, including a free 60-minute Health MOT, an exercise programme designed just for you and access to a wide range of classes. Even if you’re not selected as the winner this time, Nuffield Health has still got plenty to offer. Colleagues, friends and family can claim an exclusive 20% discount on health assessments and gym memberships, as well as a seven-day free trial for colleagues and their partners (if they live at the same address). Visit nuffieldhealth.com/gyms for more information and to check out all the services that Nuffield Health gyms offer. In the meantime, enter the competition by answering the following question. Hint: the answer can be found within this edition of t.

WIN!

Enter by sending your answer to us at nuffieldcomp@ summersault.co.uk

Which city is our Christmas tree supplier based near? Terms and conditions: No cash alternative available. Membership must be activated before 1 February 2016

A World Beauty goody bag

WIN! A year’s supply of Andrex® toilet tissue

PLUS a giant puppy

Want to strike toilet roll from your weekly shopping list for an entire year? That’s what we’re offering to one lucky colleague and their family in t’s prize draw, courtesy of Kimberly-Clark. The winner will get a year’s supply of Andrex® toilet tissue and Andrex Washlets® – as well as a giant one-metre-high puppy toy to cuddle up to. The prize is made up of 90 rolls of Classic White Andrex® toilet tissue and 18 packs of Classic Clean Andrex Washlets®, meaning that – if you win – toilet roll will be one regular fixture that you won’t need to buy for 365 days. All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning is to enter our random prize draw. Then it’s down to lady luck to see who is drawn out of the hat.

Try out Nuffield Health with a free day pass at nuffieldhealth.com/ t-mag

To have your name entered into the hat to win the prize, simply send us an entry to [email protected] and cross your fingers for good news. Oh, and don’t forget to include your name, address and contact details for your entry.

Terms and conditions Entry to our colleague competitions and prize draws is free. To enter, you must be a Tesco colleague and live in the UK or Northern Ireland. You can only enter each competition or prize draw once and only the first entry per colleague per competition or prize draw will be accepted. Colleagues or personnel who are involved in administering the competitions and prize draws or drawing the winners cannot take part. The prizes include products only and will not include additional costs, such as travel expenses. Entries must be received by 23:59 on Friday 18 December 2015 and the winners for each competition and prize draw will be independently selected at random from all eligible entries. Each winner will be notified via email within seven days of the closing date. If the winners do not respond to the email communication within 10 days of notification to organise delivery of the prize, alternative winners will be selected. The editor’s decision is final and no cash alternative will be offered for any prize. Personal data will only be used for the purpose of administering the competitions and prize draws, and notifying the winners.

49

Boost now on. (Looks like Santa’s going to be busy.) Get ready to double the value of your vouchers in 14 departments in our fantastic Christmas Clubcard Boost event. You’ve got until 27th December to exchange your vouchers and until 30th December to redeem them. Better start harnessing those reindeer Santa!

And finally… UK & ROI CEO Matt Davies gears up for the busy festive season and looks forward to what we all hope will be a prosperous New Year

I

am very excited about my first Christmas at Tesco and I know what a busy time of year it is for all of us. It’s critical that we continue providing great service for our customers, being quick to respond to their needs and doing whatever we can to help them have the best possible Christmas (you’ll see some brilliant examples on pages 10-21). I try to spend as much time as I can speaking to shoppers in store, so I particularly enjoyed the opportunity in this issue to visit customers in their homes and deliver their groceries (pages 22-24). What really struck me while I was out in the van with Ant Turner was the power of small gestures – one elderly lady we visited was celebrating her birthday, so we delivered flowers from the Chesterfield Extra team, along with her shopping. We shouldn’t lose sight of the power of simple gestures, like that card. If we keep things simple, we can spend more time doing the right thing for customers. We’ve been working hard to simplify our business (pages 32-33), but the power to really change things lies with every one of us, no matter what our role or where we work. So let’s work together and share ways to cut out unnecessary

£5 = £10

in vouchers

in Clubcard Boost

complexity, so we can focus on serving our shoppers a little better every day. For a completely different kind of service, take a look at our feature on how we’re supporting the armed forces (pages 41-44). Our commitments to both former and current members of the military are particularly visible in stores such as our Catterick Garrison Superstore, but it’s a subject that is important to customers and communities across the nation. Supporting the forces also means we have a chance to benefit from the unique skills and experience of colleagues who have served in the past, or who still serve as reservists. Finally, although we are all going to be busy, I’d like to wish you and your loved ones the very best for Christmas and the New Year. I hope you can find some precious time to celebrate with family and friends. Thank you for your commitment and energy, and here’s to a Merry Christmas and a successful and happy 2016.

T&Cs apply, for details sledge along to tesco.com/clubcard

I used my points at Christmas to book my train ticket home. Liz Rockley Senior Campaign Manager, Tesco Bank Current account customer

Whatever you spend your points on this Christmas, remember you’ll collect Clubcard points faster when you use a Tesco Bank debit card in store and online at Tesco. Permanent Tesco colleagues will receive 2 points for every £1 spent - double what you’d get with a Clubcard.

Visit OurTesco.com to apply. Current Account The Tesco Bank Current Account is available to residents of England, Wales and Scotland, aged 18 or over. Accounts are subject to status. For spend in Tesco: you’ll get 1 point for every £1 you spend on your debit card, together with your standard Clubcard points (1 point for £1). Spend outside of Tesco: 1 point for every £8 in each debit card purchase transaction (standard Clubcard points don’t apply). Exclusions apply. The Clubcard scheme is administered by Tesco stores who BSF
SFTQPOTJCMF
GPS
GVMěMMJOH
QPJOUT
&BSO
SBUFT
BSF
TVCKFDU
UP
DIBOHF
:PV
NVTU
QSPWJEF
ZPVS
FNQMPZFF
OVNCFS
BU
BQQMJDBUJPO
TUBHF
UP
CF
FMJHJCMF
GPS
UIF
QPJOUT
PĚFS
'PS
GVMM
colleague deal terms and conditions, please visit ourtesco.com.