President and Secretary Visit stores in the Fens and East Anglia.
Blog by Elaine Dean, Society President.
Myself and Society Secretary Andy Seddon had two days visiting stores in Cambridgeshire and East Anglia and we also attended an Eastern 2 Member & Community Council meeting.
Our first day we visited March, Ely Road at Sutton-in-the-Isle, Littleport, Hethersett and Brundle. We identified Ely Road, Littleport and Hethersett as suitable for the Christmas Appeal toy van.
The small town of March sits in the middle of the Fens and our store is in a nice quiet residential area. Sophie the Manager showed us around the store and we met other colleagues as we did this.
We went on to Ely Road at Sutton-in-the-Isle which is a very busy shop on a major roundabout and Rebecca and the team proudly showed us round this fairly new store. After a healthy outdoor lunch we went on to Littleport which is a large welcoming store and Lynn the manager and team showed us round and posed for photographs.
It was over an hour's drive to our next store at Hethersett on the outskirts of Norwich and manager Tom showed us this very new store built on a rapidly developing new estate.
Our final stop was at the very busy store in Brundle where Manager Mike entertained us.
We stayed at the Imperial Hotel in Great Yarmouth which is owned by a former director and a workers' trust which we felt aligned with our values and principles.
In the evening we hosted dinner for board members Brad Tuckfield and Danny Douglas, M&CRO Tami Evans and Chair and Vice Chair of Eastern 2 MCC Nicole Suchy and Lisa Brown in the seafront Terrace Restaurant of this lovely hotel.
Next day we visited Pinewood Avenue where manager Tanya showed us around and told us she needed a new outside noticeboard as the present one was faded by the sun! On then to Kirkley which is a town centre store in Lowestoft and Mandy was very excited to show us her new fascia. We went next to Pakefield just up the road in Lowestoft, which is a small but busy store on a corner and Manager Jason and his team showed us round and they asked for a new fascia like Mandy's !
Our final store visit was to the very large store Carlton Colville on the outskirts of Lowestoft where Manager Graeme and his team showed us around and gave us their wishlist too !
We identified Pinewood Ave and Carlton Colville as suitable for the toy van.
In the afternoon we attended a meeting of Eastern 2 MCC held in the community room at Halesworth after lunch in the Insomnia cafe there. This is probably our flagship store being the only supermarket in town and having been recently given a complete refurbishment. It is a beautiful store worth visiting if in the Suffolk area on holiday. Credit to Lisa the Manager for a store with really good vibes.
The MCC meeting was well attended and we were pleased to see lots of planned activities by the enthusiastic team.
It is great to get out and meet colleagues and see the different stores and is important for our democracy that directors and Secretariat get around the Society.
Elaine Dean, President
September 2024