Grocery Management Awards 2019: Past winner tells of motivation to enter again

Trevor Kearns was winnner of the Grocery Manager of the Year award in 2010

One of the things we love to see at the Grocery Management Awards is past winners and shortlisted candidates from previous years entering the awards again. Trevor Kearns was the winner of the Symbol Group Manager for Medium Sized Stores in 2010 and he has consistently entered the awards ever since, with continued success. Here he explains what his incentive is to keep getting involved

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What did winning the ShelfLife Grocery Management Awards mean to you and how has your career progressed since? 

The year before winning the award I’d just opened a new concept store for Griffin Retail called The Market Foodstore. It was during the height of the recession and a lot of hard work was put in during that time so winning was great recognition for this, like a pat on the back for a job well done. I’m now managing multiple company-owned service station sites for Campus Oil. Without these awards growing my confidence and ambition, I’m not sure I would have had those opportunities. However, with retail there’s always a new challenge waiting around the corner.

Do you think it made a difference to the team around you in terms of morale?

Without any doubt, winning an award has great benefits for the team. It highlights that the direction you’re going in is the right one and helps you bring the team along with you. The shared sense of pride lasts for a long time after. I’d go as far as to say it not only made a difference to them but customers felt a boost too because the manager of their local store was recognised with a prestigious award. It really wasn’t just my award, it was theirs too.

Did it change your career ambitions?

Absolutely, as that was a larger format store, winning really grew my confidence as a manager. That coupled with an award on my CV meant I moved into supermarket management for several years working for Casey’s and Rushe’s SuperValu. I learned in Casey’s that a manager is nothing without a great team behind them and we actually won Best Team performance in the Grocery Management Awards a few years later.

Would you consider entering the awards again?

Always, not only because the process gives you an opportunity to showcase what you’ve learned but for the night itself. All of us dedicated managers rarely get time to let our hair down and have a fun evening meeting faces new and old and catching up on the latest challenges and sharing experiences. What’s not to like about that? Winning an award is just the icing on the cake!

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