Deputy Store Manager Review

I am the deputy store manager at Fortnum & Mason in the St. Pancras Branch. I am in charge of overlooking the day to day running of the store which includes completing the rota, any HR related issues, Health and Safety, keeping up to date with our Station Policies, being present on the floor, stock management, recruitment and leading projects. As I am deputizing for when the store manager is not at work, I also support the business through liaising with other departments and supporting other stores.

Well when I initially started the learning process, it always seem to be relevant to the things I was doing. For example, when we were hiring I was working on Recruitment topic. Overall, I felt it was more of an affirmation of what I was already doing, rather than teaching me new things. So I suppose it was more of developing existing skills.

I was happy to have the same Tutor on Level 4 as on Level 3, we worked well together and she knew my learning style. Unfortunately she left just before my end assessments, and it took a few months to get a new one. Then covid happened and the entire process was dragged out and by the end of it was just did not want to continue with it. So it has been good and bad.

While I was going through each topic, I felt that it was not detailed enough and did not always provide with relevant information. Many of the topics were based more for head office work, rather than the day to day, such as Marketing. Yes it is good to know about it, but I could not get any first hand experience of it.

Due to the staffing level it was not always possible to get my work done, but I did feel that they were trying their best. I tried to plan in advance when I would take some time off the floor to study, but many of the times it was a very last minute decisions. However, my time was usually interrupted because I was needed for something.

We had out monthly catch ups to cover the topic, alternating between face-to-face and on the phone. She was quite flexible with moving the meetings as she understood the demand of my job. As she was the same one for my first qualification I was happy with the support. However, when I got my second round of tutor I did not feel like there was much for him to help me with as I was close to the finishing line.

As mentioned before I felt it was more of an affirmation rather than really teaching new things. Additionally, some of the other topics were not relevant for me for one as I left Hospitality and for another because we have specific departments overlooking those areas. So overall, I do not think that this specific qualification was helping me in my role.

No, but I am not sure that it would be possible. I know that we previously had a choir, but due to covid this is no longer possible. We do an annual staff party after peak, but again this has not been possible in the last year. Our team in St. Pancras tried to have monthly team quizzes through gatherings online.

Yes

I feel like it is a great company to work for, in particular this last year they have been very supportive and accommodating. I never felt that my job is at risk, which helped my wellbeing throughout this time. But even before then I was happy with Fortnum's as I managed to progress from Waitress all the way to Deputy Store Manager, through 6 different promotions.

Make sure that you apply for a department or store that will be able to hold your interest and is at a convenient location. There are ways to progress within the company, but sadly someone else has to leave before you can move upwards. Overall, Fortnums looks after their employees and ensures that they are being supported.