Stephen's Simply thrilled
THIS week reporter David Hepburn talks to Stephen O'Donnell (46), manager of the recently-opened Marks & Spencer Simply Food in the Strathkelvin Retail Park, Bishopbriggs. Stephen moved to the Kirkintilloch store from the Milngavie branch of M&S where he was manager for six years. Stephen lives in Bearsden with wife Geraldine and two sons Liam (14) and Aidan (8).
Why did you decide to join M&S?
I was a child of the 70s and during the Thatcher years, when I qualified from university with a degree in maths and physics, there simply weren't any jobs. I had been working for M&S part-time during the summer holidays so I just drifted into it and started to work my way up.
I started off working in the Sauchiehall Street store and stayed there for 19 years where I met my wife who still works for M&S in Milngavie. My kids like to say that I'm the manager but mum's the boss!
When did you first become a store manager?
About a year after the Milngavie store opened, I moved there and became a store manager. I was there for about six years before moving to Bishopbriggs.
Are you pleased with the new store?
I've been with M&S for around 30 years and have never had the opportunity to open a new store so it really is a great opportunity.
I think our brand really suits the community of Bishopbriggs and the surrounding area. It's a custom-built, decent-sized store with great parking and a fantastic location.
It's a through-route to many areas and so we are looking to attract people from Kirkintilloch, Torrance, Milton of Campsie, Lennoxtown and as far away as Cumbernauld.
The overriding impression is that people have been crying out for this for a long time. The feedback from customers so far has been great.
The opening of the shop attracted several thousand people - were you surprised by the turnout?
We misjudged how many people would be at the opening, even though we were told how excited people were and how long they had been waiting for an M&S.
We are amazed at how we have been embraced by the people of Bishopbriggs. It felt like Christmas Eve, which is the biggest day of the year for me as a retailer. More than 5,000 people were served on the day and many more came down just to see the new store. It took some people 35 minutes just to get into the shop!
I think we have bucked the current economic trend and all the doom and gloom - I hope we can create something positive for Bishopbriggs.
Do you enjoy working for M&S?
I think it's a brilliant company to work for and the benefits they offer still far outweigh any other retail organisation I could work for. I also love our product - the invention that goes into it and the quality of the food.
It really is like a second family, particularly with my wife working for them as well.
When we set up a new store we have a team day beforehand and all the employees go away to a hotel which really builds team spirit.
On opening day we had representatives from pretty much every store in Glasgow helping out. We like to think of ourselves as 'Glasgow United'.
What are your ambitions for the store?
My ambition is simply to make this a successful store - make sure the customers love coming here for great service and great standards.
It's still very early days but I have no doubt that it is going to be a very successful store.
We hope to help reinvigorate the business park which will hopefully benefit everybody involved, including the other shops and businesses - we really want to put the business park on the map as a destination.
Will M&S be getting involved in the local community?
We have had a lot of support from both the community and the council, with Councillor Hendry kindly opening the store for us.
We want to get involved in the community and will have a charities budget to allocate, although that is still a little bit down the line.
In Milngavie last year we took part in the only Scottish leg of Sir Ian Botham's last charity walk. We raised 10,000 for Leukaemia Research by walking around Mugdock Country Park. I've already written to him to ask whether he would like to do a walk from the Bishopbriggs M&S during his next walk in 2010.
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Weather for Kirkintilloch
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 0 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 6 mph
Wind direction: North east
