THE HEART OF ENGLAND CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY ANNOUNCES A SERIES OF MANAGEMENT APPOINTMENTS

 
The Heart of England Co-operative Society, the region’s largest independent retailer, has announced a series of management appointments within its Food and Non-Food Divisions.

Rose Burley, who was previously Manager of Kenilworth Electrix, is now Manager of Rooms of Royal Leamington Spa.

The move marks the latest step up the career ladder for Rose, who first joined the Society in 1997.

The mother-of-two, who lives in Rugby, started as a part time sales adviser at Kenilworth Electrix. In late 1999 she moved to Bedworth Electrix as Deputy Manager, moving back to Kenilworth as Deputy Manager within a year.

Rose briefly left the Society in October 2002 to work for an estate agency. Within six months she returned part-time to Kenilworth and soon after, started working as a relief manager across the whole of the Society’s trading area. In 2005 Rose was appointed Sales Co-ordinator, overseeing sales in all the Electrix stores. In March 2008 she was appointed Manager of Kenilworth Electrix – a position she has held until her most recent promotion.

Raf Sheikh, who was previously Team Leader of Nuneaton electricals, has replaced Rose as Manager of Kenilworth.

This is Raf’s first managerial position. He was offered the Manager’s position due to his excellent customer service skills and extensive knowledge of the electrical business.

Chris Tidman is the new Manager at Bedworth Electrix. The 48-year-old, who has worked for the Society for 13 years, was previously Deputy Manager of Atherstone Shopping Centre. His promotion marks the beginning of his second stint at the Bedworth store. He has also previously worked in Nuneaton.

Chris is replacing Jag Sidhu, who is now Manager of Atherstone Shopping Centre. Jag started with the Society as a 19-year-old part time Sales Advisor. Although he was Manager of Bedworth Electrix, he is looking forward to a fresh challenge managing a larger store with a bigger workforce.

In the Food Division Stephen Hole, previously Manager of the Hillmorton Foodcentre in Rugby, is now Manager of the Attleborough Foodcentre in Nuneaton.

Stephen started with the Society in August 2005 as Manager of the Tile Hill Lateshop. A few months later he was transferred to the larger Hillmorton Foodcentre as Manager. The Attleborough Foodcentre is Stephen’s largest store to date.

Richard Coombs, previously Manager of the Tile Hill Lateshop, has taken Stephen’s place as Manager of the Hillmorton Foodcentre. Richard, who has been with the Society for six years, started as Deputy Manager of the Earlsdon Foodcentre and landed his first Manager’s role three years later at Ansty Road Lateshop, before moving to Tile Hill after 18 months.

Ali Kurji, Chief Executive of the Society, said: “Here at the Heart of England Co-operative Society we pride ourselves on giving each and every one of our employees the opportunity to climb the career ladder. This demonstrates our commitment to our employees by promoting from within.

“One of the many benefits of this is our stores are managed by people with an excellent grounding in the retail industry and every time we appoint a new Manager to a store they bring in fresh ideas for the benefit of the store, the staff and of course the customers.