A WOMAN who is a familiar face on the shop floor and behind the till in Superdrug in Tavistock has seen her dedication rewarded with the presentation of her ten-year service award.

Store assistant manager Julie Hamilton accepted the award from area manager Doug Stewert on his recent visit to the store.

Now assistant manager, Julie started as an assistant in the branch on Brook Street ten years ago and has seen herself promoted several times over the years. She even won a community award a couple of years ago for the quality of the service she offers the branch’s customers.

’It was ten years on October 29. It has gone quite quickly - they do say time flies when you are having fun!’ she said. ’I used to work at Focus, the DIY store which was where Tesco is now. I got made redundant from there so I walked in here with my CV and got the job.’

It is the great team at Superdrug that has seen her stay, although there’s also the staff discount. The job has ’changed a lot’ over the years, she says.

’I would definitely say we are a lot more customer based now. It is about getting the best deal for each customer. When I first started it was just a job.

’It is all about the customer service now. I don’t shop anywhere myself that doesn’t have great customer service and I think I put that across to my team. Customer service is the priority here.

’If I go somewhere else and don’t have good customer service, then I don’t think they deserve my money. We look after our regular customers, because without them the store doesn’t exist.’

She said the store had benefited from new customers in the town itself during the pandemic, when people couldn’t travel and Superdrug remained open throughout. Hours are long with 7am starts. ’It used to be 5am starts for the deliveries,’ she said. ’We close at 5.30pm and sometimes by the time I go home it is 6.30 or 7pm, because even if we have had a busy day, it has all got to look great again in the morning.’