Marc Rutland
Position: General Store Manager - Romford
T.J Hughes – March 2004 – Present
I previously worked as a Manager in Northern Electric until the company unfortunately went into administration. After a short break, I then turned my attention to working within TJ Hughes.
I was initially employed within the Middlesborough store as a Sales Manager, taking control of one entire floor and leading a team of between 25 and 50 people. After a successful two years in this role I was promoted to a new position as a Support Manager. This involved looking after all back-of-house operations for the whole store, including setting up a full new health and safety system (risk assessments, training programmes and safe way of working). After a further nine months in this position, I was promoted to Operations Manager, running and overseeing the complete operation within a store of 100+ staff and a turnover of over £8 million. This is where I was given the opportunity to shine. During the time I spent as Operations Manager, I regularly ran other stores within my region, and other stores around the country if they were without a manager.
After 15 months, in July 2008 I was promoted from Operations Manager to finally be given my own store. General Manager was by far the biggest step in my career, and it involved moving from my home town of Middlesborough to Sutton in London. I felt that this opportunity was too good to miss, and I jumped at it with both feet. The position is a massive step up from any other position I have ever held, but the sense of achievement is also massive, and I love knowing that I am free to run my store the way I want in order to get the best out of my staff and maximise profit. In November 2009 I was appointed as General Manager at our Romford store.
I love spending my time on the sales floor and that is where I feel managers are needed, constantly looking for ways to improve and maximise profit. TJ Hughes' managers aren't office managers; they're hands-on people, working with the staff on the floor to develop the business. TJ Hughes has helped me to develop my career over the last five years and is still doing so.
TJ Hughes is a constantly changing business that is continuously adapting to match the current economic climate. The thing I like most about TJ Hughes is that we react and we are happy to change anything within our power to maximise the turnover of the company. That's what makes this business successful.
