27 Feb 2024

Currys Chesterfield reopens after team show huge resilience following devastating floods

Colleagues

Hard work, dedication and resilience has enabled the reopening of our Chesterfield store following significant flooding in the area in October 2023.

During Storm Babet, shocking destruction stretched across the entire Ravenside Retail Park due to a river bursting its banks right behind the shops. For our Currys store, the water came up to three metres high and caused irreversible damage to infrastructure, interiors and stock too. As Mark Moore, General Manager, describes,

"We evacuated the store for the safety of our team and customers. You wouldn't believe how quickly the water levels rose - it was so fast. We tried everything to reduce the impact but the water came so quickly, sandbags were simply useless."

"When we were able to get back into the store, everything was gone. It was devastating. Even more so knowing that we'd fully prepared for our busiest time of year, across Black Friday and the Christmas period, so had very high stock levels in preparation. It was all gone.”

Mark was at the forefront of what followed, he led the activity of redeploying his staff to other stores, liaised with the council and building trades to accelerate the store rebuild, and most importantly managed to keep spirits high amongst his team whilst working towards an eventual reopening which happened on schedule last week.

With around 600 homes and businesses impacted by the flooding in the local area, this was an extremely stressful and worrying period for everyone affected, including our colleagues. The management team devised an action plan to ensure none of the team were out of work, and they were deployed swiftly to four local stores, this included providing transportation for those unable to get to their redeployed shop.

Like Sales Colleague, Marcus Wright, who was redeployed to the Heely store, “I quickly settled in and became part of their team. The Chesterfield managers answered any questions and addressed any concerns I had, throughout the whole process. They were always there if I needed them, this really put my mind at ease and helped me through a difficult period!’

The resilience and adaptability of the team during such an uncertain time was truly admirable. Our Chesterfield colleagues stayed in very close contact during this time, with weekly calls to keep connected and see how everyone was doing on a personal level too.

As Sales Colleague, Oliver Kershaw-Dickson shares “I felt that the redeployment was brilliant. It shows how we all win as one. The host stores were so welcoming and nothing was too much trouble. I couldn’t be prouder to be a Currys family member.”

“Reflecting on the highs and lows of the last few months for our Chesterfield team, it has been a tough journey but one where teamwork and perseverance shone through, driven by the expert leadership of the General Manager Mark Moore” shares Martin Raper, Head of Stores Operational Excellence

Back in the retail park, Mark has been based out of a portacabin outside the store. He's been based there since the store was flooded, alongside a team supporting the reconstruction of the store, and also serving customer needs. Several customers have been coming to the cabin to order products for home delivery, or visiting to ask for our tech expertise. In fact, we were the only store on the block to have a facility which meant our colleagues could still help our customers face-to-face.

Close to the reopening of the store, a training and team building session was organised at our flagship training academy in Fort Dunlop. This was a time for colleagues to reconnect and refresh their product knowledge, so they are fully up to speed and ready to support our customers in the newly refurbed store.

And with all that, the team excitedly opened its doors again last week after being closed for four months. Attended by the local Mayor and Mayoress, the reopening event was a huge success and support from the local community was strong:

“We were so pleased to see the reopening of the Currys Chesterfield store following the horrific flooding at the end of last year.

It was exciting to be at the opening event last week, and meet all the team, very happy to be back. We are looking forward to members of the community coming to the retail park and checking out Currys’ amazing tech offering, especially following all the hard work, commitment and investment in getting the store up and running again. Looking forward to revisiting the store soon!” – Cllr Mick Brady, Mayor of Chesterfield

“Teams from across the business worked tirelessly to look after our displaced colleagues, ensure our customers still had ways to shop and to restore this store not just back to how it was, but to something even better. This really has been a huge team effort and the new store is now back and ready to help the local community again with all of their technology needs”

Martin Raper

Head of Stores Operational Excellence