retail industry

‘Where is the government’s support for the retail industry?’

Posted on | by Editorial Team

Following the government’s recent summoning of grocery retailers to discuss unverified “price gouging”, our Director of Grocery Retail Recruitment, Nikki Murran, shares her thoughts on how the government should stop admonishing and instead support independent retailers who are coping with price increases

There was widespread press coverage last month on May 8th announcing that the government was summoning grocery retailers to discuss “unverified reports of price gouging”. Excel Recruitment has been in partnership with the grocery retail industry for over 20 years and is placed in a somewhat unique position of speaking with competing grocers on a near-daily basis.

Absorbing cost increases

We reached out to various retailers to discuss their thoughts on this supposed price gouging and found a consistent response across the sector. Most retailers were quick to point out that they have been absorbing cost increases over the past three years, with little to no price hikes for a large proportion of this time.

From the outset of the pandemic, when most of the world was locked in their houses, retailers ranging from 16 to 65 years old were working on the frontline. As panic buying ensued and grocery trips became the highlight of households, stores saw an increase in sales. However, along with this surge, there were dips in margins as delis rapidly declined and consumers shifted to online ordering. Rather than passing these costs onto the customers, most food retailers absorbed them.

Additionally, when hospitality reopened, a staffing crisis emerged. Many retailers experienced a large exodus of employees who opted for Pandemic Unemployment Payments (PUP) rather than progressing their retail careers. Others chose to pursue online degrees or returned to their home countries. In this highly competitive employment market, entry-level staff rates increased in many retailers, and once again, this cost was predominantly shouldered by the retailers themselves.

Fast forward a year later, and retailers are now juggling the impact of war causing an energy crisis, spiralling supply chain costs, and the increasing cost of goods. At this point, many retailers were striving to minimize the impact on their product lines while balancing these rising expenses.

Increased employment costs

In January 2023, the government implemented a 7.6% increase in the minimum wage. They also announced the Sick Leave Act, which is funded, in large part, by the employer. These two measures proved to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back when it came to price increases.

So, the consistent response we have seen from retailers is contempt. They feel contempt towards the same government that imposed these costly measures, not to mention the impending mandatory pension enrolment, onto retailers, only to announce a few months later that they are summoning these same retailers to discuss food price increases.

Knock-on effect on hiring

This situation has a knock-on effect on hiring. Few people aspire to join a company or industry that is seen as greedy or unethical. Nearly all independent retailers we have spoken with are effusive in their assertions that they have, at best, maintained their margin over the past number of years. They emphasize that this accomplishment was hard-fought through strategic product placement and department participation, rather than resorting to price hikes.

It begs the question: rather than the government making sweeping statements and accusations, where is their support for this industry? This is an industry that supported the economy and the community in a time of crisis, an industry that rallied around the vulnerable to deliver their shopping, often, at their own expense.

Government deflection

The government’s response reads to many retailers as a deflection from their own failings and lack of support as the country faces rising inflation and energy crises. Not to mention the staffing crisis they fuelled with a mostly unregulated Pandemic Unemployment Payment system, minimum wage increases and sick pay schemes.

If the government truly wants to help retailers to lower costs which can be passed on to the consumer, why not start with a scheme whereby those on social welfare are incentivized to work in their local store to gain experience? Or invest in better transport infrastructure so those without a car can reach more retail jobs, which likely operate outside of current public transport hours?

It seems that announcing meetings to discuss unverified claims was a much more effective publicity move than actually implementing any real changes that would make a tangible impact.

You can check out this feature in ShelfLife magazine here

Career trajectories

Career Trajectories – Shane McLave, Managing Director

Posted on | by Editorial Team

Our Managing Director, Shane McLave featured in Drinks Industry Ireland speaking to James Doherty of Sliabh Liag Distillers about his career trajectory which led him to establish his drinks business.

As a recruiter, I regularly meet with people who ask me for advice on their career, whether they have been working in a particular role or industry, have lost faith in the industry or the particular job they are in, or if they are looking for a change but they don’t know where to start or what the possibilities are for them.

However, in my experience, it’s not as simple as picking a career, going to college to study, and/or landing your dream job. As a result, the advice I give to people is that your dream job and the skills you need for it are normally built up over a number of years and through working in many different jobs or industries. Most people have three distinct periods in their working life, each period as important as the other in shaping what we end up doing. The first jobs we get as teenagers or students are often part-time jobs in retail or hospitality and the careers that we have in our 20s and 30s are typically related to our studies along with the time in our lives when we want the security to buy a home or start a family and sometimes, the lucky ones end up realising what their real passion is and what is most important to them to give them a sense of purpose and satisfaction whether this is through gaining a work life balance or simply doing something that they feel makes a difference to the lives of others or helps them leave their mark on the world.

Career trajectory

This week, I had the pleasure of talking to James Doherty of Sliabh Liag Distillers about his journey from growing up and studying as an engineer in the UK to working in Africa and then moving into a sales role in Asia, before returning to his ancestral home in Donegal. Doherty ended up founding and building the first distillery to legally produce whiskey in Donegal since 1841. I asked him a few questions about his career to date. With all the nervousness we see reported in the media about our over reliance as an economy on corporate tax and overseas multinationals, I found it really heartening to talk to James about the current and future possibilities around some of our indigenous industries and how they are helping to bring employment and prosperity in a sustainable way to so many towns around the island of Ireland.

How did you end up in the drinks industry?

Almost by accident, an engineer by training, I came home from growing tea in Africa to the UK and managed to grab a break with WM Grants (Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Hendricks) in a sales role (despite my lack of experience) and a few years later, I was on the board. I left them with a wanderlust and headed to Asia with my family where we did pretty well too, and then decided we could do spirits brands and distilleries in a different way to the big corporates – the result is the Ardara Distillery, the home of Sliabh Liag Distillers, An Dúlamán Gin and The Silkie Irish Whiskey. The business is growing rapidly, while creating opportunities locally and doing so against a macro back drop that is really challenging.

Can you give me a brief history of the company?

We started in 2015, with an ambition to reclaim the distilling heritage of Donegal. We unfortunately lost a bit of time to some ridiculous land issues but still built the gin distillery in 2017, and launched An Dulaman Gin (currently in 35 countries). We also launched Silkie Irish whiskey as it is now in 2019 and have shipped to 40 countries and sold almost 15,000 9L cases. Subsequently, we distilled the first whiskey in 2020 before building the main whiskey building in 2021. Our first whiskey will be released in July of this year – the first legally distilled whiskey in Donegal since 1841.

How many people are now employed by the distillery and what do you think the industry is worth to the wider economy?

Currently, we have built the team up to 26 employees, but we expect to have up to 40 in due course who will be based at the distillery in Ardara and the bottling hall in Carrick. The majority of our employees work in Carrick in the bottling and administration centre, and we also have a few people based internationally. The export value (the distillery gate if you like) of the Irish whiskey industry exceeded €1bn for the first time in 2022, and don’t forget that 96% is exported.

How many people are employed directly in the Irish whiskey industry and are you seeing challenges in the current labour market?

Approximately 2,000 people are employed across the island. The labour situation is tight, but this hasn’t specifically impacted us in our own distillery as we have a pretty stable team. The competition for talented people is very intense due to the positive growth we are seeing within the sector.

 

You can check out this feature in the Drinks Industry Ireland magazine here

staff training

The importance of good staff training

Posted on | by Editorial Team

Our Managing Director, Shane McLave featured in Drinks Industry Ireland to explain how the small details in hospitality can make or break the customer experience, which is why it’s vital to invest in staff training

When it comes to pouring the perfect pint of Guinness, as a nation we are extremely critical and rightly so as it is our national drink and no one wants to see it being poured too quickly with a bishop’s collar or running down the outside of the glass. The basics are important to the whole experience and must be right or the drink will be sent right back by any self-respecting stout aficionado.

So why is it when it comes to another hugely popular drink, the gin and tonic, we so frequently get it so wrong?

The answer is simple; we need to invest in training people. So what are we doing wrong and what should we be doing differently? Let’s start with the ice; a perfect G&T should have four large cubes in it but scrapping out the bucket with loads of tiny shards will result in a watery drink. The ice should also be put into the glass first to both cool the glass and prevent the gin from being bruised or cloudy as can happen when the ice is dropped into warm gin as opposed to being poured over ice. The next critical step is to have the correct tonic. With over 70 Irish gins alone as well as 20 or so gins from other locations it is foolish to have just one tonic to pick from as some just simply clash with the gins and become flavourless or cancel each other out. Perhaps the most important thing that can be done to improve quality is to chill your mixers as this will do two things; it will reduce the time that it takes for the ice to melt and water down your drink and it will keep the drink carbonated for longer as room temperature mixers will go flatter quicker.

The style of glass and garnish will always come down to personal taste. My own favourite is An Dulman Irish Maritime Gin with regular Schweppes tonic water served in a copa with a slice of dried lime but if the correct processes are followed then no matter what combination people ask for, quality should be assured.

Junior staff knowledge gap

The workforce has changed since Covid and the industry needs to be mindful that junior bar staff may not have the same knowledge and expertise of more senior staff as they are just starting out in the hospitality industry.

Many bar staff are working part time while planning other careers outside of hospitality. With this in mind and the higher than ever turnover in staff, it is more important than ever that training and upskilling are done on a daily basis so the customer experience is a good one. One or two poor comments on the likes of Instagram or Facebook can so quickly go viral and be extremely damaging to any establishment when it comes to hard fought for clientele.

If you don’t have the knowledge base in your current team that can implement daily training of staff then perhaps a monthly masterclass would suit better and there are several places you can go for this such as your wine and spirits distribution company or onsite training specialists like Future Proof Training, that can come on site or train in a classroom setting in areas such as HACCP and manual handling, upselling and customer service, barista skills, introduction to wine and essential bar. Check out www.futureprooftraining.ie for more information.

You can check out this feature in the Drinks Industry Ireland magazine here

killer interview questions

The best ways to tackle those dreaded ‘killer questions’ in an interview

Posted on | by Editorial Team

Despite today’s candidate driven market, thorough interview preparation remains vital for prospective employees. Our Director of Grocery Retail Recruitment, Nikki Murran, advises how to answer classic ‘killer questions’ with ease  

Last week I got a call rejecting my candidate from a role he had interviewed for, and I was perplexed. He had done a similar role, was in the right location, right salary range, and was actually a great guy and perfect culture fit! What could have gone wrong?

Then I got the feedback from the interviewer and immediately understood. When the candidate was asked what he liked about the brand, he admitted he hadn’t visited any stores or done much research. The candidate really wanted this job. I had recommended to him that he visit a couple of stores beforehand and I had sent him plenty of information, but he was busy in his current role and never found the time. So, he never got the job!

In this candidate-driven market, one could be forgiven for thinking the same level of preparation as in previous years is no longer required in interviews. But as I witnessed last week, this is absolutely not the case. With higher salaries on offer and more benefits available than ever before, employers want to see candidates present themselves in the best light possible to warrant these ever-improving packages!

With that in mind, below are some questions, which, when prepared well, can make all the difference in landing that dream job:

Why us?

One of the most common questions in an interview – and one of the easiest to answer – is “why do you want this job”. This is an opportunity for you to be honest with what motivates you and to make sure this is what is in line with what your potential new employer is offering. It is also a great opportunity for the interviewer to determine how well you have researched and understood their vacancy and their business. I always recommend visiting the store and its competition in the local area beforehand, speaking to people who work within the brand and can tell you more about the culture, and to have a good trawl through Google to see what you can find out. Not only will you come across as more engaged, but you will have a much better idea if this is the right role for you!

Talk me through your experience or tell me about yourself

This is my favourite interview question. This is not the moment for you to tell the interviewer how you enjoy long walks, and once won a chicken wing eating contest, but rather an opportunity for you to highlight your successes in your career to date. Do this by chatting through each role you have held, and more importantly, about the achievements you have had in each of these roles, include stats and figures to back it up where you can. Think of it as a highlight reel rather than a CV summary! This question often comes up early in an interview and if you have prepared a couple of points of your career successes it can be a great way to settle into your interview, while also using the time to tell the interviewer how great a candidate you are!

What would you say is your weakness?

Everyone hates this question. To be fair, it is an awful question, and for that reason, I never really recommend answering it. Rather, when asked about what your weakness is, I would suggest sharing a weakness you used to have, and an example of how it is now one of your strongest points! For example, “I used to be somewhat disorganised, however, a couple of years ago I started a system where I prioritize my tasks each evening for the next day and now, I would say organisation is one of my top strengths!” I know it’s a bit of a politician’s answer – but as I said – it’s an awful question!

Teamwork

Most roles involve either managing teams or working within a team. So, it’s realistic to expect a question on this in any interview. Whilst you can’t prepare an answer for every potential question, I would always recommend having a couple of examples of your management skills, leadership style and team development at the front of your mind before the interview. This means you are ready to discuss them when the topic arises.  Developing the team around you so that they are empowered, motivated, and progressing is no easy feat – so if you have been doing this successfully be ready with stories to share about how you are achieving it.

Listen and stop talking!

Whilst this is not technically a question – it is good advice nonetheless, so I have included it! Many candidates rush to answer questions in interviews. In doing so they end up not understanding the question or worse, jumping into an ill-thought-out answer that runs off on a tangent that they can’t claw back from. Take a couple of seconds after the question is asked to make sure you heard it correctly and, to decide on your answer before launching into it. No one ever lost a job because they took a couple of seconds to put their answer together! If anything, it shows that you are thoughtful and deliberate.

Next – stop talking! The aim of the interview is absolutely not to fill all the silence, or have the interviewer need to interrupt you to ask their next question. Once you have answered the question – stop talking! Be quiet and wait for the next question. Often, interviewers need to cover certain topics in order to assess your suitability. If you don’t give them the opportunity to control the interview you are taking the risk that you won’t cover what is needed to decide if you are the right fit for them.

Other than that – be yourself and good luck!

You can check out all our live jobs here. For more information call us on 01 814 8747 or email info@excelrecruitment.com