Countdown has recognised and celebrated its outstanding team members at the company’s annual Trade Show.
At a special awards dinner held in Rotorua, each of the winners were congratulated for their passion and dedication to both their team and customers.
Brett Ashley, Countdown’s General Manager Operations, says the awards are a fantastic opportunity to celebrate excellence within the Countdown team.
“Our stores and team are part of 180 communities around New Zealand, and it’s great to be able to take a moment from our busy schedules to recognise and reward excellence within our business.
“Each of our winners has demonstrated a number of attributes that are so important to retailing including leadership, caring for our team, and engaging and supporting our customers across the country whether that’s behind the scenes in our online business, buying team and distribution centres, or in our stores. We congratulate all our winners and thank them for a great year,” says Brett Ashley.
For the first time, Countdown has taken its annual Trade Show to Rotorua to get together with store and support teams, as well as suppliers.
“We’ve really enjoyed spending time with our suppliers and team and trying some of the new products about to hit our shelves. We’ve got some exciting plans in place for the coming months and it’s a good time before the busy Christmas season to talk about how we can work even closer together to bring even more value to our customers,” says Brett Ashley.
The 2019 Countdown team winners are:
Store Manager of the Year
Tom Jones-Griffiths – Countdown Newmarket
Checkout Operator of the Year
Keegan Taylor – Countdown Nawton
Countdown Category Manager of the Year
Sam Heveldt – General Merchandise
Online Personal Shopper of the Year
Ashleigh Young – Countdown Rangitikei St
Online Driver of the Year
James O’Connell – Countdown Palmerston North
Forklift Driver of the Year
Rithya Tith – Auckland National Distribution Centre
Truck Driver of the Year
Craig Cowper – Mainfreight Ltd