Poyntzpass pride in personal approach at Trainor Bros

Providing the best service to their customers is paramount to the whole team at Trainor Bros SPAR Poyntzpass and ultimately saw them praised and awarded at last year’s NR Awards. Store Manager David Lavery outlines the high standards staff have set themselves.

With over 30 employees, James and Corinna Trainor know the importance of having hard working and committed staff to ensure they maintain the high standards they have come to expect.

Proud owners of their store in Poyntzpass, husband-and-wife team, James and Corinna have established a business which is a critical component of the area, not only providing a practical retail service to their customers but also core customer service.

This drive and determination to do the best for their customers saw them win the Outstanding Customer Service Award at the 2024 Neighbourhood Retailer Awards, with James and Store Manager, David Lavery on hand to collect the much-coveted gong.

Judges praised the staff at Trainor Bros SPAR Poyntzpass for their unwavering politeness, professionalism, and helpfulness, adding these were all combined with a friendly and engaging conversational style.

As David told NR, it is this aspect of staff training he takes particular pride in.

“When we take new staff or students on, I tell them to treat every customer as if it was your own family member, a grandparent or someone, as you could be the only person they speak to the whole day,” said David.

“You can see the impact that also has on the staff as the customers come in regularly at their usual times and the staff are looking forward to seeing them and chatting to them. We always aim to be friendly, warm and welcoming to our customers.

“I also encourage the staff to carry out the shopping, especially for our older customers. You don’t get that kind of service in the bigger supermarket chains and we do go that extra mile and offer as much as we can.”

David said the pride that the whole staff took from the award win was testament to how much it meant to them.

“I have been to a lot of awards before and never won, so we were absolutely delighted. It just so happened that James and Corinna had invited the staff along, so it was even better that everyone was there to enjoy it.

“I know it’s under the name of the store, but every staff member took it as if they had won it themselves. The buzz in the shop during the weekend afterwards, with the plaque sitting out was brilliant, everyone got such pride from it.

“Our customers were delighted for us too, and it was so lovely to hear that it didn’t come as a surprise to them. We do get mystery shoppers in and we are at the point of getting 80% to 90% which is good, but we want closer to 100%, that is the standard we expect and have of ourselves.”

Established in February 2016, James and Corinna built a brand-new shop as they realised there was a need for one in the village. Work began in 2015 at the site of James’s father’s mechanics garage, with the shop opening in February 2016.

Corinna is a former nurse, while James runs a very busy mechanics garage in Poyntzpass. David said the shop opening in the village was a very exciting development for the area.

“Neither James nor Corinna had any retail experience, but they had plenty of help from Henderson’s and they have been with them every step of the way,” said David.

“There was such a buzz when it opened and that came down to the fact of how much there was a need for it here. James always wanted it to be a one-stop shop and to serve the community from one place as much as possible.”

READ THE FULL FEATURE ON TRAINOR BROS SPAR POYNTZPASS IN THE APRIL ISSUE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD RETAILER HERE