Surviving uncertainty
How Covid-19 impacted the Girlguiding shop. Find out how our warehouse has continued to send out guiding goodies
The past 18 months have affected everyone at Girlguiding, including our staff in Altrincham, near Manchester. All our staff who work in the warehouse have been working hard to get uniforms, badges and much more to you, while keeping themselves safe too.
From having to close the warehouse and furlough staff, to maintaining stock levels and balancing the books - our team have had to come up with new ways of working to keep on running and make sure you get your items quickly.
‘Like everyone in Girlguiding, we all had to start thinking differently to get the best results’, says Beth Hancock, Head of Trading. ‘It’s been hard, and it’s pushed all of us in a personal and a business sense, but I am so incredibly proud of how every single member of our team has supported our mission. We have truly lived and breathed the Girlguiding community spirit’.
‘At the start we all went from working full time in the office to working from home. It was very surreal and a little bit scary. Covid-19 has impacted us hugely, we had to adapt and change very quickly and hope that those decisions were the right ones,’ says Buying Manager, Nicola Robinson.
While Nic was coping with the challenges of managing stock to Altrincham, other members of the team had to adapt in other ways. Andrea Mountford is the facilities manager and keeps the warehouse safe for staff.
‘Any time that I can improve either our effectiveness, our safety or our staff’s experience of working here, well, that’s when I know it’s worth getting out of bed!’ she says. ‘At the beginning it was quite scary, and it was an intense time of reading and researching about the virus, what the risks were and what we could do to minimise them so that we could continue to work.’
Now, hand sanitiser is placed across the warehouse, masks are mandatory, eco-friendly antibacterial spray is used to disinfect equipment and staff have been given Covid-19 safety training.
The team is continuing to hybrid work, staff are split into ‘bubbles’ and the canteen has been spaced out to allow for social distancing. Although the current shortage of delivery drivers is still a challenge, the team in Altrincham are committed to getting the best quality products to members as quick as possible. They add that it means a lot to them that members buy directly from Girlguiding ‘it means profits can be put back into the experience you get’.
"We have truly lived and breathed the Girlguiding community spirit."
- Beth, Head of Trading
Andrea adds: ‘I’m feeling very blessed to work for an organisation that seems to be really trying to get as many of its staffs' needs and wants met as it can, whilst still delivering an awesome package to our members.’
Beth, who has worked at Girlguiding for more than 11 years, has been leading the trading team through the pandemic and its challenges – and other trials and tribulations, like the current lack of lorry drivers.
‘Although we’re all slowly trying to move back to whatever the “new normal” looks like, the global manufacturing environment is still so incredibly unstable,’ says Beth. ‘We're doing our best to continue to find different ways to support everyone’s needs and get our stock in check with demand; however, delays are still happening, some factories are still closed, and everything is costing everyone so much more. So please bear with us, your needs are our priority!'
Processes are restricted by a number of factors, our staff is working hard to deliver the best products and service to our volunteers and member, and we really appreciate their patience.
One of the challenges the team has found during this time is forecasting how popular some products might be. Which is tough as a charity as if we over-order, it becomes ‘dead stock’ which we can’t use and costs Girlguiding money.
An example of this is the Poppy badges for 2021, developed in collaboration with the Royal British Legion; they sold out several weeks before Remembrance Sunday this year, which rightly caused upset amongst our members. On this occasion one of our suppliers was able to deliver extra stock just in time for Remembrance Sunday.
We have been getting a bit more back to normal ourselves up after a difficult financial year and we’re so thankful to you for shopping directly with Girlguiding. 100% profits go back into creating great experiences for girls. Without your support, Girlguiding wouldn’t be possible.
