My Lidl career so far

When I joined all those years ago at 19 years old, I started as a F&V picker on the 14:00 to 21:30 shift. I joined at the busiest time of the year, Christmas! It was very hard physical work picking thousands of cases a day and sometimes finishing at 3am and coming back into work to do it all again the next day, it was tough but it was a challenge I loved. I worked very hard to out pick my colleagues, we had a healthy competition between us all to see who the top picker would be. I got noticed by my ATM as a really hard worker and he asked me if I’d like to try picking bulk, of course I accepted. I had a great relationship with my managers who recognised my efforts and pushed me to learn new picking areas, eventually I learnt how to pick in every area. Four months after I started, I was asked if I’d like to join the Ambient shift where I settled for two years.

I saw an advert to join the Goods-In department on the internal advertising board as a Desk Clerk which took my interest, so I had a conversation with my Manager at the time about if he thought I’d be the right one for the job as I was doubting myself. He pushed me to apply for the role and reassured me that I would be a great fit. I was successful and fell in love with the job, spending 10 years in the role. Goods-In is a very fast paced department to work for and the desk can be very stressful but the support I had from my colleagues and Managers was the reason I became very good at my role.

When we moved from our old RDC in Weston to our brand-new, shiny warehouse in Avonmouth, my Manager asked If I could go with him to set up a brand-new Goods-In department. What an honour and what an opportunity to use my 10 years’ experience to help my Manager, and prove to him that I have the skills and ability to do it. We had a very successful move and I owe him a lot, he pushed me in new ways and helped me learn a lot of new things. He gave me freedom to pick a team to take up to Avonmouth from Weston and manage them all. Walking them around the new warehouse and telling them what I required from them on the day gave me my first taste of people management.

"I’m very grateful towards my Managers who believed in me and gave me the chance to become an ATM."

After this opportunity of looking after a small team and doing a good job of it, my Manager kept pushing me and asked if I’d like to become an ATM one day. This got me excited as I had wanted the opportunity to become an ATM for a long time. An ATM position became available and went for it, it was a hard process to go through with an online exercise, but it was preparing me for what could lie ahead. I was successful and got the position. I’m very grateful towards my Managers who believed in me and gave me the chance to become an ATM as it wouldn’t have been possible without their support and guidance. 

What I like most about my role

The thing I like about my role would be the difference I can make to the shift. Helping people learn new things and help people progress like I did.  I love leading my team in a role that I’m grateful for and passionate about.

My plans for the future

My plans for the future are to one day become a Team Manager and lead a team of ATM’s. This might be far away at the minute because I still have a lot to learn before I’d feel comfortable applying for that position, but sky’s the limit with Lidl. You can progress anywhere with the right attitude and mind set.

What I think about progression opportunities at Lidl

The opportunities here at Lidl are amazing, I’ve come from picking boxes of fruit and veg to leading a team of over 78 people. This wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my Managers and the company. This wasn’t given to me though, I have worked very hard to get to where I am today and the good thing is, it’s been recognised. My previous two Head of Logistics have come from stacking shelves in store. The opportunities here at Lidl are truly amazing. You can go as far as you like with the right attitude towards your work.