"Everyone pulls together....We really are all one team."

Abbie moved to Lidl from a teaching role because she wanted to work for an organisation where there were opportunities to develop. She likes the genuine sense of team spirit that exists and is keen to move around and learn more about the business.

What does being a Desk Clerk involve?

Basically, I help manage stock orders for 63 stores. I get orders for all the different areas of the warehouse, make sure they're not duplicated and there are no errors, then pass them on to the Supply Chain team. I also enter details of stock into our database - which the warehouse team can then choose via their headsets - and do reports on compliance. So, for example, if people aren’t taking their full break entitlement, I help make sure they do.

Are there any particular challenges you face?

They’re mainly seasonal. Around Christmas and Easter is quite tricky because you're trying to get all the special stock out of the warehouse as quickly as possible. That puts a lot of pressure on the system. So it's about trying to juggle and work as a team and waiting for different departments to release things to you. It’s challenging and never the same every day. You need to adapt - you can't follow the same routine because something might change suddenly and you’ve got to deal with those changes.

What other qualities, would somebody need to do your job?

You have to be able to remain calm, even when it’s busy. We have certain periods of the day where we might have about five different orders flying in, as well as allocations to manage. So when we get special stock coming in, we don’t waste any time. We need to stay focused and make sure we send out the correct quantities to the right areas and that it gets there in time. I’d say as long as you have attention to detail and can stay focussed, you’ll be fine.

Is there anything that surprised you about working at Lidl?

Everyone works as a team. If you need help, someone’s always willing to support you. Everyone pulls together to get things completed and done correctly. We really are all one team.

What are your plans for the future?

I’d quite like to move to the admin team in the offices. I’d also like to try and understand a bit more about how Lidl works in general. I know how the warehouse floor works, but I want to learn a bit more about behind the scenes - about the full operation.

Finally, what words would you use to describe Lidl?

I’d probably say ‘friendly faces, big opportunities’.