Quotes from previous contestants

Barry Jones, Store Manager of the Year 2010 winner, Carphone Warehouse
‘Winning Store Manager meant a great deal to me. I’ve worked in the industry for 10 years and I take pride in my job. I won Shop Idol in 2006 and was determined to show that my skills had developed and that I had become a great manager. The experience was challenging and I was certainly put through my paces, but it’s a great opportunity for managers to stand out from their peers and be recognised for their work.’

James Stone, Store Manager of the Year 2009 winner, Carphone Warehouse
‘Winning Store Manager of the Year 2009 was an amazing start to this year. It was a real morale boost, because in the same year we won team of the year. It was an amazing experience.’

Chris Cooper, finalist 2009, T-Mobile
‘Taking part in the competition will build a lot of passion within the business and gets a lot of people involved. It is an opportunity to act for an ambassador of the company and it was a really good experience. If anyone has the opportunity to be in Store Manager it is a great experience and I would say just try your best and don’t make it the be all and end all of everything.’

Melanie Morris, finalist 2009, Phones 4u
‘I now run four stores in the Birmingham area. I really wanted to move my career forward and I had been for that job twice before. Store Manager gave me a step-up. It was a really good experience – I would never of have had a chance to present to Peter Jones normally! Everyone in the company got really behind me and even now people recognise me from the competition.’