The lack of sun this summer has been nothing compared with the almost apocalyptic floods that hit Yorkshire and Gloucester. Some stores had water swirling around trolleys in the car park, such as Morrisons in Retford, where the warehouse was submerged in four feet of water. Luckily the store didn't lose any stock and only had to close for a day.
Other stores were more badly hit by the deluge, but the multiples' super-efficient supply chains and disaster planning teams usually made sure it was business as usual. The Co-operative Group had to cope with about a dozen stores in the Northern/Central and Eastern region closing temporarily because of the floods, and employed its 24-hour emergency support desk.
The Co-operative Group's Louth store was closed for two days after it was damaged in heavy floods, and customers and staff were evacuated. "We liaised with the support desk to cancel orders and kept suppliers up-to-date with regards to a re-opening date," says manager Kevin Ferguson.
In Gloucestershire, four of five rain-sodden Sainsbury's stores were left without mains water for weeks. They used water bowsers so toilets could operate, but delis and bakery counters that relied on water were closed. "We focused resources on sourcing key lines such as milk, bread and nappies," says Steve Mellish, Sainsbury's head of business continuity.
Stores stayed open for longer and staff worked with the army to help distribute bottled water. Mellish says good relationships with suppliers meant the supply chain was able to cope with water sales at the stores rising by 474%.
Its business continuity programme, involving staff from departments such as HR, marketing, supply chain and IT, meant Sainsbury's was well prepared to respond quickly, but Mellish also credits managers with holding things together. "We had a fully co-ordinated response and every morning we had a conference call with the managers from the five stores, getting everyone up-to-date with what was happening, so we could support them."
Link Associates International works with food retailers on how to respond to risks such as floods and MD David Evans says he has a lot of sympathy for store managers. He reckons training is vital in order to speed up response time. "It takes longer to respond if you don't know what to do, so the problems mount up. You won't have time to stop and think it through." But he has faith in the multiples' in-built ability to deal with them. "They are already adept at responding to demand for certain products during weather peaks."
Store staff also went above and beyond the call of duty. Five stayed overnight to monitor the water coming in at the M&S store at Sheffield's Meadowhall Shopping Centre after the floods destroyed the store's entire food stock.
And at the Leith Co-op, the store clean-up started on Monday as soon as the water had subsided, says Ferguson. "This involved every member of staff who would normally have been working, and additional staff working overtime to mop and sanitise the floor, fixtures and shelving."
Meanwhile, Sainsbury's Mellish says that while some staff were affected, for the hundreds working at the five stores only 12 people didn't make it into work - one even rowed his way in. "The stores really united, with some colleagues sharing their bathrooms with others who had been affected - we called it the Dunkirk spirit."
Asda's Kingswood store in Hull managed to stay open throughout the floods, with customers wading in to buy groceries. However, about 50 of the 700 staff were flooded out at home. Weeks later, some were still off sick with viral diseases and stress. "I'm so proud of my team - one colleague's house was flooded but she was helping other people and still waded into work," says manager Howard Willis.
Asda's working arrangements meant staff could cover other shifts, while authorised absences and paid holidays for those affected were arranged. "Store relations really came into their own."
Different buying patterns had to be coped with such as people wanting more bleach, buckets and mops. Willis' line managers were constantly in touch with distribution centres. But not only did supermarkets cope with staffing and supply chain problems, they also became a hub for local communities by giving out free food and water and helping the emergency services co-ordinate relief efforts.
As well as donating food and household products to help communities clean up after the floods, the Co-operative Group donated to disaster funds, as did Tesco, which also gave out thousands of bottles of water in Gloucestershire. David Potts, Tesco's director of retail and logistics, says: "Thanks to our distribution network we were able to provide more than 50% of the water that was needed in the stricken areas over seven days."
Most store managers are given some leeway to hand out free goods; three Waitrose branches - Willerby, Lincoln and Sheffield - together provided more than £2,500 of food and drink when local areas were flooded. Willerby donated babyfood and baby milk to the local council while it also helped travellers who were stranded. "The store arranged hotel rooms for those who were unable to get home," says a Waitrose spokesman.
Asda's Kingswood store hosted the fire brigade's incident centre in the car park as a base for the emergency services. When the council asked for clothes and towels, staff piled up about £1,000 of George goods. Emergency staff were also encouraged to use the staff canteen for meals and refreshment - free of charge.
"As a store manager, part of my job is to think on my feet but I just did what I could and head office were very supportive," says Willis.
case study
When an unforeseen disaster like a major flood hits your store, the whole team has to pull together, both during and after the crisis
Rapidly rising floodwaters in Tewkesbury meant even Somerfield store manager Mike Wood couldn't get to work. In fact, only four of his 14 staff managed to clock in on a Saturday after a night of heavy rain - they were then faced with shoppers 12-deep at the tills. "Staff had been in since 6am and weren't supervised by managers. They were running the shop themselves," reports Wood. "There was a lot of pressure but they did really well to cope so we gave them treble time as a thank you."
The shop itself stayed dry, and while the warehouse below was flooded, the water level remained below the stock. However, until it could be drained four days later, it was out of bounds to staff, so shelves couldn't be restocked - in fact, the high street store also remained cut off to deliveries for several days.
It meant the shop quickly ran out of water, milk and bread, although it wasn't a problem as flood levels rose further and the store was forced to close for a day as townspeople couldn't even get to the high street. On reopening Mike sold off stock that was going out of code, although the bakery and deli remained closed as they were without fresh water.
He later managed to get into a nearby store to work, while that store's manager - who lives in Tewkesbury - worked Wood's shift for a few days; meanwhile, Mike liaised with the police and head office to get in extra staff and organise extra deliveries. Sadly the next 10 days were very quiet, as many high street shops were shut for two weeks, which meant local people thought it was a no-go area.
"Trade has taken a big downturn," says Mike Wood. "Some suppliers sent us free stock such as bread to help us cope with panic buying, but in the end we were left with surplus stock."
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