Comet

Comet is one of the leading electrical retailers in the UK and part of Kesa Electricals plc, a pan-European group operating in seven European countries. With more than 250 stores throughout the UK and over 10,000 employees, Comet offers a unique all-round shopping experience with a range of services including home delivery, and full installation of products such as televisions and washing machines. Their website is consistently ranked as the No 1 electrical website by visitors.

Comet has three types of store; core stores, destination stores and 2 storey stores. Core stores are key sites within the business, destination stores are sited in strong geographical locations and 2 storey stores are big and interactive with a wide product range. All stores are designed to be customer friendly and to offer a new way to shop for electricals and a new way for Comet to provide great customer service.

Comet’s focus is on giving customers the best price, best choice and the best service. They offer a wide range of electrical products all at ‘Every Day Low Prices’ - on average, 34,000 competitor prices are checked every week to ensure that Comet’s prices cannot be beaten.

What is exciting about the Comets company culture is that it is not necessarily what you'd expect - they might be a huge business with a multi-billion pound turnover, but there's a real family feel about life at Comet. As their teams’ would tell you, it's not just a professional environment, but a fun, energetic and social one too.

In August 2005, Comet fully re-branded to differentiate itself from its competitors, with the entire project being labelled the new Comet “Vision” - with customer trust and staff training at its core.
This is the one thing that all the team at Comet share - the vision to be Britain's most trusted electrical specialist. Everyone works towards making that vision a reality and their people are united by a customer focus and positive, energetic approach. To help them, they have one key value that they all adhere to: Trustworthy.

Comet also have four key behaviours, which they believe are fundamental to delivering great customer service.

• Deep knowledge.
• Attention to detail.
• Passion for service.
• Individual attitude.

This doesn't mean you have to be an expert in electricals (their commitment to training will give you all the knowledge you need). But it does mean you have to be passionate about the products they sell, and the way in which they can enhance the lives of their customers. You will find lots of different types of people at Comet but they all have one thing in common – They Live Electricals.

Comet may be one of the UK's leading electrical retailers, but they do far more than simply sell electrical products. They want to give their customers the benefit of their experience and provide them with the best advice. Whether it's a washing machine, wide-screen TV or a set of curling tongs they're after, they make sure their customers get exactly what they need. Their ethos is based on the fact that we all use their products in everyday life and they want their teams to draw on there own personal experience to bring the world of electricals to their customers.

In Comet it takes lots of different people to make that happen – and not just the huge number they have working in their retail stores. There are the delivery drivers carrying out installations in people's homes. There are the after-sales teams helping customers get the most out of their products. And there are all the specialists working in head office to ensure the business continues to grow and improve.

Although you’ll find all kinds of different people in the business, there really is only one Comet.

So what is it like working for Comet?

Comet have people of all ages and backgrounds working for them. The young mums who benefit from thei flexible working policies. The career professionals looking for great training and development. The semi-retired people who enjoy earning the extra cash.

It is a fast-paced, customer focussed and professional business without being bureaucratic and overly formal. Their culture and atmosphere in their stores, warehouses, call centres and their head office is to be friendly, open and encouraging. If you work at Comet they can guarantee that every day will be different, and you will have the opportunity to use all of your skills and talents as well as developing new ones.

Their retail store operation is by far the biggest part of their business, with many different levels within them, from customer associates and warehouse colleagues to merchandising coordinators and store managers. Within these roles, Comet have people of all ages and backgrounds working for them; young mums who benefit from thei flexible working policies, career professionals looking for great training and development, and semi-retired people who enjoy earning the extra cash.

Although their backgrounds may be very different - what is common with all of their teams, is their passion for delivering great service, having fun and enjoying work!

There retail stores are open seven days a week, and things can get pretty hectic, especially around Christmas. But it can also be great fun. In fact, the energetic pace of their stores is one of the things that makes them such rewarding places to work.

Another thing is the kind of customer service you can offer. As one of their sales team, you won't just be pointing people in the right direction. You'll be engaging them in conversation, finding out about their needs, and making sure they end up with the product that's right for them.

You'll also be giving them the benefit of your technical knowledge and expertise, but don't worry if that sounds a bit daunting as Comet’s e-learning modules will soon get you up to speed. Besides, you already know a lot more about electricals than you think, and the experience you have of using them (whether it's downloading tunes onto an MP3 player or cooking the Sunday roast) can really help you talk to customers.

And the rewards? Well, it's not just the salary, bonuses and benefits, although they offer everyone the chance to earn performance bonuses. These vary in nature, but most are based on the quality of service you provide. There are also great learning and development opportunities to look forward to. Plus the satisfaction of providing the kind of service that customers really appreciate with this and working for Comet is a fantastic opportunity. The commitment to succession planning and people development from Comet is industry leading; over two thirds of Comet’s Area Manager population started as sales or warehouse colleagues and some as temporary workers.

If you enjoy working in a dynamic, fun and supportive environment where you are rewarded properly, developed and challenged then Comet could be the career for you. McCarthy is currently recruiting for Retail Store Managers, Sales Managers and Deputy Managers throughout the UK. If you are interested please pick up the phone and talk to one of our consultants, register with us or send your CV.

View all the retail jobs from Comet »

McCarthy Recruitment is actively seeking to fill positions for this client.
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