Lucy Miller, General Manager of Boots Piccadilly Circus branch in London won the Store Manager of the Year award at The Retail Week Awards 2017 last week (9 March).
Lucy, who has been managing the branch for the past year, received the award for her dedication to people, and her passionate desire to deliver results.
At just 25, Lucy is one of the youngest General Managers working for Boots UK. She leads a team of approximately 150 colleagues, and has spent time working in other parts of the business, namely as a Healthcare Adviser, a Photo Consultant, a Customer Assistant and National Account Manager.
We caught up with Lucy earlier this week to discuss winning the award, her career to date and her day job.
Can you tell us how you came to work for Boots UK?
I always wanted to make a difference to people. I started working for Boots UK when I was 16, as a Customer Assistant in a store in Street, Somerset. I fell in love with the business's purpose; caring for, making a positive difference to and putting a smile on customers’ faces made me feel good. I realised very early on that I really enjoy retail and pharmacy and that there are no other stores on the high street that provide the same feel good factor that Boots does.
Of all the roles you’ve held within the business, which is your favourite and why?
Every role has had its highlights. However, if I was to choose then it would have to be the National Account Manager role for care home services that saw me look after the healthcare needs of the elderly - some of the most vulnerable people in society. Also, working with national chains of care homes, sharing our proposition and brand, developing relationships and commercially securing new patients to serve was very rewarding.
What does winning the Store Manager of the Year award mean to you?
It’s humbling to win such a prestigious award, whilst going up against the very best store leaders in the UK. I feel delighted to have been recognised by Boots UK and externally, and I feel privileged to have worked with so many leaders from the business, all of whom have contributed to who I am today.
Other than winning the award, what are some of your greatest achievements to date?
It is really important to me to give something back, and a particular cause very close to my heart is caring for people living with cancer. One of the most challenging things I've done in recent times was running the London Marathon for Macmillan Cancer Support in 2016, with the support of Boots UK. Whist I never thought I could run a marathon, I did it whilst raising a significant amount of money to support a great cause in the process.
Can you tell us what you get up to on a day-to-day basis?
No two days are ever the same – every day brings new and exciting challenges. However, the most important thing to me is ensuring my team is inspired, engaged and motivated to help ensure our customers have a great experience in-store. It's really important to me that we give every colleague of ours an opportunity to establish a career for themselves, and therefore development at all levels is core to what I, and my leadership team, strive for.