SPAR Scotland has praised staff who went above and beyond to keep its Dundee depot running smoothly during last week’s spell of winter weather.
Heavy snowfall and plunging temperatures – the so-called ‘Beast from the East 2’ – could have brought things grinding to a halt, but round the clock snow clearing and gritting by eight staff – daily – kept the depot operation moving. Tuesday 9 February required 20 helpers from all over the distribution department just to keep the depot open. Each lorry took an average of 30 minutes to dig out of snow, load and depart.
Over the week 650,000 cases were scanned in, replenished, picked, loaded and delivered to SPAR stores around Scotland.
Colin McLean, CEO from SPAR Scotland, said: “Extraordinary situations called for extraordinary responses and I am so proud of how our entire team pulled together to ensure community SPAR stores received their deliveries.
“We had staff members who walked up to 2.5 hours to get to and from work and others who drove around in their own car collecting stranded colleagues to help them get in and out of work.
“The depot has put out larger volumes in the past but never have we faced such adversity. Weather warnings, blizzards, jack-knifed lorries in car parks and closed roads proved extremely difficult, but everyone rose to the challenge and we delivered the goods.”
In addition to all depot workers assisting, staff at SPAR Scotland stores cleared pathways and accesses around stores to allow customers to get safely in and out as well as enabling large vehicles to deliver.
“It showed us what a great team we have at SPAR Scotland. Everyone really has pulled together to play their role in helping communities while combating the Beast from the East. They are our unsung heroes,” McLean concluded.
