I don’t usually write reviews, but this one feels necessary because I genuinely don’t know how much longer my Assistant Manager and I can continue like this.
I have been with the company for around a year, and in that time I’ve watched multiple managers go off sick or leave entirely. I’m still here, and I consider myself a strong, resilient person, but even I feel like I’m being pushed to breaking point.
The workload expected of Store Managers and Assistant Managers is completely unrealistic. We are contracted for a set number of hours, yet consistently work far beyond them – often doing 12-hour days just to keep the store afloat. We do not receive overtime pay, whereas hourly-paid colleagues are paid to the minute. This creates a huge imbalance, especially when the responsibility sits with us.
We are based on a retail park that simply does not generate enough footfall or sales to match the expectations set by head office. This is not a new issue – I’ve worked in multiple stores on this same retail park and it has always been the same. Despite this, we are expected to hit targets and then justify overspending on wages when we physically cannot run the store on the hours provided.
Most days, we are running the entire store with just two people. At the same time, we are expected to:
• Constantly man the cosmetics aisle
• Greet and engage every single customer across the store to deter theft and drive sales
• Push promotions and hit targets on key lines like Star Buys
• Maintain full compliance with planograms, pricing, and merchandising standards
Alongside this, the operational workload is relentless:
• Weekly SOM tasks
• Weekly reporting to the security manager
• Cashier security reports
• Top 100 and Top 30 tasks, Date code
• Manager orders and stock control
• Full management of 15 cosmetic stands (no gaps, fully stocked, replenished from drawers and back stock)
• Deliveries (often 8 cages and 20 totes) to unload, process, and put out
• Recycling management
• Office and BOH cleaning (which no one even sees or spends enough time in, I wish I had the chance to sit in the office! But it’s so unrealistic!
There is also constant scrutiny:
• CCTV monitoring on how long tasks take
• Questions around damages and why more “saleable damages” aren’t being sold
• Clearance standards constantly challenged
• Stockroom organisation (e.g. cardboard separation, stock mixed up because the deliveries are incorrect)
Monthly promotional changes are a huge strain. We regularly work until 10:30pm completing:
• Full promo setups
• New FSU builds
• Re-ticketing entire product ranges
• Updating gondola ends, wings, and sides
• Setting up new Star Buy areas
• Ensuring fragrance meets “what good looks like” standards
Audits are another major pressure point. Every morning we do refund and price reduction checks, knowing they will also be reviewed externally. Failing an audit results in having to call the Area Manager, which is often an incredibly stressful experience. The standards required to pass are becoming increasingly difficult to achieve given the lack of time and staffing.
Security processes are also extensive:
• Daily safe checks
• Weekly deadlocks (which take far longer than allocated, especially counting tills manually despite having a Tellermate because of audit expectations)
• Tagging all items £15+
• Ongoing staff training on tills and loss prevention
Stores can be placed on improvement programmes (such as shrinkage action plans), which adds even more workload, including scanning large volumes of products across departments.
On top of all this, there are additional pressures:
• Beauty Services expectations (piercing targets, nail services performance)
• Poor support from external reps (e.g. broken cosmetic stands not being fixed)
• Warehouse sending incorrect or excessive stock, leaving drawers overflowing with products we don’t sell
Breaks are often missed or cut short because there simply isn’t enough cover. Even basic support, like cleaning, is unreliable.
What makes this even harder is that I actually love my team, my store, and the products we sell. That’s what has kept me here. But the reality is that the expectations placed on management are not achievable within contracted hours or provided resources.
This isn’t just a complaint – it’s genuinely a cry for help. Something needs to change. Stores cannot continue to operate like this without serious impact on the wellbeing of the people running them.
I want to stay, I want to succeed, and I care about what I do. But right now, it feels like no matter how hard we work, it will never be enough – and that’s not sustainable for anyone.
