Big box update
Lithgow store plans
A contractor wins payout, Bunnings beats out Woolworths as "Most Trusted Brand" based on Roy Morgan consumer research and staff retention for staff
Mon Apr 15 2024
The intended location for the Bunnings store in Lithgow (NSW) is still in the process of mining the old Lithgow Valley Colliery coal seam, leaving a substantial hole in the terrain that will need to be filled in before construction starts. So there is no official timeline for when the store is likely to open.
Regional manager for Bunnings, Simon O'Grady, told the Lithgow Mercury the new store will be a $13 million investment in Lithgow spread over 6000sqm, and 25 per cent bigger than the existing western Main Street complex.
The improved layout will incorporate the trade requirements, timber yard, nursery and a wider range of home and lifestyle products.
Mr O'Grady said Bunnings is looking forward to bringing the new store to Lithgow and is eager for construction to get under way.
Related
Lithgow in development - HNN Flash, March 2023Contractor
Bunnings recently made a payout to a contractor worker who was seriously injured on the job.
Back in 2018, Sarah Jane was working as a merchandiser for Neutrog at the Seven Hills Bunnings store in Western Sydney. At the time, she severely injured her back when she knelt down to lift and drag forward a bucket of fertiliser to the front of a pallet. Each bucket weighed between 10.8 and 11.2 kilograms.
Ms Jane's case has gone before the NSW Supreme Court, with Bunnings agreeing to a settlement of $750,000 plus legal costs, which are reportedly about $500,000 but are yet to be determined. Neutrog, who Ms Jane was employed through, has been ordered to contribute to the costs.
Bunnings said they "knew or ought to have known" the foreseeable risk when they failed to train Ms Jane to use a pallet jack, which could have prevented her injury. Ms Jane received training through a Bunnings module but was not told pallet jacks were available to help her move stock forward.
These jacks are regularly used by Bunnings' own workers, however, court documents note Bunnings "did not apply the same rigour or adopt the same precautions for the merchandisers, who were nonetheless subject to Bunnings control and oversight".
Ms Jane said she continues to suffer from the back injury and it has affected her ability to parent her kids. She told news.com.au:
It's a win but it doesn't really feel like a win. Not just everything that they've put me through, but just the injury itself, and how much it's changed my life and how much I've missed out on with my kids when they were young.
Staff retention
In its survey of best places to work around the country, The Australian found that "many organisations show enormous innovation, drive, resourcefulness and talent to push forward even as the economic landscape within the nation and in the rest of the world is changing at a fast pace".
According to Bunnings, it has a high retention rate of more than 80 per cent permanent staff, and has more than 2800 team members who have been with the company for 20-plus years. Damian Zahra, Bunnings' chief people officer, told The Australian:
A phrase you'll often hear around Bunnings is 'we live here too', which is in reference to the fact that many of our team live, work and raise families in the roughly 400 communities where we operate.
Many of our team members feel a real sense of pride and connection by working in their own local communities, which we find naturally helps them stay engaged, productive and happy. We're really fortunate to be in this position and we certainly don't take it for granted.
We're also proud of the collective attitude of our support centre team who work hard each day to help set our stores up for success. They all really embrace the diverse and fast-paced nature of the retail industry and enjoy the cross-collaboration between the many different functions that support the business.
Culture and attitude mean everything at Bunnings. For our store teams in particular, we always look for people who love working in a team and providing customers with great service, as we know these attributes help us deliver strong results and make Bunnings a great place to work.
One of our core HR philosophies is ensuring we maintain a multi-generational workforce. Age is not a barrier at Bunnings and we have really strong team cohorts across all age demographics - from young people still in school to mature-aged team members, some even into their 90s.
Caleb Whitaker, a supervisor at Bunnings Maitland said he has worked at more than 10 Bunnings stores across Australia.
Each one of them has a friendly, welcoming and supportive team. The culture that Bunnings has built really stands out and is something customers often appreciate.
I've really valued the flexibility that's come from working at Bunnings. This is my 10th year at the business and during this time I've been able to work after school, during uni and even while I travelled. The business allows you to work around your life schedule, which has been great.
As part of Bunnings' Travelling Team Member program I was able to continue working while touring around Australia with my wife for 14 months - which was honestly one of the best experience of our lives.
We travelled over 40,000km in total, and during that time I worked shifts at eight Bunnings stores across six different states. I don't think many other workplaces could've facilitated something like that - it was amazing.
Top brand
Bunnings has been crowned the most trusted brand in the 12 months to December 2023, based on results from the 2023 Roy Morgan Risk Monitor survey. It has returned to the top spot after three-and-a-half years, dethroning Woolworths.
Bunnings lost its title as Australia's most trusted brand to Woolworths in May 2020. However, since October 2022, Bunnings has shown a strong recovery, achieving the largest improvement in trust among all trusted brands. Roy Morgan chief executive Michele Levine said:
Bunnings is a brand with a vast reservoir of goodwill and reputational strength fed by dramatically more trust than distrust... its trust has been climbing steadily over the past year while its minimal distrust remains fairly stable.
In its research, Roy Morgan found that Australians' distrust in companies has grown in the last year, with reasons including corporate greed, poor customer service, unaffordable prices, dishonesty, unethical practices, and poor privacy practices. Bunnings has managed to buck the trend against an economic environment where trust has eroded. Ms Levine explains:
Bunnings has harnessed many of the foundational pillars of a trusted brand including great customer service, communicating what it stands for and delivering, being an active part of the community, solving customer's problems and expertise and product knowledge.
The Roy Morgan Risk Monitor canvasses about 2000 Australians every month on 1000 brands across 26 industries.