Tenby Post Office and convenience store is through to the finals of the Independent Achievers Academy (IAA awards) and the winners will be announced at the IAA gala dinner in London on November 22.

Tenby Stores and Post Office at Warren Street, will feature in two categories - Marketing to Customers and Staff Development.

Being a Postmaster and retailer in a tourist town Postmaster Vince Malone has to market his store differently and one popular service was to deliver groceries to tourists staying at the holiday parks, local B and Bs and day trippers to the beach as well as his regular customers.

A free marketing course run by the Welsh Government in Swansea really helped to develop Mr. Malone’s marketing plan.

Tenby goes from a poplar of 6,000 to 60,000 in summer, so there is a surge of new customers in the holiday season.

Vince Malone does a range of marketing – leaflets delivered to homes and holiday accommodation and social media. He uses traditional and modern methods to reach existing and potential customers.

Facebook’s post about deliveries to the beach and the introduction of glass milk bottles to the store to help reduce the need for plastic created a real buzz on the store’s site.

Vince, said: “My wife, Fiona and I, really care about the environment. Living by the sea you see how much pollution is washed up on the beach, so we decided to do something by sourcing reusable glass milk bottles. Our beach delivery service also got lots of hits on social media, but traditional leaflets still work well for increasing sales.

“As we have so many newcomers to the store we also have to do face-to-face marketing to help people to find different groceries and items in the store and to make them aware of the wide range of products and services that the Post Office offers.

“People who live in Tenby, where three bank branches have closed in recent years, know that they can get cash withdrawals at the Post Office, and we offer banking services on behalf of all the major banks, but many tourists don’t know. There is also a real need for cash in the town as tourists want to buy ice creams and drinks and quite a few of the restaurants only accept cash.”

There is a real emphasis on staff development, so that staff are fully aware of what is expected of them, the ethos of the staff and meaningful appraisals take place with the staff and comments and feedback is welcomed.

Because of the growing amount of banking done at the branch, staff suggested buying a note counter, which has really speeded up the serving of customers making large deposits as it can quickly count and check for any fraudulent notes. This has benefitted all customers.

“We have regular all-year-round staff and seasonal staff for the summer. Staff feel valued and we have good staff retention,” continued Vince.

“We care about their welfare too. When we took over the store six years ago the first summer was so hot in the summer and cold in the winter, it was hideous, so we fitted air conditioning, which made it a much better place to work and for customers to visit all year.”

The various marketing and staff development initiatives have helped Tenby Post Office and store to reach the finals of the Independent Achievers Academy (IAA). Post Office has been involved with the Independent Achievers Academy (IAA) since 2013.

It is a business development programme which enables motivated retailers to grow their sales and profits by following expert advice, including Post Office guidance on great customer service.

Retailers benchmark themselves against all 12 categories and the best performers become the ‘top 100’ retailers. The top 100 are all visited and independently scored to create a shortlist for the awards and there are 33 finalists in various categories in the IAA awards.