Meet Lee Taylor, Retail Divisional Head

Lee looks after 170 Vodacom stores, from the Midlands to Elgin in the North of Scotland, with the help of 9 Regional Managers and a very supportive boss. He tells us what it’s like to move through the ranks at Vodacom, building relationships with customers and colleagues alike.

Jan 24, 2018
 

I started with Vodacom in 2009 after a lifetime working in retail in large DIY and food stores. My first role in Vodacom was as a Regional Manager, and next I took on projects to stretch and develop me before moving to a Head of Central Operations role in Newbury. After that, I was very lucky to have the chance to become Divisional Head of London before moving back to the North in 2016.


What I love about being at Vodacom is that every day is different, whether I’m talking to a customer about Pay Monthly, Pay as You go, Internet of Things , Home Broadband and other services. I love the people here too – our teams in stores are so engaged and love having fun at work. I work with a brilliant consumer leadership team who support each other day in, day out. In my first 18 months in my role as Divisional Head in the North I was lucky enough to visit all my stores which meant I got to meet thousands of people across all parts of the country.


It’s a busy job. I look after around 170 stores, from the Midlands up to Elgin in the North of Scotland and across to Northern Ireland. I split my time out on store visits or working out of our Head office in Newbury and our hubs in Manchester, Stoke and Newark. Thankfully, I’m supported by 9 Regional Managers who look after 15-20 stores each. I also work alongside a number of Partner Agent who run some Vodacom stores as their own business. I also sit on the North West Regional Board where I work with my colleagues from Networks, Enterprise, Strategy and Planning, Marketing and Customer Care. We come together once per month to ensure all we focus with a joined up approach to ensure we make the North West of the country the best as we can for our customers.


My team and I try to do a Give Something Back day a couple of times a year to support local charities. It’s something we all find really satisfying and it’s great to feel I can contribute to the community by working with my employer. Out of work I’ve just retired after 15 years of coaching junior football teams so it’s great to have my Saturday and Sunday mornings back, I also spend time travelling the country supporting Manchester City when I’m not busy doing retail stuff!!!