18 Jul 2012
Sporting legend Linford Christie whips Currys and PC World staff into shape for UK's biggest ever Summer of Sport
Currys and PC World have called upon the expertise of sporting legend and 100m gold medallist Linford Christie OBE, to create a training video with some kick in a quest to keep its store colleagues fit, healthy and super-motivated ahead of one of the biggest sporting events in UK history.
The light-hearted workout film has been commissioned by the UK's leading electrical retailer as a motivational morale booster; they fully expect colleagues to be rushed off their feet this summer with Brits dashing out to buy the latest technology to watch their favourite sports on.
Despite giving up competitive sport (and lycra!) a number of years ago Christie is now a successful athletics coach and has coached both Darren Campbell and Katharine Merry to Olympic medal glory – so he's no stranger to getting the best out of his athletes. Although not his usual crowd, Christie rose to the challenge of perfecting a short workout specifically tailored to the needs ofCurrys and PC World store colleagues.
Christie took to the shop floor in the retailers' flagshipTottenham Court Road store in London to film the training video where he led the workout with a willing audience of colleagues amongst the TVs and toasters. Currys and PC World store volunteers got into the spirit of things by supplementing their uniforms with headbands, legwarmers and sweatbands for the day as they trialled the workout.
The suggested exercise regime will be made available to all Currys and PC World colleagues to try out, if they wish, during what will be a busy time. The short film, which will be issued internally, contains a mix of low level store-specific exercises as well as some high-energy moves including press-ups, squats and bicep curls for those staff members who wish to take it a bit more seriously.
Linford Christie said: "You never realise how long store staff have to stand on the shop floor for each day and how much they have to lift, carry and do – it's all added stress on the body and a handful of simple stretches at the start of each shift, supplemented with regular exercise, can make all the difference. When I was originally approached for this I went into it all guns blazing, ready to push them to their limits as I would any high-performance athlete – but I was impressed, they were fitter than I thought!"
Alan Ritchie, UK Retail Director for Currys and PC World, added: "We wanted to take care of all our colleagues this summer, to spur them on and to ensure they remain fit and healthy despite the pressures of a busy sales period. Who better to ask than athletics superstar Linford Christie? We're honoured that he's supported our initiative and used his expertise from coaching some of Britain's top athletes to train some of Britain's top store colleagues."
"We have over 20,000 colleagues across the business – all playing their part during an epic summer of sport. Every one of them is vital to providing the excellent in-store and online experience we offer our customers. We want them all, store managers right through to weekend temps, to stay fit, healthy and engaged throughout the summer as they cope with additional workload we are expecting."
Will Chang, Tottenham Court Road store manager, said, "To have Linford in store training up our colleagues today has been fantastic – who would have thought we'd have a record-breaking gold medallist in our midst? We are always busy but this extra motivation has provided us with a real boost."
The five minute workout film which has been circulated to all 600 stores throughout the UK.
For further information, please contact the Dixons Retail Press Office:
Charlotte Frost / 020 7544 3623 / charlotte.frost@mcsaatchi.com
Simon Branney / 020 7544 3783 / simon.branney@mcsaatchi.com
Notes to Editor
About Currys and PC World:
Currys and PC World are part of Dixons Retail plc. With over 1,200 stores and online services spanning 28 countries, Dixons is widely acknowledged as one of Europe's leading specialist electrical retailing groups. Dixons employs over 38,000 people and provides top quality training to ensure their personnel can provide amazing customer service on products ranging from televisions to ovens, and computers to washing machines. Dixons Retail recently reported UK profits up 15% for the year.