ORANGE
A TEAM player A
fter 27 years of owning supermarkets, Ian Ashcroft, the eldest of five kids raised in Melbourne, is at the top of his game, winning just about every award in the business while caring for his staff and the community he has adopted.
Starting with Safeway as a 15-year-old boy, Ian was eventually offered a trainee-manager role. During his 13-year stint at Safeway, he studied accounting at Melbourne’s Swinburne University but was so keen to enter the workforce he decided to leave after one year. At age 28, Ian visited Orange for the first time. He considered it a beautiful city and an excellent starting point for his soon-to-be burgeoning food empire. Starting in 1988, he bought the run-down Payless Supermarket in Peisely Street, which was rebranded to Tuckerbag IGA (in 1995) and then as a Supa IGA store (in 2000). In the meantime he expanded at every opportunity, purchasing the Jewel Supermarket in Bathurst (which he ran for five years before selling in 2004). He and his wife Rochelle then purchased the Supa IGA at Moss Vale (in late 2008) and a second Supa IGA (ex-Franklins) in Orange about two years ago. Recently, in conjunction with son Ben and fiancée Mel, a further store was purchased in Dubbo, for the second generation of retailers in the family. His other son, Adam, works as a store manager in their original store in Peisley Street. With four big stores to their name, the Ashcroft conglomeration today employs about 400 people, all of whom Ian knows by name. “Our team is our primary focus. You need a high standard in everything because the consumers expect it,” he says. “You must have a vision as to what you want to achieve and our aim has always been to provide an environment for our teams and individuals to succeed in, while offering a great ambience for our customers to shop.” Ian and Rochelle feel privileged to be able to assist their great community and support Riding for the Disabled, the Orange Food Van (for people struggling to get meals), RSPCA, the Homeless Shelter, the Bowen Public School Breakfast Program and many others. Rochelle loves helping people and plays a big role on the charity side. At work she looks after the hugely important human resources segment of the business while Ian runs the operational side of things. They are a formidable team in business and equally happy in marriage. Ian keeps fit playing golf and riding his bike but also enjoys working out at the gym or walking the streets with Rochelle and Mia, their muchloved mini Groodle. But work is never far from his mind. “In this business you need a great technical understanding of how a supermarket works. You have to be good with numbers, excel in building your team and most of all be passionate,” he says. “It took me 10 years to turn my first business around and it was a huge learning curve. Many times I questioned my sanity in buying the business.” While there may have been moments of madness, it is fairly obvious Ian is ticking all the right boxes. In 2006 he won the Australian IGA Store of the Year award before collecting the prestigious international gong one year later – the culmination of 18 years of steady growth and hard work in the business.
Business and life partners Ian and Rochelle Ashcroft.
“Over the years we have won many IGA awards but the one we’re particularly proud of – outside the big one – is winning the best customer service/culture award nationally in all our three current stores. No one has emulated this feat in Australia. Winning these awards really reflects the high calibre of our teams.” He’s hard to define but Ian Ashcroft is obviously passionate, energetic, caring, analytical, has strong opinions and is a team player always looking into the crystal ball. He’s never happy standing still and performs best out of his comfort zone. “I am on a constant quest for growth and don’t believe anybody should say they’ve made it until just before their last breath on this planet,” he says with a grin. “My goal in life is to ensure we are good people with high integrity. Hopefully we can provide our staff with a healthier work environment compared to others.” With department and store managers firmly in place, the Ashcrofts see their role as setting the vision and acting as mentors for others. “The supermarket industry has kept us firmly balanced in our life-core values. We deal with a hugely diverse group of people every day and do our best in caring for them all. Our five philosophies of life are health, integrity, relationships, growth and contribution needs.” If you can focus on all these aspects, he says, you can be pretty well assured of a fulfilling and happy life. CWL ORANGE CWL 67