retail sales associate

kitchen designer

store manager

salesperson

design assistant

Magnet

I started my role at Magnet back in August and was introduced to some major concerns immediately from colleagues and now prior colleagues. They voiced their concern with the sheer turn over of staff at the branch and the concern of role involvement that I would be undertaking.

Immediately within my second month of working, my colleague left (who had been at the branch for about 8 months) I was then working alone at my branch. This may not sound like a bad thing for some, or for most, but for me, this was quite a daunting task, I was given 3 prior designers work, plus the additional work of my own. I was then pushed for targets without knowing the full extent of my role, I had no real support from anyone above, and this felt like a very isolating experience. I explained this a few times to management and other colleagues, who did help in what they could, but with the design side of things, was unsure and was starting to pick up bad habits, which I had no idea were bad habits at the time. This was just a sheer overwhelming task, even for anyone, and trying to learn, start gaining my own customers, then also to manage old customers that were not mine, is a ridiculous task for anyone. 

The key part of this isolating period was the fact, I was left alone for most, if not all evening shifts, with a basic understanding of what to do and not the highest amount of confidence to face my role. I was starting to doubt my own key skills at this time. This upon reflection was an aggravating experience, something that meant I was getting home ridiculously late especially heading into their sale period. 
Magnet started pushing our branch to open up late, and work us on late shifts understandably to get customers in for the evenings, however, for our branch this was something that really did not work in our favour. However, due to poor rota schedules, I was conveniently placed on every single late shift and being on my own for up to 4 hours at a time meant it was extremely boring and extremely frustrating. Even if management was in, they would leave at 5pm leaving me to face the evenings on my own. I am happy, I have always been happy to work weekends, but a Sunday where I would work alone was not a great experience. Multiple customers would walk in at once, either whilst I was in an appointment or discussing a possible lead with another. Being on my own meant that I was turning down arguably more leads because of this poor decision. I had received comments from other managers that this was not a good decision for me to be in a branch on my own during a busy weekend.

I think one of the key issues Magnet faces for a designer role is how much sheer paperwork there is to fill out. We had no assistant, or assistance in this regard, and only being taught the proper procedure very late(4 months into my role), this became very overwhelming. Management pushed for sales, which of course is an intended part of the role, but did not allow any time for this to be caught up with. The amount of paperwork is ridiculous, something that I believe needs to be condensed and worked upon, to take away at least some stress from the designers. They push for a "modern" approach, however the way they tackle this approach is very dated, printing out sheer numbers of paperwork and stuffing them into folders does not appear modern or even professional. 

Moving on to about Feb, I had a lot of things going on in my personal life that are still going on and are still quite important to me, I was struggling massively with my mental health, something that I found was told to be supported then taken back whenever I did need support with this. I then got signed off of work. Now during this time, I did what I needed too and started deciding finding a new job for me was the best idea, and or best opportunity for me to leave. After coming back hopeful to the branch, the first question I was properly asked was, do I have any sales lined up for this week. I then was ignored by management for the day, which I would believe should not be the case and should obviously be quite the opposite. Following that week, I was ignored pretty much the entire time, until the Saturday in which I had handed my notice in, from then on, it seemed like everyone in management was glad for me to be leaving, no one asked if I wanted to stay or even fight for it. 

My last complaint (I could unfortunately write a lot of complaints) was that the complaints that customers had, which in reflection could have been solved by myself, ended up in a high escalation process. The management would immediately play the defensive role, leading the customer to have a bad experience and result in them either not returning to Magnet, leaving a bad review or not even recommending us to future friends or family to come to Magnet. 

It genuinely scares me with a company like this, how poor the staff turnover is, something that everyone seems to ignore and play off like nothing ever happens. Unfortunately, this is true, management gets worse, the workload gets worse, and no one seems to push or understand that this needs to get better for the colleagues to have a pleasurable experience working at Magnet. I hope the branch learns from myself and my experience, however I am very doubtful. I am very thankful for the staff I worked with in my branch, genuinely a fantastic bunch of colleagues and I do hope they thrive, I am just disappointed with the management and scale of the workplace.



I was a RSD retail sales designer and worked at a branch that also had the trade sales section within the same building.
The training was OK but I've had better and from what I can remember the induction course was at head office for three or four days.
The rest of your training takes place at your branch and sometimes on a two day course at other showrooms. These were again OK but I felt they needed to stick their head out of the Magnet bubble to see how the competition were doing things and develope some form of differentiation.
At the branch I was working at I saw a change of management three times and the turnover of sales designers was just as bad.
The people I worked with were OK but some members of staff that had been with the company a long time liked to talk about what they were going to do when they left ?

The senior management were clearly from the old school of Magnet that had somehow worked their way into positions that from what I could only assess as paper shufflers and made simple processes harder than they should be.
For example I had just got my head around how to use an in house CRM system that had been developed by Magnet 25 years prior, when they anounced they had spent Millions of pounds on a new system based on SAP's that was supposed to be easy to use.

I do not know if that member of staff who introduced the SAP system to Magnet is still with them, but it was a complete waste of money and I am sure it has cost the group millions in lost sales because it was not user friendly and both trade and retail staff struggled to become a competent user. If you are going to work for Magnet soon I prey that they have resolved that system for you, I really do.

The hardest part of the job was the SAP system and trying to keep your retail customer away from going trade. Another frustration you may have if your branch is both trade and retail. The retail designers earnt commission and the trade department share the profits on the profits. The trade kitchens are the same kitchens as the retail kitchens but with different names ??
I assume that if the old boy network still runs the ship at Magnet then this will still be the case.

The basic was OK but the commission was not, infact I think its the worst commission structure I have experienced. Its not straight forward or simple to work out and when you eventally get it in a wage slip you are going to spend a while working out what you have been paid on and what you have due. Sometimes I didn't even know what the I'd recieved money for?

The most enjoyable part of the job was having a really nice shoroom and your own desk and presentation area with a large 42 inch screen for your prospective customer to gaze at.


Working at Magnet has been an enlightening experience, albeit one fraught with challenges. As I reflect on my time here, I feel compelled to share my thoughts on several critical aspects that significantly impact the workplace environment.

One of the most glaring issues at Magnet is the lack of work-life balance. The relentless demands of the job often spill over into personal time, leaving little room for relaxation or rejuvenation. Despite efforts to establish boundaries, the pervasive culture of overwork undermines any semblance of equilibrium between professional responsibilities and personal well-being. This is of course heightened by the incompetence of managers, who are unable to do the bare minimum of their employees roles, and are not willing to learn. 

Compensation is another area where Magnet falls short. The disparity between the level of dedication required and the financial reward offered is disheartening. Despite pouring considerable time and effort into my role, the compensation package provided does not adequately reflect my contributions or the market value of similar positions. A free lunch does not make up for being underpaid and overworked. 

Perhaps the most detrimental factor to the overall morale and productivity within Magnet is the lack of effective management. The absence of strong leadership leaves employees feeling adrift, unsure of expectations or direction. Decisions are often arbitrary, and communication channels are fraught with ambiguity, resulting in frustration and disengagement among team members. This is of course when the manager actually takes the time to work, and is not running personal errands. 

Career progression at Magnet is disappointingly stagnant. Despite aspirations for growth and advancement, opportunities for promotion or professional development are scarce. The lack of a clear path forward leaves employees feeling disillusioned and undervalued, ultimately hindering morale and retention.

In conclusion it is crucial to address the systemic issues that hinder employee satisfaction and success. Addressing the need for better work-life balance, fair compensation, improved management practices, and meaningful career progression is essential to fostering a positive and productive work environment. Only through concerted efforts to prioritise the well-being and professional growth of employees can Magnet hope to thrive in the long term.

Magnet is a double-edged sword. The pay is good and the commission scheme and team bonus can provide excellent uncapped earnings (although some bonuses/regional competitions heavily favour the large Prestige branches as they are based on pure turnover and are not pro-rata'd for branch size, number of staff etc). it also came to light on multiple occasions that new employees with no prior experience were often taken on at similar or even higher wages than established designers with proven track records, and discussion between employees of their salaries was discouraged.

The brand has 100 years' heritage and is seen as relatively upmarket, which customers like. Magnet owns a huge UK factory so makes many of its own products, which can help with quality control and stock management.

Product quality was generally high, but staff knowledge and ability varied wildly due to high staff turnover in some branches and a generally poor attitude to training.

The two key downsides are the work-life balance at certain times of year, and the general culture and attitude of the senior management. During the January Sale, retail staff return to work on Boxing Day and are typically pressured to work between 13 and 15 days' straight, and to then work 6-day weeks for a further four weeks. However, the commission earned during this time of year can be huge.

The main downside to working for Magnet is the bullying and cliquey culture of the senior leadership team. I should point out that I worked for Magnet for 8 years but only in the southwest, so in other parts of the country this may be different. But in the southwest, The regional director was a bully who would treat the branch managers like dirt, which led to massive staff turnover at branch manager level in particular, and sales designers to a lesser extent. The other two regional-level managers were a sexist, incompetent habitual liar and an ineffective but bolshy manager whose main function seemed to be to copy and paste the emails sent out by the other two.

Career progression was possible if a designer or trade salesperson wanted to advance to management, but there were no other avenues for progression, e.g. moving in to training or HR roles unless you were willing to relocate to Darlington, where Head Office is based.

Overall, Magnet could be a fantastic place to work and pays well, but is often let down by intractable senior managers with an outdated work ethic and poor attitude to employee wellbeing.

The management is all wrong and there is no support at all from the managers above. As a new person you need to be supported and the people who are in charge of you do not support you,  all they care about is taking a deposit and do not care about the actual customer. There was countless time where my customers were messed around by my manager and pressured in to putting a deposit down even when they was not even 50% happy with the kitchen/deal. Even though I was from a 'carpentry' background they believed they knew more then I did baring mind I actually worked on construction sites which included fitting kitchens! The main problem is that they like to take all the glory and make the young newbies who are on probation take the nasty part of it when the customers come in using foul language because they have been messed around by management the person in charge would run off and hide in the warehouse so they did not have to face the customers that were messed abound by this person in the first place. I used to have to remind the manager countless times to issue a refund of 1000 pounds to a customer and it took the manager 6 weeks to issue a refund. I am happy my probation ended and will be looking at going back on to construction sites because I enjoyed it so much more on them then I did at this company. You need to enjoy what you do and let me warn you now you will enjoy it at the start like I did but after a few months it will be horrible like it was for me and even if they doubled my wages I would not of stayed. 

This is just my honest opinion of the company and how I was treated!

I am a current manager in the southeast region, and the company has just had a massive restructure and behold the godfathers (RD) are gone. Which is great but the choices of the ASM that we have now should of gone with them because all they will do is infect us with the useless copy and paste that only regional has somehow managed to believe is leadership. HR for the southeast is more interested in being friends so they can be getting away earlier and not interested in protecting the staff from the useless new regional. The two or one regional depending on how it’s split is either playing around with a designer and the other is in the job because they had there nose somewhere where it didn’t belong and put there before they got kicked out. I have worked and worked to achieve and push for the impossible and for what to be looked at and treated like I have given nothing. And I am taking this further and I am actively looking but i don’t trust the company to deal correctly with it, but the whole culture in this company needs to change and needs to start with out with the old and in with the new. Head office is a joke and that needs shot off fast utter useless I am actually lost for words to describe them to be honest, to be honest I’d rather see magnet on the ropes with a rib shot just to end there chances of ever getting back up. So don’t work here or if you do, get out! 

I begun working for Magnets in April 2008 as Business developer, my tasks included, making 70-80 out bound calls a day to exsisting customers to getting new customers, creating and cleaning data, mailing existing and new customers lit,going through sales logs and calling existing cumstomers that have not been in for a while and getting them back, helping on front desk, helping in retail,designing and selling kitchens.
I was soon given the role as external rep as well and my main duty was driving around the local area looking for builders,property developers and building sites to talk the builders into signing up for an account with us and showing them the benefits of doing so, however when i came across a builder already on our books and was working on a project i would ask if he or she needed anything and ring through to the shop to have it made ready for them for pick up. i wasnt meant to be selling anything but was there most succsessful seller they had.With help from my manager we pulled a store that was facing closer to a thriving business within three months so much so that i was asked to look after a store in crayford as well as my store in strood and do the same there on alternative weeks. without a pay rise the work load did get to much for me in the end, i was not allowed to lessen my work load so regretablly i had to resign my post.  

Magnet is generally a good business, however unless you're a designer your incentives are extremely poor, not only do they get better commission they get certain incentives throughout the year where they can earn very good money unlike every other role. 

The regional only cause stress and are no help, they'll push and push for targets even though all their day job seems to be is to copy and paste previous emails from other hierarchy and slate you to other members of staff and management which for some reason they seem to think is acceptable? and the way they speak to staff is just disgusting! not only that but sexism seems to be the in thing amongst regionals.. very old fashioned in their ways. Unless you're a lad, and their lad at that you have no chance and even then expect to get treated and spoken to like rubbish. 
If they want you out, you'll be out. No acceptable reason or process needed, you'll be pushed out of the company one way or another due to bullying. 
Also they'll call last minute to see what you can push through sales wise to make sure they get their nice chunky bonus just for sending out emails. 

it is a shame as Magnet could be a fantastic place to work. Luckily I managed to find another role elsewhere and when you move on boy do you see the difference in how the company is ran. it's a pity if this company was run properly with less snakes and kings I probably would have stayed

For years I loved working at Magnet, had a great team, decent manager but the pay stagnates with no progression and they refuse to compete with offers from other companies - they'd rather lose you and rehire and this results in high staff turnover.
The commision scheme is particularly lacking and staff are leaving in droves as it's just not rewarding for all your efforts.
If you're lucky enough to be mates with the manager you'll do fine - business will be pushed your way to the detriment of other staff. 
It's not even done behind people's backs sometimes - there is no shame about 'looking after their own', it's disgusting and more staff are looking to leave as a result. 
In a time when people are struggling to pay the bills you'd think they'd look after the staff and share leads equally - but no - mates are the priority. 
I hear this is happening at other stores but people don't want to rock the boat, so managers and their mates are getting away with it - higher up don't check on sales patterns as long as the store is performing - maybe they know it's happening? 
Either way it makes you feel like rubbish when you work your posterior off and others are handed sales (and therefore commission) on a plate because they go to the pub with the boss on a Friday night. So wrong.

I've worked on both the retail side and the contracts side of the business and I have to say that moving to CKS was the best decision I've made since joining Magnet. Every day is different; you can be here, there and everywhere surveying or planning kitchens, picking up stock or on the odd occasion going to meetings and training. When it gets busy it gets BUSY but your team is always there to support you; there's always someone at the end of the phone that can help answer any questions or even plan/price kitchens for you if you just don't think you'll have the time to get them done. I never thought I'd be in a job where I could actually see myself staying there long term but I think this is the one for me and there are plenty of opportunities for progression and Magnet actually WANT you to progress. I can't comment on the other teams but the Scotland & North East team are brilliant; we work hard but still manage to have a laugh and meet up for the odd night out! I think for me the main thing is that management treat you with respect; they don't talk down to you and give credit where credit is due but also push you to want to do more and do better. Overall it's a great place to work, some properties are not the most pleasant to go in to but you've got to take the bad with the good.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Retail sales associate 141 salaries reported	£31,440 per year
Kitchen designer 85 salaries reported	£34,834 per year
Store manager 33 salaries reported	£41,992 per year
Salesperson 31 salaries reported	£27,538 per year
Design assistant 27 salaries reported	£26,634 per year

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