Thomas Cook, Dundee City Square

He has managed Thomas Cook branches for more than 26 years, and can boast of running one of the most successful stores in the whole country.

The shop has won local recognition as the best retailer in Dundee city centre too, beating off competition from clothing giant New Look.

The store is home to a team of 21 agents, ranging experience from 30 years in travel to newly qualified Modern Apprentices. On the ground floor, there’s a bank of high-tech tablets where customers can watch destination and hotel videos while waiting to be seen.

Downstairs there’s a private lounge-room where higher-value bookings can be discussed: this is normally the domain of Moira Lumsden, who has earned the title of top sales-person across the entire Thomas Cook retail network.

Thomas Cook Dundee City Square has experimented with a range of local marketing initiatives from newspaper advertising to sponsoring a bonny baby competition, and has even had a regular slot on a local digital TV channel, raising its profile with a younger demographic.

Customer satisfaction is monitored intently by the team. The store has almost all five-star ratings on its Facebook page, and when customers are asked via the Net Promoter Score system if they would recommend the store, they overwhelmingly agree. But it’s the number of personal emails and thank you notes that the team receive that really demonstrates how much they care about their customers.

One couple pops into the store every single Saturday to bring the staff sweets and treats, and at Christmas time the same couple buys a personal gift for every single staff member.

According to Stewart, the secret of maintaining such a phenomenally successful store is a strong team spirit. With regular party nights, and fancy dress a frequent occurrence, this is a team that works hard and plays hard, which simply creates a great place to work.

• thomascook.com