From checkout operator to Mander Centre manager

Richard Scharenguivel's journey to centre manager at the Mander Centre proves the benefits of taking every opportunity that comes up.

And the 51-year-old, who was appointed centre manager last month, has big ambitions.

Department store Debenhams opened its doors last week as part of a £35 million revamp of the centre.

But there is much more to come, according to its new boss – who wants the Mander to become 'a vibrant regional destination shopping centre'.

Plotting the future of a shopping centre is a far cry from where Mr Scharenguivel's career started out.

After leaving school he began working at Sainsbury's in his native Warwickshire, operating the checkouts and cleaning shopping trolleys.

But after getting a place on the retail giant's trainee scheme he has never looked back.

Mr Scharenguivel said: "Sainsbury's offered me a full time job on the retail management trainee scheme.

"At the time their training was probably one of the best retail schemes you could be on.

"Then at the end of that scheme they offered me a secondment to work for the directors.

"I became PA for the deputy managing director. I was 21, doing everything from chauffeuring him around to accompanying him on site visits.

"I got to see the whole spectrum of the business and that whetted my appetite for retail."

After 18 months working for the deputy MD, Mr Scharenguivel returned back to working in stores and had spells in Kent, Berkshire, Essex and London.

Following a decade with Sainsbury's he joined House of Fraser at the Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex, saying 'the time was right to move across to department store retailing'.

Mr Scharenguivel became store manager in Maidstone before taking on the same job in Shrewsbury, Leicester and then Telford.

After 10 years at House of Fraser, he moved back to the Midlands, taking on the role of deputy general manager at Birmingham's Bullring.

He lives in Shrewsbury with his wife Cheryl – who is from West Bromwich – and 15-year-old son Daniel, who attends Thomas Adams School in Wem.

Working at The Bullring, one of Britain's busiest shopping destinations, offered a perfect learning curve, according to Mr Scharenguivel.

And it sparked a desire to run his own centre.

He said: "I got a great grounding there and there's no better location to learn.

"Footfall peaked at 39 million per year and we saw some great brands come into the centre.

"We had developments like creating Spiceal Street and refurbishing the Bullring link to Grand Central.

"So I'm familiar with refurbishments and expansions – but I wanted to run my own centre.

"I've been waiting for an opportunity to come up, and this one came up."

After 10 years working in Birmingham, Mr Scharenguivel decided to take the next step.

Seeing the revamp of the Mander Centre proved to Mr Scharenguivel it was the right place for him to take on a top job.

And he said he has also been impressed by optimistic plans for Wolverhampton itself – including the £55 million Westside development and £132 million Interchange project which will see a major upgrade to the city's railway station.

Mr Scharenguivel said: "I knew development had started and had seen a transformation in the three years since I'd last been at the Mander Centre.

"The thing that has impressed me the most is the passion in the city.

"I went to the WIRE Awards and everyone was incredibly welcoming to me.

"There was a drive, determination and motivation from everyone I met in wanting to see Wolverhampton change.

"It's great to see the plans for the future, with the Westside development bringing a new cinema, hotel and retail outlets and the £132 million for the Interchange project.

"I think I've come in at just the right time in terms of the transformation of both the centre and the city.

“Debenhams is a milestone and it strengthens the retail offer here.

"It gives people a destination to come to where they can get a multitude of products all under one roof.

“It will also complement our existing retailers here in the centre and also in the city as well – independents as well as multi-nationals.

"Debenhams is the first milestone which will change the dynamics of retail in Wolverhampton.

"But we are also in discussions with a number of other well-known retailers.

"The aim and objective here is to create a vibrant regional destination shopping centre.

"I think the centre has had a period of under-investment, but that's changed recently.

"But with the redevelopment the new sight lines are fantastic and you can see there's a mix of retailers and shopfronts.

"The flow around the centre is far better than it was."

He added: "We've got a catchment of over 500,000 people, including 250,000 in the city.

"With what we are planning we will give them all a reason to shop local.

"For people living in Wolverhampton I don't think we've ever given them a good credible offer so they've had to go elsewhere.

"But with what we're doing here we can give them a reason to shop locally, in the city where they live."