Service is increasingly important to customers and we are refining our offer on a store-by-store basis to meet precise local needs. One element of this is extended trading hours – 24-hour opening, late nights and Sundays are an important example of how Tesco makes customers' lives easier and increases their loyalty to our stores.

Last year, we invested an extra £30m on more staff and better Service in our existing stores. Our research shows that there is no such thing as an 'average' customer. In areas where shoppers place a higher priority on personal service, we invested in extra customer assistants and added more counters. There are now 211 hot chicken counters, 211 meat counters, and 210 pharmacies. More parking spaces, wider aisles and more conveniently placed products all make life easier.

Our customers' lifestyles are changing. They work longer, value their free time more and have less time for shopping. Extended trading hours allow customers to shop when it is convenient for them. Our customers want this, and it provides profitable volume growth for Tesco. Our superstore at Gatwick, for example, is now trading for twice as many hours as it did when it first opened 12 years ago. We now have 271 stores operating extended trading hours including 87 stores open 24 hours a day, six days a week.

The quality of our people is central to customers' satisfaction. This year has seen a major series of developments in staff recruitment and training, firmly focused on customer service. This covers not only essential skills related to specific checkout tasks, but also broader abilities like recognising customer types, needs and sales opportunities. At 82%, our staff retention rate continues to be one of the best in food retailing, reflecting the superior benefits and prospects we offer. We have a number of intensive development programmes in place and are in an excellent position to meet our future requirements for store, team and section managers.