bfa Community Hero Nomination: Munawar Mohammed Card Connection’s Greeting Card Franchisee for Aberdeen

From Dundee to the tip of Scotland, Munawar’s franchise territory is huge. However, cards are so important for people to share special moments in their lives, that even in Lockdown Munawar was determined to help Scots stay connected.

He phoned every one of the 200 stores he supplies, to discuss how he could keep them stocked. With non-essential travel banned, he asked managers to send WhatsApp photos of their displays so he could see which cards needed replenishing, then posted exactly the stock they required.

The moment Lockdown eased, Munawar was out merchandising, fully kitted out with PPE and detailed procedures to protect himself and customers. Days were long and tiring – phoning stores before each visit, often merchandising displays very early in the morning or even out of hours to maintain hygiene practices and observe social distancing.

Going above and beyond to keep customers supplied has not gone unnoticed, so his relationship with store managers has never been stronger. With customers ‘buying local’ during lockdown, he’s even grown his sales compared to the same period last year.

“Munawar’s a fantastic advert for our brand,” said Card Connection Managing Director Michael Johnson, “He embodies the exemplary standards of service we believe in and that we see day in, day out, from our entire franchise network.”

Munawar’s finds it gratifying to be supplying such a positive product that works to counter a terrible virus that physically distances people, by bringing them closer together instead.