Tesco
Project Overview
At Tesco Sandhurst, RMS brought together its full range of retail transformation services to support one of the most extensive Tesco store remodels delivered by the business to date.
The project involved a comprehensive transformation of the 166,045 sq ft superstore, introducing new Best Store in Town (BSIT) concepts, updated departments, new fixtures and equipment and innovative retail design across the store.
From major shelving reconfigurations and storewide merchandising to specialist construction works, equipment management and embedded project management, RMS played a central role in delivering the transformation.
Working within a busy, fully trading superstore, RMS coordinated multiple specialist teams, managed complex overnight phasing and adapted to evolving project requirements, ensuring transformed areas were ready for customers each morning.
Tesco Sandhurst stands as a benchmark example of RMS’s integrated delivery capability, demonstrating the value of bringing multiple retail transformation services together through one coordinated team.
A Transformation on an Exceptional Scale
Sandhurst is one of Tesco’s largest and busiest superstores, with an extensive retail footprint and a demanding daily trading operation.
The transformation was far more than a conventional store refurbishment.
It incorporated a wide range of Tesco’s Best Store in Town treatments, alongside new retail concepts and trial layouts designed to enhance the shopping experience across multiple departments.
Key changes included:
- New energy efficient refrigeration and freezer equipment
- Updated beers, wines and spirits, produce and front-of-store snacking departments
- New Home & Living and clothing trial concepts
- A new Gold Plus Pharmacy
- Dedicated space for a Holland & Barrett concession
- Extensive fixture and shelving replacements, relocations and reconfigurations
- Updated merchandising and presentation across virtually the entire store
Every area of the store was affected by the wider transformation, with every modular fixture or gondola moved, adjusted or replaced during the programme.
For RMS, this meant delivering a complex sequence of works across multiple departments, often with several activities taking place simultaneously.
All of this needed to happen around the operational requirements of a major Tesco superstore, where maintaining product availability, customer access and store readiness remained essential throughout.
One Integrated RMS Team. Multiple Specialist Services.
What makes Tesco Sandhurst particularly significant is not simply the size of the project, but the breadth of RMS’s involvement.
RMS provided a combination of project management, retail installation, construction, merchandising and equipment and logistics management.
Each RMS service had its own specialist responsibilities, but their success depended on working together.
RMS’s integrated approach enabled these activities to be planned and coordinated as connected workstreams, rather than separate operations.
With experienced teams across the different disciplines and dedicated project management embedded on site, RMS could respond quickly to changing requirements and maintain momentum throughout the transformation.
The result was a joined-up delivery operation, with each specialist team working towards the same objectives.
Embedded Project Management: Connecting Every Workstream
A defining feature of the Sandhurst project was RMS’s dedicated on-site project management.
An RMS Project Manager played a central role in connecting the installation and merchandising operations, working closely with the wider project team to coordinate daily activities and resolve challenges as they arose.
With a detailed understanding of the installation programme, the RMS Project Manager could anticipate upcoming requirements, identify potential issues and ensure resources were aligned with the works taking place.
This was particularly valuable on a project where layouts, equipment requirements and delivery sequences could change at short notice.
Working closely with an RMS Senior Project Manager and the wider installation team, our on site Project Manager helped ensure that fixture movements, installation works and merchandising activities followed a coordinated programme.
The Project Manager’s presence also provided an important connection between RMS, Tesco’s store management team and other contractors working across the site.
This level of coordination was fundamental to delivering the transformation within a live retail environment.
Retail Installation: Transforming Every Area of the Store
RMS’s specialist installation team undertook an extensive programme of fixture and shelving works across the superstore.
The scale of the installation operation was significant, with every modular fixture or gondola moved, adjusted or replaced to accommodate the new store layouts.
The team delivered major fixture changes across departments including:
- Snacking and food to go
- Horticulture and produce
- Beers, wines and spirits
- Pet destination
- Bakery and Bakery Rise
- Ambient grocery
- Health and beauty
- Baby
- Free from
- General merchandise
Additional shelving adjustments were completed within the pharmacy, while RMS also supported the introduction of new F&F clothing treatments through associated fixture and flooring works.
The team also cleared existing shelving to create the space required for the new Holland & Barrett concession.
Across the wider programme, the installation work involved dismantling existing fixtures, relocating gondolas, introducing new equipment and rebuilding shelving to the latest layouts and specifications.
Where appropriate, existing equipment was retained and reused, reducing the requirement for newly manufactured fixtures and supporting a more resource conscious approach to the transformation.
The installation programme required detailed planning to ensure that each night’s work could be completed safely and efficiently, while leaving sufficient time for merchandising teams to prepare the departments for the following morning.
Through careful sequencing and close coordination with the on-site project management team, RMS completed its installation programme on time, with certain areas delivered ahead of schedule through efficiencies achieved during the works.
Equipment Planning, Logistics and Responsible Reuse
RMS also managed the planning, ordering and coordination of shelving equipment required for each phase of the transformation.
Across the programme, the installation team worked to a detailed nightly plan, with equipment requirements established in advance and deliveries coordinated to support the scheduled works.
This included managing the arrival of new fixtures, organising the movement and storage of equipment, and coordinating the removal and collection of redundant shelving.
In a busy operational store, effective management of materials and storage space was particularly important.
RMS ensured that equipment was organised and secured following each shift, with the site compound kept clear and ready for subsequent deliveries and collections.
Equipment removed during the refurbishment was returned for inclusion in Tesco’s refurbishment programme, allowing suitable fixtures to be refurbished and reused on future projects.
By combining installation expertise with proactive equipment planning and logistics management, RMS supported efficient delivery while helping reduce waste and the need for replacement materials.
Retail Construction: Delivering Specialist Refurbishment Works
RMS’s involvement at Sandhurst also extended to retail construction, with the business appointed directly by Tesco to deliver refurbishment works to the store’s customer toilet facilities, alongside improvements to colleague facilities.
The customer toilet refurbishment involved a comprehensive programme of strip out, replacement and finishing works.
This included the removal of existing fixtures and fittings, ceramic flooring and wall finishes, followed by the installation of new ceramic flooring, wall finishes, an IPS system, cubicles, urinals and ceiling tiles.
Additional works included vanity unit repairs and improvements to colleague toilet facilities.
The construction was managed in house by RMS, with works planned around the operational requirements of the live store. Night working enabled the team to carry out refurbishment activities while managing the impact on customers and day-to-day store operations.
At Sandhurst, construction formed part of the wider programme, providing Tesco with access to multiple specialist capabilities through one retail delivery partner.
Storewide Merchandising: Preparing Every Department for Customers
Alongside the extensive installation programme, RMS delivered merchandising support across virtually every area of the store.
As departments were transformed and new fixtures introduced, RMS merchandising teams were responsible for preparing, replenishing and presenting the updated areas in line with Tesco’s requirements.
The scope extended across the superstore. Merchandising teams supported the wider transformation by clearing and relocating stock, creating space for other contractors and preparing departments for subsequent phases of the programme.
The merchandising operation was closely aligned with the installation programme.
As each night’s fixture works progressed, RMS’s on-site project management team coordinated the transition between installation and merchandising, ensuring that the teams could work efficiently and that sufficient time remained to prepare the store for trading.
With substantial daily merchandising resources and additional support introduced when required, RMS maintained a flexible operation capable of responding to the changing demands of the project.
Delivering a Major Transformation in a Live Trading Store
One of the greatest challenges at Sandhurst was delivering such extensive works while the superstore remained fully operational.
Working within a restricted overnight window, RMS coordinated installation and merchandising activities to ensure transformed departments were replenished, presented and ready for customers and Tesco’s online picking operation each morning. Throughout the programme, RMS consistently met the required 6am handover deadline.
As a flagship transformation incorporating new retail concepts and trial layouts, the project also required flexibility to accommodate evolving designs, equipment requirements and programme adjustments.
Through proactive planning, close coordination between specialist teams and regular progress reporting to Tesco and the wider contractor team, RMS adapted to changing requirements while maintaining momentum and minimising disruption to store operations.
The Outcome: A Successful Transformation and Strong Tesco Feedback
Across one of Tesco’s largest superstores, RMS successfully brought together multiple specialist services to support a comprehensive remodel, from initial equipment planning and fixture installation through to storewide merchandising, construction and on-site project management.
The main installation programme was completed on time and slightly under budget, with efficiencies allowing certain areas to be completed ahead of schedule.
Transformed areas were consistently handed back with no or only minor snagging, while overnight works were completed in time for the store’s morning trading requirements.
Throughout the project, RMS received positive feedback from Tesco’s project and store management teams, including Store Manager Brian Piper, Tesco Project Programme Manager David Lee and Retail Project Manager Adam Clayden.
Particular recognition was given to the quality of RMS’s delivery, the proactive approach of its project management team and the ability of the different RMS services to work together effectively.
A Benchmark for Integrated Retail Transformation
For RMS, Tesco Sandhurst is more than another store transformation.
It is a benchmark example of what can be achieved when RMS specialist retail services are brought together through a coordinated delivery approach.
From managing extensive fixture and equipment changes to preparing virtually every department for customers, delivering specialist construction works and coordinating complex overnight activity, the project demonstrates the breadth of RMS’s capabilities.
Crucially, it also demonstrates how those capabilities work together.
The success of the transformation was built on collaboration between experienced RMS teams, proactive project management, flexible resource planning and a shared commitment to delivering for Tesco.
As retailers continue to invest in transforming their estates, projects such as Sandhurst highlight the value of having a delivery partner capable of managing multiple interconnected workstreams within demanding operational environments.
Tesco Sandhurst demonstrates RMS’s ability to bring together the people, expertise and services required to lead reliable retail transformations at scale.
See the Transformation
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