MYSTERY TOUR LANDS LUCKY ELEVEN IN DUBLIN AT THE SAME TIME AS THE QUEEN.

Eleven high-flying staff from award winning furnishings store Housing Units jetted off on a mystery tour – but while they knew the destination, they were left in the dark as to how they won it.

But as a right royal bonus, they also found themselves at their destination – Dublin - at the same time as the Queen.

The answer to the mystery was revealed by retail manager Richard Walton after he summoned his entire team to the tills before opening time to tell them that not only had they been mystery shopped by covert assessors, but 184 visits by those same assessors had resulted in a 100% customer service score.

“They wondered why the crowds were out in Dublin – winning a customer service award is a pretty big deal in Housing Units, but they didn’t realise it had international kudos … and then they discovered they were in town at the same time as the Queen,” said Richard Walton.

The winning team comprised eleven women from Housing Units: Jeanette Stavely, 50, from New Moston; Colette Doughty, 57, from Higher Werneth, Oldham; Susan Yates, 58, from Blackley; Amanda Pedley, 43, from Failsworth; Christine Ryan, 56, from Failsworth; Lyn Wild, 52, from Uppermill; Kirsty Zannaki, 39, from Rochdale; Carol Platt, 54, from Failsworth; Denise Ford, 53, from Whitefield; Michelle Lennox, 46, from Chadderton, and Victoria Heywood, 46, from Middleton.

The successful teams – from the house wares and tabletop department, and Coo Chi Coo baby and child store – were sent off to Dublin all expenses paid.

“The word inevitably got out that there might be mystery shoppers visiting the stores, which added a real frisson to the working day – not because the game was raised, but because everybody is proud of the service standards, and so everybody wanted and expected to win – although they didn’t realise the prize would be a trip to Dublin,” said Richard Walton.