Pros
Free coffee on break and a panini at lunch. Regular customers can be really nice. Great work "culture" if you consider culture getting drunk in a park every other month. Most other companies I worked for and claimed a great work culture interpreted "culture" as treating their employees great, everyday. For Nero it's a bi-monthly drunk fest for a couple of hours and they use alcohol as a means to ensure you forget how much you hate your job. So it's great for the party animal, not for those that consider themselves a professional manager with serious career ambitions. Best thing about Nero was leaving.
Cons
I've never worked for such a bad company. The company shouts about how great they are and the CEO even asked his managers to tell others how great they are in his annual meeting. Note to the CEO... You EARN peoples accolades by daily treatment, not by instructing them to tell others about a workplace being great. Long shifts (12 hours) with a 20 minute break IF you're lucky. Pay is pitiful and bonuses are difficult to achieve and when you do receive them they are a slap in the face. Don't spend your .10p annual raise all in one place, that is if you are granted one, and promotion is even worse. Don't be fooled by claims of "progression". There are internal promotions but for virtually no compensation. A promotion means .10p or .20p more an hour, more responsibility and more crap to contend with and the supposed good area managers and store managers are rewarded with more work by being given projects. There's endless amounts of unpaid working hours, long hours with no breaks, and horrible upper management although my area manager was nice I liked her, she seemed to have no life. Why employees haven't organised to unionise themselves in this business I don't know. This is truly an example of a rich family building their wealth on the backs of others. Calculating margin is a farce with weekly stock counts, then calling in any changes but changes are never acknowledged so your reported margin is a total farce and of course used against you despite the fact you know what it is. The company has archaic systems of communication... "COLIN" a pathetic excuse for internal communication that is unreliable, difficult to use, and basically a bad joke. And then there is "BRIAN" the payroll and scheduling system, it's beyond terrible. Who is the brainiac behind these pathetic acronyms and terrible IT platforms?! Probably the arrogant upper management that pretend to be friendly and caring when they drop by but give your area manager the job of delivering feedback. I wish I could name people because this company has more than it's fair share of fake directors. Sadly, I just can't recommend Nero for anything. It was a terrible experience for me (and many others I know). Disorganised, horrible treatment of employees. A profit focused business that hides behind the guise of a great culture but is anything but a good place to work.