'Asda Man' Bryn is customer's son's superhero

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Asda Man – home shopping driver Bryn Parkman from our Isle of Wight store!

Bryn earned the nickname when he was making his deliveries to regular customers Adam French and Jay Kirwin. Their son Charlie, who's four, came to the door with Adam to get the shopping, excitedly shouting 'It's Asda Man!'

Adam explained that Charlie loves superheroes like Spider-Man and Hulk and calls Bryn Asda Man as he's a superhero to him. On his very next delivery Bryn noticed the neighbours' bush was smouldering on fire and raised the alarm before it turned into a full-on fire – so Asda Man really did save the day!

Much to Charlie's delight, colleagues have now equipped Bryn with a cape to complete his superhero look for future deliveries to the family.

Bryn said: "I was delivering to the house when his boy ran up all excited, saying "You're a superhero, you're Asda Man'.

"I couldn't believe that on my very next delivery after being called Asda Man I'd encounter a smouldering fire like that.

"It's amazing when customers and their families say lovely things like this, it really is. There are a lot of nice people out there and one of the positives of the last year has been the kindness people have shown us delivery drivers, and how much they appreciate what we do. What Charlie said was heartfelt and it means so much.

"I'm far from the only one getting this sort of feedback across the country, but we're particularly lucky on the Isle of Wight because it's such a close-knit community. Everyone knows so many people – you can say something in Cowes and by the time you get to Freshwater they've already heard it."

Charlie's mum Jay says Bryn's become a familiar face as he's delivered their shopping during the pandemic, and has become a firm favourite of Charlie's for his friendly style.

She said: "We've seen him quite a few times now and Charlie gets really excited when he sees him. Charlie's really chatty with him and when Charlie calls him Asda Man he'll go off down the path singing the Superman tune.

"He's so good with Charlie, it's brilliant. He makes having your shopping delivered a lot less stressful because he lets Charlie get involved. He's really good."

Jay, who's a housekeeper at a local residential home, says it's made a huge difference having her groceries delivered during the pandemic.

She said: "It's been a strange old year, but touch wood our care home has had no Covid. I really appreciate being able to get delivery slots, as it's saved me from having to go to the supermarket, which can only help the residents."

To say thank you for the family's kind words, Bryn delivered a little extra treat with the family's latest groceries – an Asda top, name badge and lanyard for Charlie, so he can dress up like superhero Bryn himself.

Bryn, who served in the Army for 18 years and has been at our Isle of Wight store since it opened in 2017, says he's always happy to help customers while on his rounds, whether stopping for a quick chat while delivering their groceries or helping them out by taking things like bags and batteries back to the store to be recycled. He's supporting our Happy to Chat scheme, in which our delivery drivers have the option of wearing a badge to let customers know they're they're for them if they want a chat.

He said: "You don't do these things to be praised; you do it because it's nice.

"There are a lot of elderly people on the island and over the last year they may not see anyone day in day out, so it it's nice to take the chance to have a quick chat as such a simple thing can mean a lot."

The store's community champion Clare Jones says everyone at the store is proud of Bryn and the rest of the delivery drivers.

She said: "This is a store full of characters – and Bryn is definitely one of the biggest personalities."