'Weekly News' bulletins

Bulletins from Branch Communications at Sainsbury's head office to Sainsbury's stores to provide an update on various matters affecting the branch and give instructions on actions they needed to take during that week. The bulletins were issued weekly on Mondays (1994) or Saturdays (1996).

This includes matters such as changes to and reminders of procedures, updates on products (eg new, altered, withdrawn, stock shortages, promotions), and information about marketing material sent to stores.

The 'Weekly News' bulletins were introduced in June 1994. They were intended to be received by branches on Monday morning to contain information points and sometimes non-urgent action. The main format was a poster which was intended to be displayed prominently so that branch staff could read it. A file copy on A4 paper was also sent to branches, and those are contained in this subseries. The poster version has not been deposited in the archive, but an example can be seen in image SA/BRA/7/C/21/3/3/21.

These bulletins were initially introduced as a trial in some stores in March 1994, and then rolled out nationally in June 1994. It was part of a package of bulletins - 'Action Today', 'Weekly News' and 'Spotlight' which replaced the previous daily and special bulletins.

The last issue of this bulletin was on 9th March 1996 although after this date it was planned to issue "a similar poster published on an ad hoc basis informing staff of any major initiatives to be undertaken by stores" ('Action Today' 16 Mar 1996).