"It's the Business" programme, 6 July 1999

Sainsbury’s “It’s The Business” business television programme for staff. The programme updated Sainsbury’s store management teams and others on news and developments in the company, and answered questions.

Contents:
1. Introduction by presenter John Howard.
2. Studio interview with Ken Barden. Discusses: recent press coverage on Sainsbury’s and competitors; Walmart [US supermarket company] taking over Asda; Sainsbury’s Egyptian subsidiary Edge [Egyptian Distribution Group] taking over competitor ABC with another five stores (plus one under construction); extended stores and new products doing well; extra hours available for ‘staff front end’.
3. Report from Rice Lane (Liverpool) store on the introduction of new flexible working contracts (‘flexi-staffing’) with Rodney Wooliscroft (Retail Operations Director), Andrew Coverdale (Store Manager) and other store staff. It is to be offered to staff in all stores from September. Includes footage of the store interior with staff at work and customers, and staff working in the petrol station.
4. Studio interview with Ken Barden discussing flexible working.
5. Report on the trial introduction of Reward Point terminals with Clark Harris (Reward Point Project Manager) and Nick Adderley (Instore Marketing & Promotions). The Reward Points were in-store computer terminals for Reward Card (loyalty card) holders offering vouchers and recipes which were printed out. Includes footage of the Reward Points being used by customers and ‘vox pops’ with customers.
6. Studio interview with Ken Barden. Discusses: Reward Points; special offers and issues with stock shortages at stores.
7. Presenter reports on the new store opening plan with summary of all the stores to be opened.
8. Report from Fulham store about sampling with Nic Newman (Senior Buyer Frozen Foods), and Adam Fendt (Senior Duty Manager). The ‘a feast for all the family’ sampling stand was set up in the store’s car park during a ‘roadshow’ tour offering free samples of Sainsbury’s pizza and ice cream. Includes footage of the sampling stall.
9. Live phone-in questions from staff with answers by Ken Barden. Discusses: Reward Point offers not always meeting the needs of a particular customer; handling of ‘CFM’ [Customer First Management] management changes with concerns on how staff were made redundant; the company’s price strategy and the ‘Value to Shout About’ campaign; concerns regarding checkout cleaning hours.
10. Concluding remarks by presenter including on the giant advertising billboard at Vauxhall Cross roundabout which features a giant model of a checkout with products moving along the conveyor belt. Footage of the billboard is included.

Duration: 26 minutes.

There are approximately five additional videos of unedited footage ("rushes") for this video.