"It's the Business" programme, 2 March 1999

Recording of "It's the Business" programme for Sainsbury's staff (mainly store management teams). "It's the Business" was the anchor business television programme on the "SMART" network (Sainsbury's Management and Retail Television). This programme was broadcast live on 2 March 1999 by satellite to Sainsbury's stores, depots and offices. It was presented by John Howard from Shorehead store in Huddersfield.

Contents:
1. Introduction by presenter John Howard. Includes footage of Huddersfield Shorehead store exterior.
2. Interview with Dino Adriano on the key points from the recent ‘One Company, One Agenda’ staff convention. Also mentions launch of Fallowfield (Manchester) store opening and features of Shorehead store.
3. Report about WWW [‘Way We Work’ principles], with John Kelly (Store Manager) and other staff from Shorehead store. Staff give examples of how they’ve helped achieve the principles: ‘We respect and appreciate each other’, We can always be better at what we do’, ‘We work together as a team’, ‘We are equipped to succeed’, ‘We develop and enjoy ourselves’, and ‘We know how well we are doing’. Also discusses IIP [Investors in People].
4. Interview with Dino Adriano about the WWW principles and the ‘Simplify Store Operations’ (‘SSO’) plans for stores to operate more effectively and efficiently.
5. Presenter talks about ‘One Company One Agenda’ plans.
6. Report on launch of Sainsbury’s fundraising activities for Comic Relief including staff abseiling down Drury House (part of Sainsbury’s Blackfriars head office complex) and a giant Comic Relief banner on the building. Footage is included of Davina McCall (television presenter) at the launch and staff abseiling down Drury House.
7. Interview with Dino Adriano about Tesco’s announcement that it is cutting prices, and how Sainsbury’s is responding. Also discusses genetically modified foods.
8. Report with Alex Camara (Senior Manager Retail Innovation) and David Sheehan (District Manager) about a new type of checkout being trialled (at Wrexham and Weedon Road stores). Includes footage of: staff being trained using demonstration checkouts (in an industrial unit at the K.G. Business Centre, Northampton), the tills at H.E. Butt (H-E-B) stores in the USA, training, and staff giving their thoughts on the checkouts.
9. Live phone-in calls from staff answered by Dino Adriano. Discusses Sainsbury’s price message; effect of price changes on gross margin and net profit; price changes twice in same day causing disruption; off-set aisles and store layouts; Tesco versus Sainsbury’s school reward programmes.
10. Final comments by presenter.

Duration: 26 minutes. A CTN [Corporate Television Networks] production for Sainsbury’s. There are some sound issues – this was a problem noted on the original live broadcast.

There are five additional videos of unedited footage ("rushes") for this video and a video of edited highlights of the visit by Sainsbury’s staff in July 1998 to a H-E-B supermarket in San Antonio, Texas, USA, a Central Market H-E-B store and the H-E-B training centre.