"Sainsbury's were very good to me as a student. I started work there while studying for my A-levels at New College, Swindon - I worked Saturday 1pm-9pm with a half hour break for 'tea' and Thursday evening 5.30pm-9.30pm. I was finally given the golden shift of 8.30am-5.30pm on a Saturday which meant you had a morning and afternoon tea break and lunch (unpaid). Sainsbury's took me back every holiday once I went to university although the summer of working the night shift is better forgotten.
My most visit memory is Delia Smith coming to the store. There were rumors that the chairman at the time used to come to our store frequently as he played golf nearby. No idea if this was true. I think it was when Delia Smith and her husband were starting the Sainsbury's magazine. They were desperate for people to go and do a Q and A with her and I think it hadn't really been organised. I was whisked off my till and told to go to the staff room out the back and be part of a group discussion. I was a student at university at the time and asked why her recipes were so expensive (I had no idea if they were - it was just my student frame of mind). I can't remember her answer but in her next book 'How to Cook Book 1' there is a recipe for corned beef hash where the price (£1 a head!) is flagged up and I think another recipe that is described as particularly good for students. I take personal credit for that!
I will always be grateful to Sainsbury's for my positive introduction into the world of work. I loved my time there."
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