Those of us who grew up during the 2nd World War, placed more value in the security of an employment, than – as today is often the case – whether a job suited our personality. What could be secure than a position in the retail food supply? We will always need something to eat and the motto “Fresh as a daisy” on shop tiles, added to the feeling all must be of good quality in purely food shops showing this sign. At that time it was considered by those in charge of J.S., to be unsuitable for cleaning materials to be placed in a retail shop where the taste of groceries could be tainted by the aroma of chemicals. It was therefore with this idea, that at the age of 15, I left my home in Hove, to work and live at Sainsburys in London. After taking a test in writing and arithmetic at Stamford house and viewing the first Sainsbury shop in Drury-lane, I was taken to live in the staff-hostel over the shop in Cockfosters. From there I travelled each day with a bus to Enfield, where under the Management of Mr. Pollock my first months as trainee salesman were spent. Cheese, Butter, Margarine and many other items were in 1951 still rationed under the post-war laws.
Our equipment, which under current hygiene regulations would now certainly not be allowed, included a bucket of cold water behind the counter, in which a wooden pat and slice were kept, with which butter and other fats were formed to shapes and weights, which could be packed into the correct paper wrapping.
It was of course expected, that living-in shop staff could be moved from one shop to another and before being called up to do 2 years National Service, starting in 1954, I was transferred to 173 Drury Lane, where a large picture of Mrs. Sainsbury, (famous for her pork pies) dominated the staff dining room. This was also my place of employment and accommodation following N.S before being transferred to Barnet and Muswell Hill etc. Strangely enough, the knowledge of hygiene and the extraction of bones – without damaging the surrounding meat – which I had learnt during my training- proved to be helpful in the Medical Corps.
The comradeship among the J.S. staff in those days was extremely high – something that is hardly to be found in other concerns and I looked forward to a long career with the firm. Unfortunately, the death of one of my young colleagues from the electrical dept., in a traffic accident altered completely the social atmosphere in our region and it was difficult not to feel uncomfortable, when meting the other staff members who had worked closer together with him. In December 1960, I left England having the strong hope, that within a new United Europe, Sainsbury would expand to the continent, just as Aldi, Netto and Lidl used this chance to go to Britain. This did not happen, but nevertheless for those who were “ Sainsbury trained” in the 1950s, there will always be a feeling of identification with the company.
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