Peter Dack, Maidstone, 1966/67 - 1970

I joined the company, as a management trainee in the Maidstone branch, then at Gabriels Hill, in approx. 1966 or 1967, at the age of about 17. I was trained in all aspects of the grocery business and worked, both on the shop floor as well as in the preparation room.
One of the things I remember whilst working on the shop floor was the fact that we had wooden 'spacers' hanging on our belts. The spacers had to be put between one type of canned food before starting to fill the next type onto the shelf. This helped to keep order on the shelves and the manager would be very unhappy if we'd forgotten to do this!!! Part of my training was at Stamford Street and I was also sent out on relief work at various other branches in the London and South East England areas. The manager of the Maidstone branch at that time was Mr. Gregory. He was an ex Naval man and ran a hard, but fair course of discipline. He addressed us trainees as, 'Mister', never by our Christian or Surnames. He inspected all the trainees' fingernails, jackets and aprons every morning to make sure they were clean! I seem to remember that he was promoted to a job as area supervisor and the new manager's name was Mr. Hill.
Due to the fact that we sold a lot of Danish produce, I decided to travel to Denmark to learn more about Danish production methods. I had just been promoted to, 'Senior Leading Salesman' and I was granted six months unpaid leave, with the promise of a job upon my return.
As so often happens, I met a Danish girl during my stay and therefore, I decided not to go back to Sainsbury's when the 6 months were up. I stayed on, got married and raised a family and I've been here ever since. (50 odd years). Our two daughters each have 2 children and both my wife and myself are now Old Age Pensioners!!! Time flies!!
I can truly say that Sainsbury's gave me the, 'kick start', to many happy years in Denmark for which I am most grateful.
Kind regards Peter Dack