'The Journal', Jun 1999

Table of content

• Contents Page
  02

  contents
  Newsround
  Company news including stories on:
  3 the Group's financial results
  4 Sainsbury's Bank on the road
  5 beating the millennium bug
  7 this year's profit sharing scheme
  Features and special reports
  12 Short,...

• Editor's guide to inside
  02

  editor's guide to inside
  Mmm, nice. Had a bit of
  new Sainsbury's orange
  left from the cover so I
  thought I'd try it for size.
  You've no doubt seen a few
  signs of it yourself with the
  launch of the new
  Sainsbury's brand....

• Profits up 3.8% on sales of £16.3 billion
  03

  Profits up 3.8% on sales of £16.3 billion
  Sainsbury's
  Supermarkets
  After promising first-half
  sales growth in Sainsbury's
  Supermarkets, a combination
  of softening market
  conditions and a tough
  competitive...

• Bank stand goes walkabout
  04

  Bank stand goes walkabout
  Following the success
  of the Sainsbury's
  Bank stand at Olympia's
  recent Homebuyers'
  Exhibition, a Bank roadshow
  spent four days in
  stores in the Liverpool
  area in April, helping sign
  up new...

• Millennium project progressing
  04

  Millennium project progressing
  Across the country, 22 cities
  are now operating Sainsbury's
  Bookstart schemes. Sainsbury's
  Bookstart underlines
  the Group's commitment to
  strengthening links with the
  communities in which it...

• Radio tunes in to sales drive
  04

  Radio tunes in to sales drive
  Kempshott and Basingstoke became the exclusive distributors of Kestrel 107.6 FM car
  stickers recently in an eight-week promotion designed to bring in extra customers to
  the two stores. An intensive...

• Produce to produce £50m more in sales
  05

  As Sainsbury's pushes
  ahead with its three
  priorities of driving
  sales, reducing costs
  and implementing
  change, there's a new
  focus being placed on
  the produce department.
  Ex t r a sales of £50
  m i l l i o n a year...

• Rattling SABRE update on the way
  05

  Rattling SABRE update on the way
  As part of the Simplifying
  Store Operations Programme,
  an update in the SABRE
  ordering system is to be
  released to all Sainsbury's
  stores by the end of August.
  The SABRE 6.0 release
  has...

• Tests run to stop bug biting
  05

  Tests run to stop bug biting
  Live tests to make sure
  that Sainsbury's systems
  will operate without a hitch
  in the new millennium have
  been carried out in
  London's Cromwell Road
  store and similarly with
  equipment in the...

• News at ten
  06

  Ten bite-sized stories to get your teeth into. Mike bakes his
  way to the top
  Mike Bulman, trainee baker
  at Truro store, recently made his first entry
  at the National Association of Master
  Bakers' Western Counties Competitions...

• Driving sales to the front door
  07

  Driving sales to the front door
  Sainsbury's is to open its first Orderline picking centre for home-shopping orders early next year. Based in London, it will be the largest
  food-picking centre in the UK, offering around 15,000...

• Have you sorted out your profit sharing?
  07

  Have you sorted out your profit sharing?
  The opportunity to take shares
  in this year's Profit Sharing
  scheme is open until 26 June.
  If you're one of the 120,000
  Sainsbury Group employees
  eligible to take up the...

• Simpler systems for sharp end
  07

  Simpler systems for sharp end
  As part of the Change
  Programme, a special
  convention has just been held
  at the Mermaid Theatre in
  Blackfriars for all 800
  colleagues working in the
  information systems division
  (ISD). In his...

• Smart result for Stockwise
  07

  Smart result for Stockwise
  Stock loss for the final
  accounting period in 1998/99
  is 1.56% of sales. This is £1
  million better than the
  budgeted figure and reflects
  the significant savings made
  on grocery and non...

• Group-wide
  08

  Group-wide
  Here's the regular round-up of what's been happening across the Group.. Sainsbury's
  SALES HIGH ON
  LOWER-FAT RANGE
  With good availability and use of
  point-of-sale material, sales of the
  Be Good to Yourself...

• Retail round-up
  09

  A brief look at how some of the other players in the sector are doing...
  Safeway: firm number
  four as profits fall
  Figures announced in May show Safeway's
  underlying pre-tax profit in the year to 3 April fell
  from £375.2...

• Writelines
  10

  Have your say
  Is the price
  nice?
  Andy Smith, trading and
  property systems,
  Blackfriars:
  We have recently had a deskdrop
  at Blackfriars Informing staff that
  all stationery products will be
  supplied via Niceday and that...

• Short, sharp shock for short codes
  12

  To meet the legal deadline
  for metrication on New
  Year's Day 2000, the scales
  in all Sainsbury's stores are
  to be converted to weigh
  items in kilograms in the
  coming weeks. The bad
  news for cashiers is every
  single produce...

• Homebase nails value
  13

  Homebase nails value
  the journal discovers how Homebase's range of no-frills, value-for-money products is cutting the cost of home improvements. With customers still
  highly price
  conscious after the
  recession of the
  early...

• New space ups the pace
  14

  Driving sales is currently one of the top three priorities for Sainsbury's - along
  with reducing costs and changing the Way We Work. The store-opening
  programme is a key driver of sales as it has added an extra 88,220 sg ft of...

• Making life taste better at Sainsbury's
  16

  making life taste better in Bedford
  When Spiri Araci introduced his own Italian bread
  at the bakery at Sainsbury's Fairfield Park,
  Bedford, his customers were very enthusiastic.
  After his idea was approved he found...

• Freezer teasers
  20

  Freezer teasers
  Now summer's here, the frozen food
  cabinet is bursting with a number of
  new and delicious desserts:
  Spoonable desserts, come in two
  fruity flavours - Mandarin and
  Raspberry (£1.99 each); and there's
  a...

• Gentle haircare pair
  20

  Gentle haircare pair
  If you're a daily hair washer,
  Sainsbury's Frequent Use
  Shampoo and Frequent Use
  Conditioner should be right up
  your street. Mild and gentle for
  all hair types, they will leave
  your hair feeling soft,...

• Lean towards British pork
  20

  Lean towards British pork
  An addition to the Be Good to Yourself range of 95% fat-free products, is the Lean & Tender
  Pork range. It consists only of lean, trimmed British pork which can be ready in minutes and
  includes Stir...

• Salads for summer
  20

  Salads for summer
  Summer means we're all turning to cooler offerings,
  and these two new washed and ready-to-eat salads
  should be just what you're
  looking for.
  Tuscan
  Style Salad
  (99p) and
  French Style
  Salad (£1.59),
  '...

• Bloom with Evening Primrose
  21

  Bloom with Evening Primrose
  Sainsbury's new Oil of Evening Primrose range cares
  for normal to dry skin and has been
  dermatologically tested.
  The range includes Cleansing Creme Wash,
  Cleansing Lotion, Moisturising Lotion,...

• Fish worth netting
  21

  Fish worth netting
  A new range of fish in sauces is
  now instore, including two in the Be
  Good to Yourself 95% fat-free
  range - Haddock Fillets in a
  Watercress Sauce and Cod Fillets
  in a Tomato, Pepper & Herb Sauce.
  The...

• Milk shake-up
  21

  Milk shake-up
  You may have seen these before, but not in their brand new design, colours, and slim carton
  packaging, making it a far more fridge-friendly pack. The relaunch of UHT Longlife Milk introduces
  an improved pourer...

• Right note for the throat
  21

  Right note for the throat
  If you're experiencing a change-of-season cold, or just
  been taking the karaoke career a bit too seriously, try
  Sainsbury's new throat lozenges for soothing relief. Dual
  Action Blackcurrant-Flavoured...

• The pick of Red Nose
  22

  Sainsbury Group colleagues and customers have helped raise the biggest donation Comic Relief has ever received.
  Of the £4.5 million-plus total, over £718,000 came from fund-raising efforts in stores, central departments...

• It's no Secret any more
  26

  It's no Secret any more
  Out now in Sainsbury's and Savacentre stores
  is a new antiperspirant deodorant, Secret
  Satin Dry Cream. Through the journal, 30
  Sainsbury Group colleagues now have the
  chance to win a free sample, plus...

• Take home a Mickey with Coke
  26

  Take home a Mickey with Coke
  Coca-Cola has
  teamed up with j
  Disney to offer
  Sainsbury's
  employees the
  chance to win a
  Big Safari
  Mickey Mouse to
  take home and
  cherish (pictured below).
  You will have noticed by now...

• Win a voucher for a fashion discount
  26

  Win a voucher for a fashion discount
  Arcadia Group, parent company of some of the
  country's top high-street retailers, is making the
  Sainsbury's Reward Voucher an even more appealing
  money saver than before. Now any...

• The £25 crossword and £10 wordsearch
  27

  CLUES
  ACROSS
  1. Scottish beast which is sighted occasionally (4,4,7)
  8. David laid this giant low (7)
  9. Fire-breathing monster with a lion's head, goat's
  body and serpent's tail (7)
  10. Does this evil figure in Egyptian...

• Sound and Vision
  28

  Deeply disturbing
  This month's Sound + Vision review is monopolised
  by videos. They include horror, romantic comedy, a
  sci-fi thriller, action adventure, and an animated film
  about ants - what more could you ask for?
  Getting...

• tricky trivia
  28

  tricky trivia
  Let's see how you do in this month's Tricky Trivia ANSWERS TO TRICKY TRIVIA
  (from page 28)
  I. True 2. A black eye 3.12 4. 50
  5. Cucumber 6. True 7. Alain Prost
  8. Maria Estela Peron (Argentina)
  9. John Le Carre...

• SSA OFFERS
  29

  The magnificent Slaley Hall International Hotel, Golf Resort and Spa.
  Play away at the golf day The spectacular venue of Slaley Hall is the choice for this year's SSA
  Company Golf Day for Sainsbury Group SSA members on 11...

• How are you NVQ-ing?
  30

  How are you NVQ-ing?
  National Vocational Qualifications are
  enabling colleagues up and down the
  country to become eguipped with the skills
  which will fulfil Sainsbury's Web-strategy
  aim on customer service: 'To offer...

• Long service
  30

  Long service
  Colleagues who've completed 25 years' service:
  MOLLY ADDISON, checkout/replenishment assistant,
  Romford. NIGEL ALLAN, store manager, Shrewsbury
  Homebase. IAN BALDWIN, director, Homebase head office.
  LYN BELL,...

• Retirements
  30

  Retirements
  CHRISTINA ADAMS, senior evening shift assistant, Islington
  13yrs). RUTH AJGARNI, checkout/replenishment assistant,
  Hadleigh Road Ipswich (3yrs). VERA ALBON, checkout/
  replenishment assistant, Chadwell Heath (3yrs)....

• Wedding
  30

  Wedding
  HELEN RIDER, BPM at
  Bridgemead, and NICK
  FEIERABEND, product
  manager at Calne, married
  at the Combe Grove Manor
  Hotel in Bath on 14 March.
  Helen and Nick were
  blessed with a bit of
  spring sunshine on
  their big...

• Obituaries
  31

  obituaries
  MAY AINSLEY, 71, restaurant assistant at Mere Green, died
  suddenly on 27 March (6yrs). SYLVIA BATEMAN, 55,
  part-time checkout/replenishment assistant at Watford, died
  on 30 March after a long illness (13yrs). CHRIS...

• Making the Net profit
  32

  Last Christmas saw the best availability ever in stores. This was partly thanks to a new system that's harnessing the potential of the Internet to
  share vital trading information with suppliers.
  the journal finds out how the...