'The Journal', December 2000

Table of content

• Contents
  02

  features
  service supreme 9
  success in the National Customer Service
  Awards
  Christmas crackers 12
  great ideas on how to get the most out
  of Christmas
  happy hogmanay on the way 14
  Quality takes on a festive flavour at...

• If I were boss...
  02

  Taking the reins of the company as it
  sleighs towards Christmas is
  Torquay's assistant personnel and
  training manager, James Hodgson...
  If I were in the boss's shoes, I would use Christmas to cascade the
  message of Quality to...

• Bites - walking the beef chain
  03

  The Institute
  of Grocery
  Distribution (IGD)
  recently
  organised a tour of
  the beef-supply
  chain in which
  David Curry,
  chairman of the
  Agricultural
  Select Committee,
  and Nigel
  Matthews,
  Sainsbury Group
  secretary,...

• Business magazine out by Christmas
  03

  LOOK OUT for the Christmas issue of Our Business which
  will be hitting stores on 18 December. In this issue we
  feature the new property value centre and take a look at
  Christmas past and present.
  There is also an interview...

• Pasta prize
  03

  This followed Sainsbury's success at the 2000 Pizza, Pasta And
  Italian Food Industry Awards where it picked up two prizes, including
  Pasta Retailer Of The Year for the second year running.
  The judges felt that the company's...

• Reward yourself this Christmas
  03

  DON'T FORGET to use your collected Reward Points
  throughout December for money off your
  Christmas shopping!
  You could treat yourself instore to an extraspecial
  something for the family for free - or even
  use your vouchers...

• Sainsbury's sweeps Supermarketing awards
  03

  SAINSBURY'S TRIUMPHED in the Supermarketing
  Quality awards in November, scooping eight "Silver
  Qs" as well as the overall "Gold 0" award for Tasfe
  the Difference Delicata Mushroom and Red
  Onion Pizza (pictured).
  The £3.49...

• The great flood
  03

  AMONG THE many casualties of the freak flooding
  conditions which recently caused so much damage and
  distress across the country, was the Tonbridge store in
  Kent.
  Although the store is six feet above ground, this
  picture,...

• Vitamin award
  03

  Another healthy winner was the Sainsbury's vitamin range, which
  scooped the top prize in the Institute of Grocery Distribution Awards
  for best packaging.

• Fish counters catch compliments
  04

  THE WINNER of Sainsbury's Fish Counter Of The Year 2000 was
  Shorehead store in Huddersf ield, Yorkshire.
  Finalists from six stores spent a day in London where they were
  judged on their f ishmongering, customer service and...

• Have a great Christmas with Air Miles
  04

  Stuart heads for the Big Apple
  AIR MILES has drawn Stuart Morton, customer
  service assistant at Kempshott, as the lucky winner
  of the Sainsbury's Colleague Prize Draw. His
  fantastic prize is a trip to New York,
  including...

• Public recognition for disability agenda
  04

  SAINSBURY'S PICKED up a prestigious prize at the annual EASE
  Awards, held at the London Hilton hotel in the presence of Margaret
  Hodge, Minister for Disabled People.
  The EASE Awards, which are nominated by the public,...

• Sainsbury's Bank offers loans for less
  04

  SOME GOOD news for spenders this
  Christmas.
  Due to the resounding success of
  last year's promotion, Sainsbury's
  Bank is once again giving a one per
  cent discount on personal loans over
  the Christmas period, bringing the
  APR...

• Bites Sainsbury's is top of organics
  05

  SAINSBURY'S
  IS TOP OF
  0RGANICS
  Sainsbury's has
  been voted
  Organic
  Supermarket Of
  The Year by
  readers of the
  Mail On Sunday's
  You Magazine,
  beating Tesco
  and Waitrose.
  Sainsbury's
  products also
  picked up two
  other...

• Forecourt format moves into gear
  05

  THE FIRST Sainsbury's Local store on the forecourt of
  a Shell petrol station opened on 27 October as part of a
  joint venture with the oil giant, announced earlier this
  year.
  The 2,000 sq ft convenience store is in
  Roehampton...

• Get £5 off your Virgin Mobile
  05

  YOU MIGHT have noticed the Virgin Mobile stand in your
  store and wondered what it's all about.
  You might even feel a bit daunted by the thought of
  having to learn a whole new lot of tariffs, complicated
  plans, and other...

• Get lucky with the SSA lottery
  05

  THE SSA Lottery has been fully
  operational for six months and is
  open to all SSA members within
  Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd
  aged over 16.
  The Lottery gives colleagues
  the chance to win prizes ranging
  from small cash...

• Staff restaurant outsourcing project extended
  05

  SAINSBURY'S IS to extend its current project of
  outsourcing the operation of staff restaurants
  with Eurest Sutcliffe, to an additional 54 stores.
  Feedback from these stores will be measured
  in March before a decision is made...

• Bites - Green light for stop
  06

  bites
  GREEN LIGHT
  FOR STOP
  Retail security's
  training video, The
  Stop, which helps
  colleagues deal
  correctly with
  customer theft,
  has won an
  International
  Visual
  Communication
  Association
  bronze award.
  Two of...

• Cashing up made easier
  06

  CASH OFFICE colleagues are finding cashing up a whole lot easier with the roll-out
  of the new cash management DEPROS system.
  DEPROS is being installed in three phases in all Sainsbury's supermarkets and
  Sainsbury's Locals, and...

• Holiday at Hollins Hall
  06

  THE MARRIOTT Hollins Hall Hotel and Country Club
  in the Yorkshire Dales is offering one journal reader
  plus partner, a two-night stay at the hotel. The prize
  will include dinner, bed and breakfast together with
  the use of its...

• Precious gives time to support backs
  06

  HODDESDON AND Basingstoke depots hosted
  former weightlifter and Commonwealth gold
  medallist Precious McKenzie as part of a "Back
  Care" tour he was carrying out, to support National
  Health and Safety Week.
  Precious, who won...

• Art of the matter
  07

  CHILDREN AT 1,300 primary
  schools can now see reproductions
  of four famous paintings at close
  • • • • • B ^ ^ ' hand.thankstotheSainsbury's
  Pictures For Schools programme.
  Now in its seventh year, the scheme has...

• Bites - Website provides nutritional benfit
  07

  bites
  WEBSITE
  PROVIDES
  NUTRITIONAL
  BENEFIT
  Taste of Success,
  Sainsbury's
  national scheme
  to help teachers
  and pupils
  studying food
  technology or
  home economics
  at school, now
  has a dedicated
  web site...

• Bookstart gets ministerial backing
  07

  SAINSBURY'S BOOKSTART
  programme received Cabinet support at
  a celebration party held at Peckham Library in south-east London.
  Dulwich store manager Terry McGinty and produce manager Lenny Turner, chatted to the
  Chancellor of...

• Euro going to love this
  07

  WITH ALL our thoughts turning to the festive
  season and entertaining family and friends,
  Sainsbury's has launched five new classic
  European ready meals which should provide the
  perfect dinnersolution.
  Sainsbury's currently...

• Bewitching displays
  08

  HERE'S THE pick of the Halloween pictures the journal
  received.
  Customers particularly liked the pumpkin which
  Jamie Watson and Matt Holland carved at Rayleigh Weir
  store, witch - sorry - which put its display at the front...

• Bites - Energetic promotion
  08

  bites
  ENERGETIC
  PROMOTION
  MrEnergizerhas
  visited several
  Sainsbury's and
  Homebase stores
  to promote the
  launch of
  Enerqizer
  Intelligent
  batteries.
  Homebase stores,
  hosting the
  roadshows, are
  taking part in...

• Ringing the Blackfriars news
  08

  the journal's Blackf riars
  correspondent Lin Holdeman
  keeps you up to date with news
  from central departments. The past month has been rather quiet at
  Blackf riars. Or at least, I haven't been told
  about many interesting...

• Service supreme
  09

  In the first-ever National Customer
  Service Awards, Sunderland store's
  Maureen Barron and Glen Road's Vicki
  Leverton put on Oscar-winning
  performances, ensuring the ultimate
  accolade for a customer service
  manager came...

• Customer comments
  10

  catering for
  every need
  Wallington customer, Mrs J Ran
  I must let you know how delighted I
  to have used Sainsbury's catering
  service. In the throes of moving ho
  had to cater for a funeral. A friend,
  works at Merton...

• Nothing was too much trouble
  10

  WHEN MISS S A Brown of Newbury, and her wheelchairbound
  mother, planned a visit to London by taxi to see the
  sights, little did they know they would be pulling into the
  Newbury store on the way!
  While being manoeuvred into the...

• Stars in their eyes
  10

  PHYLLIS DASEY stepped into Locksbottom store last
  December, and couldn't resist the hanging star mobiles,
  centrepiece of the store's Christmas display.
  For Phyllis and fiance Paul Marrs had decided on a starthemed
  wedding this...

• Washington all stars
  10

  SOON AFTER returning from her weekend
  shopping trip, Washington Savacentre
  customer Joycelaine Cobb realised, with
  horror, that her handbag was missing.
  Panic-stricken, she called the store and
  within an hour had received two...

• A memorable day in Cardiff...
  11

  laugh.
  CONNOR MARTIN recently enjoyed an extra-special fourth birthday,
  courtesy of Nigel Stanton, stock control manager at Cardiff's
  Thornhill store.
  Connor had asked his father for a celebratory birthday cake, but
  this...

• Above the call of duty
  11

  WEDDINGS CAN be fraught at the best of
  times, so imagine Epsom customer Caroline
  Allan's feelings when the strap on the dress she
  was due to wear wasaccidentally
  ripped by Sainsbury's instore
  dry-cleaning
  concession. •...

• Customer comments
  11

  credit where
  it's due...
  Beckton Savacentre customer Mrs
  Christine Telford:
  I wish to bring to your attention an act of
  extraordinary kindness to my sister
  shown by Beckton clothing manager
  Alan Athaide.
  My sister moved to...

• Super trolley, super service
  11

  WITH THREE children aged under three
  years, and another on the way, customer Mrs
  Spratt recently wrote to the Wigan store
  asking for help in obtaining a shopping
  trolley which could carry up to four toddlers.
  Duty manager...

• Time to rhyme
  11

  WHEN A customer, accompanied by children, fell ove
  the Durham store, trainee manager Paul Dale, bake
  counter assistant Tracy Wood and the customer servi
  team raced to her rescue. This ode to their kindness was
  subseguently...

• Warm reception at Great Yarmouth
  11

  THE LANGDON family, travelling from Oakham to
  Great Yarmouth, were about to start their holidays
  when they stopped at Sainsbury's Great Yarmouth to
  buy provisions. There, disaster struck. Their car's
  central locking suddenly...

• Christmas crackers
  12

  Christmas comes but once a year. Thank
  heavens! But much as we may love to
  hate it, deep down most of us enjoy
  getting the decorations out and dressing
  up the tree, the journal visits
  Wandsworth store to see how...

• Chrissy quickies
  13

  If you need even more inspiration
  this Christmas, Sainsbury's has
  produced a range of over 50
  recipe cards called "3 quick ideas
  with..." to give colleagues and customers
  ideas on how to bring real festive flavour...

• Happy Hogmanay on the way
  14

  Blackhall store in Edinburgh turned its
  Quality drive into a full evening's
  entertainment complete with jazz
  band, demonstrations, prize draws
  and men in kilts. North of the border, down
  Edinburgh way, colleagues at...

• Birthday bash raises cash
  16

  BOURNE STORE celebrated its first
  birthday with a charity fun day and
  raised more than £1,150 for local
  charities.
  Attractions included a free bouncy
  castle, prize draw, children's rides and
  face painting. Members of Bourne...

• Bretton shows benevolence
  16

  BRETTON STORE put the money
  it has collected through the
  Penny Back scheme to good use
  by donating a total of £1,200 to
  five separate charities.
  To boost the fund to its
  eventual total, colleagues ran
  extra fund-raising...

• Denise's brainy idea helps RSPCA
  16

  BRAINTREE STORE has donated more than £1,000 to
  its local RSPCA thanks to an idea by Denise Perrin in
  customer trading support. Denise hit on the idea of
  placing a trolley in the store for customers who wanted
  to donate food...

• Epic journey drives cancer charity's funds
  16

  TWO STORE managers drove from Land's End to John O'Groats in less
  than 24 hours to raise funds for the Christie's Against Cancer charity.
  Recently-retired Denton store manager Ian Atherton co-drove his 1968
  MGC GT with...

• Love in a shoebox
  16

  EMMA BROWNING, product manager in technical
  division at Blackfriars, once again co-ordinated this
  year's Children in Distress Shoebox Appeal, with a lot
  of help and support from group safety adviser Mike
  Cox.
  Emma and Mike...

• Air ambulance funds take off at fun day
  17

  COLLEAGUES AND their families from 23 Homebase stores throughout the south
  east have raised £5,000 for the Kent Air Ambulance Trust by organising a charity
  prize draw and summer fun day.
  The event took place at the Oak And Ivy...

• Durham spreads the pennies
  17

  DURHAM STORE manager Tim Morris has
  presented three £250 Cafcash chegues to
  local charities, with money collected mainly
  through the Penny Back scheme. Pictured
  with Tim are: (I to r) Elizabeth Kessler from
  Cystic Fibrosis,...

• Mark and Mandy mark the millennium
  17

  MANDY PIPKIN, provisions night-shift assistant at
  Warrington, and her boyfriend Mark Newsum, trekked from
  Plymouth to Conwy, North Wales, to celebrate the new
  millennium and raise funds for charity.
  The mammoth 430-mile hike...

• Newbury inspires a floral thank you
  17

  NEWBURY STORE sponsored a reception to launch the
  town's Flower, Music And Craft Festival, organised by
  Newbury Soroptimists. The event raised more than £2,000
  for the local branch of Macmillan Cancer Care.
  To show their...

• Pedal power give charity a push
  17

  STAFFORD STORE helped the Afasic Charity raise awareness of its work with
  children who have speech difficulties by participating in its Sainsbury's Pedicab
  Tour of England.
  The charity visited Sainsbury's stores
  throughout the...

• Express yourself
  18

  roll on the roll-out
  Neil Morgan, SRS and staff
  council member, Bedford:
  On behalf of the Bedford staff
  council, I have to bemoan
  the slow roll-out of new
  uniforms to small stores like
  ourselves.
  The concept of new...

• Cartoons
  19

  Hello? Lost and phone department!

• Salient points
  19

  Mary King, Denise Long, Michelle Love,
  confectionery, Heyford Hill:
  We would like to register our disappointment
  at the de-skilling of work carried out within the
  confectionery element of the bakery.
  As we strive to provide...

• Amoy there - win a night out in London!
  20

  AMOY Straight to Wok and the journal are giving you and a
  partner the chance to win a fabulous prize sampling the bright
  lights of London, enjoying a meal at the AMOY noodle restaurant
  on the Strand, and then taking in a West...

• Lorry look-out
  20

  The man who can track down any
  type of Sainsbury's lorry has done
  it again. Ken Smith, driver at
  Buntinqford depot and model
  collector, now has 50 models of
  the much-sought-after ERF artic
  lorry with new Sainsbury's...

• September competition winners
  20

  Winning the £25 crossword is Barbara Cook at Crystal Palace. The £10 wordsearch
  prize goes to Chris Middlecoate at Grimsby.
  For a list of the winners in the rest of the competitions featured in the September
  issue, please...

• Solutions to November's wordsearch and crossword
  20

  Crystal
  Pearl
  Wood
  China
  Sapphire
  Paper
  Silver
  Across: 1 Ebbs; 3 Immature;9 Enables;
  10 Purse; 11 Atomic energy; 13 Direct;
  15 Jester; 17 Inconsistent; 20 Cloth;
  21 Utopian; 22 Stressed; 23 Less.
  Down: 1 Emeralds; 2...

• Win tickets to the UK's biggest holiday and travel show
  20

  Olympia's Grand Hall will be transformed into a traveller's paradise for The Daily Telegraph
  Destinations 2001 Travel Show from 1-4 February 2001. More than 600 first-class travel
  companies will be on hand offering advice and...

• Fare comment - German Apple Auflauf
  21

  For an alternative to Christmas pudding, try this apple dessert. iSHR&lKG-QF
  APPLES. QUARTEREP
  INTO A BOWL ~
  (PRE-HEATOVEN r<\IX IN
  220°C/&ASMK7) \ kL\50G SUGAR,

• Fill up your stockings
  21

  Paramount is releasing several stocking-fillers just in
  time for Christmas. Starting off with the big Christmas
  launch on 11 December of Mission Impossible 2 (M:l-2), in
  both video and DVD format, in which Tom Cruise...

• Passionate about food
  21

  Company innovation chef, Steve Parkins is looking to
  get you in the festive mood with a delight that will
  keep your insides warm - and tastes especially
  delicious with shortbread and creme f raTche. winter spice poached...

• Another Jamie Oliver born in Essex!
  22

  STEVE COOK, who works at Romford in customer trading and support, would like
  to announce the birth of his son, Jamie Oliver Cook, on 2 July 2000.
  the journal is assured the apt name is a pure coincidence!

• Bags come to Falkland Islanders' rescue
  22

  SAINSBURY'S HAS flown to the rescue of 1,600 British troops
  stationed on the Falkland Islands by donating 5,000 shopping
  bags to Mount Pleasant Airfield (MPA).
  The Falklands' capital, Stanley, is one hour's drive from MPA
  and...

• House for dollies makes Josh jolly
  22

  SAINSBURY'S COLLEAGUES are becoming quite the
  regulars on Bruce Forsythe's The Price Is Right.
  After Oldham store manager Lee Taylor's
  appearance in the September/ourna/, it's the turn of
  Bolton store's Josh Chauhan.
  If you...

• Milk sales all Wight on the isle
  22

  ISLE OF Wight store proved itself to be the cream of the
  crop when it won the Cravendale Milk competition for
  the highest increase in sales of the Cravendale's
  product.
  The store won £250
  and receiving the cheque
  from a...

• Sevenoaks tribute to Pat
  22

  SEVENOAKS STORE presented an £800
  syringe driver to the Holmesdale Ward at
  Sevenoaks Hospital in memory of their
  friend and colleague Pat Eder, with money
  raised through the Penny Back scheme.
  Pat's family also donated...

• Confession of Guild
  23

  the journal sends its sincere apologies to the eight colleagues featured in
  the "Going for Guild" story in the November issue. It was stated they were
  from Stafford store when they are, in fact, from Lords Hill.

• Hereford and Hull perform prize presentations
  23

  TWO STORES have given away prizes to customers
  through instore competitions.
  Dave Jenkins, duty manager at Hereford, is
  pictured below presenting a mountain bike to
  customer Mrs Martin. Cider maker Bulmers
  donated the bike...

• Jamie makes the menu at Kirkcaldy
  23

  COLLEAGUES IN Kirkcaldy's staff restaurant team are
  so pleased Sainsbury's has signed up Jamie Oliver,
  they decided to hold a Jamie Day.
  All colleagues were treated to a
  menu which included a glass of Naked
  Punch and a Botham...

• Loyal customers enjoy champagne send-off
  23

  LOYAL BEXHILL customers,
  Mr and Mrs Biair, wrote to store
  manager Daren Turner, shortly
  before moving to Hereford, to
  express their appreciation of
  40 years' sterling service from
  the store.
  Mrs Blair wrote: "Your...

• Queen's Road celebrates Queen Mum's birthday
  23

  THE BAKERY team at Queen's Road store
  in Norwich joined in the Queen Mother's
  100th birthday celebrations by baking two
  cakes - one to give out to customers and
  one to be given to the local Little Plumstead
  Hospital.

• Rally round Craig's web site
  23

  IF YOU are into rally
  driving,takeadetour
  when you're next on
  theWebtoCraig
  Middlemas-
  Spencer's highly
  impressive site at
  http://drive.to/rallyd
  riving
  Craig's day job is
  replenishment
  manager at Witney
  store.

• Sign of approval
  23

  THORNHILL ARRANGED a book signing
  instore to promote local author Lynne
  Barrett-Lee's new novel, Julia Gets A Life.
  The signing was a huge success with
  140 copies sold on the day.
  Lynne is pictured with duty manager
  Keith...

• Christmas crossword
  24

  Across
  1. Mixed drinks (9)
  6. Small person (5)
  9. Frostier (5)
  10. Festive season (9)
  11,21 Down and 16 Down.
  Christmas carol-
  . (3,4,3,5,9)
  12. Border (4)
  14. Liquor (7)
  15. Small pebbles found
  on beach (7)
  17. Came...

• Festive mini puzzles
  24

  Using the central letter and at least
  three others, how many words can you
  find? Plurals, proper nouns and
  hyphenated words are not allowed, and
  there is a festive nine-letter word to
  discover.
  Average: 25 words Brainbox: 40...

• Quiz of the year
  24

  love a age
  married actor 1. Which st
  Brad Pitt
  2. Which high-profile couple
  announced the end of their 13-year
  relationship in May?
  3. Who admitted in March that he and
  model Heather Mills were "an item"?
  4. Which TV chef...