TWO OF THOSE MUTANT HERO T LEONARDO AND MICHAEL-ANGELO. SAY COWABUNGA! THEY CREATED GREAT DELIGHT AMONGST SMALL FANS AT MERTON DURING SAVACENTRES FAMILY FORTNIGHT. FULL STORY PP 12(13.

EDITOR YVONNE BURKE

ASSISTANT EDITOR DOMINIC LONG

E D I T O R I A L A S S I S T A N T S H A R O N L A U R E N T

HEADLINES

OPENINGS: CHRISTCHURCH

GUILDFORD HOMEBASE

WELLINGBOROUGH

OPERATION PAPERCHASE

SAVACENTRE'S FAMILY FORTNIGHT

GREEN SCENE

WRITELINES

CHRISTMAS PUDDINGS

NEW STAFF UNIFORMS

HOMEBASE ADOPTED CHARITY

BEHIND THE LINES

NEW LINES

CLEAN UP

ARCHIVES

D E S I G N 0 4 DESIGN LTD

DAVID GREEN PRINTERS LTD

IS JOURNAL 1 SAINSBURY PLC STAMFORD HOUSE STAMFORD STREET LONDON S E l 9 L L TEL: 0 7 1 - 9 2 1 S S 6 0

F R qL.N^TP

The Journal's new editorial assistant, Sharon Laurent.

People say retailing is like show-business, with shops putting on day-in, day-out performances. And when it comes to Christmas at JS it can only be compared to putting on Aida at Wembley Stadium. Long preparation, extra hours behind the scenes, difficult timings to work out, and, at the end of the day, great excitement and satisfaction at mak­ing the public happy. Good luck with the hectic weeks ahead and, rest assured, the Journal will be busy too, putting together a bumper Christmas issue.

We're glad to say the team is back to full strength and we wel­

come Sharon Laurent as our new editorial assistant. Sharon is 25 and has worked at JS for almost two years. She joins the Journalirom the advertising department where she was point of sale progressor.

Sharon has a degree in graphic design and history of art from the London College of Printing. Her main hobby is painting, using fabric paints on silk.

Here she is kindly modelling the Steel Recycling T-shirt which forms part of the prizes for the Journal's Save-a-Can competition on page 15.

Salisbury manager, Andrew Smith, far left, with Lord Tryon and, helping to announce the £35,000 total, from left to right: Victoria Finder, Tracy Hayes, Joanne Orchard, Julie Gray, Michael White and Jean Kemp.

P R I N C E ' S W A T E R C O L O U R S D R A W T H E C R O W D S

The exhibition of watercolours and lithographs by HRH the Prince of Wales (cover story October issue) shown in Salisbury Festival and sponsored by JS, raised £35,000 for the Salisbury Cathedral Spire Appeal, of which the Prince is president.

Lord Tryon, the appeal's chairman, presented, as a gesture of thanks, a framed poster of the exhibition to Salisbury manager, Andrew Smith.

H E A D

A visual of the Glasgow store.

Development director Ian Coull, (suited, standing

centre) on the JS stand at Glasgow's Modern Homes

Exhibition.

S A I N S B U R Y ' S T A K E S ITS F I R S T S T E P INTO S C O T L A N D

Planning consent has recently been granted for the first JS supermarket in Scotland. It will open in early 1992 at Darnley in South West Glasgow.

Announcement of the planning permission coincided with the company's presence at the Scottish Exhibition Centre, where visitors to the Modern Homes Exhibition were invited to sample JS's own-label products, includ­ing Scotch Broth and Caboc Cheese, at the company's stand in the Gourmet Food Hall.

Although Darnley will be the first JS supermarket in Scotland, there has been a Savacentre trading in Edinburgh since October 1984.

Left to right: environment affairs manager, Mike Samuel; chairman, Lord Sainsbury, and Christopher Patten MP.

Ken Kenney accepts the TEAM award.

M I N I S T E R I S I M P R E S S E D W I T H W O L V E R H A M P T O N

Wolverhampton store welcomed the secretary of state for the environment, Christopher Patten MP, on October 1 and chairman, Lord Sainsbury, was there to show him around.

Last December at the 1989 Environmental Awards, Mr Patten presented the company with a Premier Award for the store. It was during that award presentation that he expressed an interest in seeing the store for himself.

The judges of the awards described the Wolverhampton store, where a listed derelict church was restored and incorporated into the scheme, as 'a tri­umph for preservation over demolition.'

Mr Patten was also shown environmental aspects within the store, such as energy efficiency, recycling waste and environmentally friendly products.

Wolverhampton has recently won £500 for MENCAP because of the special facilities it provides for people with disabilities and mobility problems.

The award was made under the TEAM scheme run by Wolverhampton Council and the town's Partners in Progress Scheme. Store manager. Ken Kenney, accept­ed, on behalf of the company, an inscribed crystal bowl.

H E A D

The award winning JS Scotch bottles

S C O T C H W I N S F I R S T G L A S S A W A R D

The redesigned bottle for JS Finest Old Matured Scotch Whisky has won the second place award in the wine and spirit section of the 1990 First Glass Annual Awards.

It is the first time an own-brand bottle has won an award from the British Glass Federation.

Noel waters the trees with help from Elaine Crowley, second year RTS student at Burpham.

T H E NOEL E D M O N D S WATER S H O W

Many members of staff have spotted Noel Edmonds in their stores over the past couple of months. And the rea­son is in the water.

Noel has launched Unique Sparkling, a carbonated spring water, sourced and bottled in Hampshire. For each bottle of Unique Sparkling sold, three pence will automatically be given to the Woodland Trust to plant new broadleaf trees and maintain existing woodland throughout Britain. All further profit will also be given to the Trust.

APPOINTMENTS

S U P E R M A R K E T I N G H O N O U R

Joe Barnes, who retired as joint managing director in July, has been given the Grocery Trade Award for that month by Super Marketing magazine.

In accepting the award Joe Barnes said he was delighted and saw it as a reflection of the standing in which he was held by his colleagues on the board and the whole Sainsbury's team he has worked with during his 34 year career with the company.

Retail senior managers

DAVID SPACKMAN, area

personnel manager for the

Northern area, has been

promoted to retail senior

manager.

BRIAN BARKER, area services

manager for the Northern

area, has been promoted to

retail senior manager.

S I R R O Y T O R E T I R E

Sir Roy Griffiths, non-executive director and deputy chairman, will be leaving the board following the compa­ny's Annual General Meeting next July.

Sir Roy joined JS in 1968 and became director of personnel and administration in 1969. He was managing director from 1979 to 1988, and has been deputy chair­man since 1975 (non-executive since 1988).

B U Y E R S M A K E T H E Q U A L I T Y C O N N E C T I O N

JS buyers gathered on October 23 for the most successful Buyers Conference ever.

Held at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Parliament Square, London, the presentation has been described as 'slick' and 'exciting' and the content as 'broad' and 'motivating'.

The conference, which was entitled The Quality Connection, was attended by 300 staff from the buying divisions of JS, Savacentre and Homebase.

It was presented as a complete television pro­gramme with the conference room acting as a studio. TV broadcaster, Alan Watson, was the presenter and master of ceremonies for the day, and speeches from directors and special guests like the company's adviser on environmental affairs, Jonathon Porritt, were followed by interviews, with Alan asking the questions.

In the afternoon, syndicate sessions were held with delegates dividing into groups to discuss individual topics. The conference, which had begun with an opening

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Alan Watson, far right, leads a discussion between trading directors, left to right: Cecil Roberts, Michael Rosen and Mike Morgan.

Informal discussions after the buffet lunch.

address by the chairman, covered various subjects inside and outside the company, from the retail division and development to packaging and design, and 1992. There was also an important session on the environment.

The conference closed with a dinner attended by nearly 500 buyers, administration staff and directors.

An after dinner speech was given by Sir Roy Griffiths.

n ;. ;

The new JS voucher gift cards.

NEW V O U C H E R S A R E A G I F T

This month sees the launch in all branches of new JS gift vouchers. Customers buying the new style vouchers will be offered one of three specially designed JS gift cards with each purchase.

The vouchers are available in one, five, ten and £20 denominations and are valid at JS, Homebase and Savacentre.

A business incentive scheme which offers discounts on bulk sales of vouchers to business customers has also been launched. To assist with enquiries on the busi­ness incentive scheme an advice line has been set up on 071-921 0070.

GREEN FLEET

With a delivery fleet of nearly 400 vehicles, covering more than 11 million miles a year, JS has an impact on the environment which reaches well beyond the confines of its supermarkets.

It was this aspect of the company's policy which was described by joint managing director, David Quarmby, in his speech - entitled 'How Green is your Transport?' - at a Freight Transport Association/Shell UK conference in London last month.

David Quarmby told delegates how JS is working to reduce noise levels and energy consumption in its fleet. Half of all deliveries to stores are now made before 7.30am, easing daytime traffic congestion.

Refrigerated vehicles are being converted so they no longer use the ozone-damaging CFC gases and their

new diesel-electric units are less noisy and more fuel efficient.

He revealed that work is already in progress at JS on reducing exhaust emissions from vehicles, pre-empting EC legislation.

H E A D

Young Cook of Britain 1990, Gill Nutter, with deputy chairman, David Sainsbury.

P R O U D N I G H T FOR T H E 2 5 C L U B It's not an easy club to join and members wear its badge with pride. It's the JS 25 Club and most of its 1,200 members gathered at the Lancaster Hotel, London, on October 8 for the annual dinner.

Before the dinner no less than 160 new members were welcomed to the club and presented with gold watches by chairman, Lord Sainsbury and deputy chair­man, David Sainsbury.

After the dinner Lord Sainsbury, who celebrates 40 years' service this month, gave a speech which looked back at the company's progress in the past 25 years. David Sainsbury then gave a special tribute to the chair­man for his 40th anniversary.

Chairman, Lord Sainsbury, top left, heads up the

'40 year table'.

Last year's winner and this year's judge, Kathryn Cleverley, 14, w i th her mother, IVIary, enjoying her prize th is summer, at the Restaurants of the World Showcase, in Disney World, Florida.

B E S T OF B R I T I S H C O O K S

Twelve year old Gill Nutter won a trip for four to Disney World in Florida when she became the Sainsbury's Young Cook of the Year at the Savoy Hotel in October.

Gill, from, Prestwich, Manchester, tickled the judges' tastebuds with Chicken in a Tangy Sauce and Exotic Flan on a Raspberry Coulis.

Gill was competing against eight other finalists. All had battled through regional heats, and an original entry of 30,000, in order to cook at the Savoy for a prestigious judging panel which included last year's winner, Kathryn Cleverley and joint managing director, Tom Vyner.

Each finalist had to cook with a favourite cook or chef in mind and Gill had chosen Delia Smith. She was delighted when Delia turned up at the Savoy to pro­nounce Gill's meal 'lovely'.

Club members with at least 150 years' service

between them.

G U I L D F O R D G E T S A FACE L I F T

Guildford store opened in 1962 and, having reached that certain age, needed a little cosmetic surgery.

Facilities have been updated inside and it was decid­ed to give the store a new fa?ade to match. The result looks stunning and is in keeping with the Georgian archi­tecture of the surrounding buildings on the High Street.

The new face of Gui ldford.

CHRISTCHURCH With many staff transferring from the old Saxon Square store,

the familiar smiling service was soon in evidence on opening day at the new Christchurch supermarl<et

Area catering specialist, Sally Howells (seated) has no trouble finding a cuppa, thanks to (from left to right) Lynne McEvoy, Michelle Driscoll, Marjorie Causley and Gillian Marsh.

Opening d eptember1990 Address: 1 Lyndhurst Road, Christchurch, Dorset Opened by: Retail director, Colin Harvey S

GUILDFORD A prize draw for annual membership tickets for Sandown racecourse lielped

mal<e sure business was booming on opening day at the new Homebasejust off the Guildford by-pass.

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Melanie Angell and Charles Churton at work in the warehouse.

Bob Wingell (front, centre) and the Guildford management team.

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Bob Wingell , Staff: 78 Sales area: 43,645 sq ft Car Park: 550 spaces Opening date: 25 September 1990 Address: Ladymead

WELLINGBOROUGH Diane Livsey was delighted to welcome Wellingborough

customers to a bigger and better store last month. Local press turned up to interview staff and told its readers that JS 'treats

employee care as the first step towards customer care.'

Wellingborough

Opening date: 6 October 1990 Address: 260 Northampton Road, Wellingborough Opened by: Joint managing director, David Quarmby

LUTON

o • D (D

The new Luton supermarket provides a doubly good service to the people of Luton as it replaces both the old Bury Park store

and the one in the Arndale Centre.

304 (58 new jobs) Sales area: 32,013 sq ft Car Park: 407 spaces Opening date: 16 October 1990 Dunstable

V C I O P E R A T I O N P A P E R C H A S E

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Shift manager, service desk, Dave Simister, who helped pull Operation Paperchase together, with one week's supply of computer paper.

As a company we consume acres of trees a year in our runaway use of paper. The statistics are awesome and some of them are illustrated below. Also listed are some of the reasons why this massive usage is bad for the environment not to mention the huge expense to the company in terms of time and money. And finally, you'll discover how you can win £50.

These are the reasons why Operation Paperchase was bom. It was obvious that the support of all staff is needed to reduce our consumption and Operation Paperchase exists to make us all more aware of the problem and to tell us how we can help.

THE STATISTICS • The company uses 1,700,000 memos and letter

headed sheets of paper a year. • They are posted using 668,000 assorted envelopes. • The memos would make a paper plane with a

wingspan of about 350 kilometres and an envelope landing strip of 1.4 kilometres.

• JS computer paper accounts for 8,000 trees a year. • One week's photocopying paper would weigh the

same as an articulated lorry.

BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT The trees used to make paper are usually the quick-growing coniferous and eucalyptus. These are farmed but they do have a hostile effect on the environment: • Managed forests are hostile to wild life. • They tend to acidify the soil. • They suck up local water, changing the

environment. • Paper production consumes vast amounts of energy

and water. • It uses bleaching agents dyes and chlorine based

chemicals, all of which have to be disposed of.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Follow this ten point plan: 1. Be clear and concise. 2. Would a brief telephone call be more appropriate? 3. Use the correct size of paper. 4. Summarise large documents. 5. Extract and highlight action points. 6. Check and update your distribution lists. 7. Use double sided photocopjdng and printing

wherever possible. 8. Notify sender if you no longer require minutes or

bulletins. 9. Use scrap paper. 10. Re-use large computer prints on reverseSs

If followed, these action points should produce immediate results. But the company is going further: task forces are examining how technology can help with things like electronic mail.

Already at Norwich House, where the accounts receive 620,000 bills and invoices and 80,000 pay slips, each period, computer operations manager, Richard Dukes, is running a trial of 'image processing".

This is a system of storing images on laser' discs. Using links with stores, head office and major suppliers, this system could get rid of the need for paper documentation completely. As for saving storage space, one 5V4 inch laser disc replaces a four drawer filing cabinet holding 15,000 documents!

Have we got you thinking? Good, because we need your ideas. Nick Allen data processing services manager, is co-ordinating Operation Paperchase and he is offering £50 for the best suggestions for saving paper, or for the best examples of what you are already achieving.

i-i

Send your letters to JS Journal, 10th floor, Drury House.

11

***•-%

Savacentre's fortnight of fun for all the family

All over the country, for two weeks in October, Savacentres offered a feast of fun for every member of the family. It's this month's Cover Story.

Prizes galore - all waiting for customers at Calcot.

What's my name? Customers at Edinburgh were asked to think up a suitable name for the store's 'mega-bunny'.

I n Germany they have an Oktoberfest. At Isavacentre they have the October Event.

As much a part of Savacentre's calendar as Christmas, the October Event was born back in 1978 when the company celebrated its first birthday. The idea behind it was simple: to put the fun back into shopping for all the family.

During two weeks in October, which always coincide with half-term so that youngsters can join in the fun, every Savacentre has a feast of competitions, prize draws, spot prizes at the checkouts, cartoon characters and general fun and excitement.

Each year the event is given a theme - this year's was Family Fortnight - and the programme is devised by Savacentre's marketing department.

This year every store ran a main prize draw with a top prize worth £3,500 plus weekly and daily prizes. Amongst other events were product tastings, a chil­dren's corner and appearances by those heroes-in-a-half-shell, the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles.

But each store is also given plenty of scope to be creative and arrange their own events on top of the main programme. So at Edinburgh you could win your weight

'And the winner is . . . ' deputy store director's secretary, Barbara Sherville, was London Colney's 'mistress of ceremonies'.

12

Savacenfre ^^f^^

Clownboots the Stiltwalker was a big hit with young visitors to London Colney.

A Hallowe'en painting competition at Washington, attracted plenty of colourful entries from local youngsters.

in food or meet World Snooker Champion Stephen Hendry. At Washington, Hempstead, Calcot and Sheffield there were local footballers to meet, at Basildon a treasure hunt sent families on a trek round the store and at Oldbury children dressed up for a Hallowe'en competition.

Staff entered into the spirit of the event too. They held their own competitions and even took turns dressing up in a variety of costumes.

Says Savacentre PR manager, Freda Cooper: 'Some members of staff even refused to take off their costumes in the fear that someone else would nab it!'

Once the event had drawn to a close each store held a presentation evening when all the winners from the fortnight came to the store to collect their prizes.

Now all that's left is to get on with preparations for Christmas. And Savacentre says 'watch this space'.

Meeting those heroes, Michaelangelo and Leonardo, are, left, Suzanne Dell and Jenni Chapman at Merton.

13

GREEN CONSUMER DAY

Green Consumer Day, held on September 29, took the theme of young people and transport.

That week hundreds of school children visited their local JS store where they were shown how a large supermarket works whilst managing to protect the environment.

The visits covered green products, packaging and recycling and, before they left the stores, each child received an organic apple, a World Wide Fund for Nature bag (see below), a copy of Living Today no 9, and a quiz sheet. Each group was given a Blue Peter Green Book.

A batch of visitors from Ardley Hill Lower School, Dunstable, visits their local store.

BAGS OF IDEAS

As part of Green Consumer Day JS launched two very special new plastic bags: the World Wide Fund for Nature bag is a re-usable carry-out bag sporting the panda logo, on sale to JS customers for ten pence. All profits from the sale of these bags will go to the World Wide Fund for Nature.

New recycled JS carry-out bags are now available free to customers. These bags are believed to be the UK's first volume produced carry-out bags made from recycled poljrthene, including post consumer waste. Some of the waste used to make the bags comes from JS stores which provide the manufacturing company with its used polythene transit packaging.

Recycling plastic saves energy and reduces the requirement for solid waste land-fill.

A green picture of JS - this is how Clement Woodward

saw JS after he had visited the store at Newport. He and

his classmates sent lovely pictures with their letters of

thanks for their visit to the store.

14

This symbol will now appear on steel cans which

can be recycled.

STEEL YOURSELF A PRIZE

Steel cans are by far the most recycled cans in the UK. Each one already contains 25 per cent recycled steel and JS is helping to contribute to over one billion steel cans being recycled each year. Over half of all drinks cans and virtually all food and petfood cans on JS shelves are made of steel. As the steel can is a very energy-efficient form of packaging, and recycling cans saves money, it makes sense to recycle as many steel cans as possible.

Steel (or 'tin') cans are recycled in two ways: Magnetic extraction : Most steel cans are reclaimed by magnetic extraction at 25 local authorities' waste disposal depots around the country. This system recovers most of the steel cans contained in household dustbin waste, and it is quite unique to steel cans as they are the only t3rpe which are attracted to a magnet. Save-A-Can : It is still possible to recycle steel cans even if there is no local magnetic extractor in the area. Save-A-Can, the only national network of can banks which accept all tjrpes of cans, is now operated by British Steel. JS is involved in the Save-A-Can scheme and is investigating how it might participate on a much larger scale.

III RECYCLABLE STEEL

The cutlery set is first prize

and the runner up prizes comprise ten letter

openers and T-shirts as modelled by Sharon Laurent,

the Journal's new editorial assistant, on page two.

The Steel Can Recycling Information Bureau is offer­ing, through the Journal, the chance for a reader to win an elegant, six-person cutlery set in high quality stainless steel. Worth £250, the cutlery comes in the popular 'Old English' design and is laid out in an attractive presentation box.

And there's also the chance for ten runners-up to win a stainless steel letter opener and a specially designed limited edition 'Steel Can Recycling Saves Energy T-shirt.

All you have to do is find the 12 hidden words in the wordsquare, which describe some aspects of steel can recycling. They read up, down, diagonally, back­wards, and have not been split.

Entries must arrive in the Journal office by Friday December 14 at the address on the entry form. All JS, Homebase, Savacentre and HMP employees and veterans are eligible to enter.

STEEL CAN RECYCLING WORDSQUARE

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Attach a sheet of paper l isting the 12 hidden words.

Entries should be sent by internal post to the JS

Journal, 10th floor, Drury House, or by Royal Mail to

the address on page two.

1 5

RETAIL IS DETAIL

Len Price, veteran, Cromer. Having received my 1930 model of a Sainsbury's van may I be p e r m i t t e d to express the following com­ments.

Why did you not retain the authentic colour of the wheels, i.e. black or brown. I can't recall chrome being used.

Would it not have been more app rop r i a t e to have depic ted one n e a r e r t h e company's origins such as 13-15 Stamford S t r ee t , Blackfriars.

Finally, t he vans were austere but they were fitted with rear mirror and wind­screen wiper (one) when it worked! I don't th ink th is van would have made many de l iver ies wi th i t s front number pla te miss ing. Or do they only have back ones in Macau.

Sorry if t h e company developed my powers of observation to a high level, b u t t h e price h a d to be right.

How about a fu r the r model , say of a Leyland , wi th a company person­alised number of one of the following - J J l , J B 2 , J S 3 and , p r e s e n t gene ra t i on , JS4.

Bridget Williams, archivist, replies:

As / am sure you can imag­ine, Matchbox and JS went to considerable lengths to ensure the accuracy of the model (Matchbox, for exam­ple, routinely examine the original engineering draw­ings of the vehicles which they choose to add to their range). There are, however, some constraints in terms of modelling costs and safety issues which mean that a few compromises are inevit­able.

The reason for our choice of this model was that it is the only one cur­rently on Matchbox's lists which we know to have been used regularly by JS for local deliveries. In selecting it we were able to copy a real van from Brighton, even down to its fleet num­ber. I do agree with you about the colour of the wheels: we debated this long and hard, but were faced with a choice between red, black or chrome plastic, and both our buying team, and Matchbox's marketing people, felt that the van would sell better with the smarter chrome wheels both in JS branches and in toyshops. We do not, at the moment, have any plans for a further model.

OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES

Rosemary Frankel, Warwick Social Services. In September the Council decided to m a k e a de ter ­mined effort to in t roduce people with severe learning difficulties into par t - t ime, therapeutic employment.

We were aware of some of the obs tac les bu t t h e value of 'real ' work to peo­ple with l ea rn ing difficul­ties was paramount. As one of two employment co-ordi-nators in the division I con­tacted many local employ­ers to see if they could offer opportunities for work expe­rience or paid work to our clients. One of the services I was able to offer was to go into the workplace as a 'job t r a ine r ' to work alongside t h e new employees un t i l they found the i r feet and knew their job.

Sainsbury's of Leaming­ton were very keen to take par t in the initiative. They negot ia ted su i t ab le hours and identified appropr ia te skills, and had a very posi­tive at t i tude to all my sug­gestions.

We now have three peo­ple work ing in t h e s to re . They have all comple ted the i r six weeks induc t ion and passed t h e i r a s ses s ­ment.

He len is a coffee shop a s s i s t a n t . Her commen t s a re typical of all t h r e e : 'I enjoy the job - making new friends, talking and mixing with people. I would like to keep the job if I have the chance. It 's the best th ing that 's ever happened to me.'

We have had very favourable comments from the customers and the gen­era l publ ic . People have sa id how impres sed they are with Sainsbury's tak­ing this initiative and giv­ing people the opportunities previously denied them.

I would like to thank Mr Bradbury, Mrs Botherway, J u n e and Debbie and all the staff for being so for­ward-thinking, co-operative and helpful.

If anyone would like to know any more about this type of work contact me on Warwick 492100 .

WICKED BUT WONDERFUL

Valerie Holman, charities department, Blackfriars. Oh woe! On the one hand we are inspired to take care of our h e a r t s and then . . . tu rn over the pages and...pictures of all sorts of wicked goodies, all designed to fa t ten us and undo all t h e good work. Wha t a re you doing to us?

Editor replies: We blame the buyers. They will keep coming up with new temptations. Still, at least these days there are usually low fat versions available of those 'wicked goodies'.

KEMPSTON KEEPS CALM

Linda Robinson, customer, Kempston. On a busy Saturday morn­ing a gent leman collapsed in your Kempston store and it was clear that he was in need of u r g e n t medical attention.

It was very reassur ing to see how calmly and effi­ciently your staff dealt with t h e s i t ua t ion un t i l the ambulance arrived.

I'm sure that those have been thanked already but their response to a very dis­turbing situation did not go unnoticed.

16

Success story at Hull. Left to right: David Hall, Nicky Bibby, Liz Hathaway, and Andy Topham.

YTS STEP TO SUCCESS

Maureen Flynn, RTS co-ordinator. This is just to show that YTS = Success as proved by four young people who trained at Hull.

David Hall (left of pic above) joined the scheme in 1987 having worked at the store as a student. He is now doing further section manager training in Burpham.

Nicky Bibby, Liz Hath­away and Andy Topham (left to right from David) all joined JS in 1985 when Hull took on its first group of YTS.

Currently Nicky is sec­tion manager in the office, Liz is section manager of systems and Andy is section manager, fresh foods.

FINDING FRIENDS

Ron Filer, development division, Blackfriars. Each year I intend to write to the directors and say thank you for the most enjoyable evening we spend together at the 25 Club Dinner, but I never actually put pen to paper.

This year, however, lacked the keepable booklet with table plans, hence, after the formalities, the cir­culation to meet old friends was much hampered. I missed many old friends this year amongst the thronging 1500.

Thank you for an enjoy­able time.

(A similar letter was sent by Patricia Wilson of Hastings.)

Paul Foulger, company catering adviser, replies:

Most comments I received were that everyone enjoyed the dinner. The one disap­pointment being the guest list booklet. I am pleased to say that this will be rein­stated next year.

WITH THANKS

Alan Gorham, former senior manager, special projects, at Blackfriars. May I use the courtesy of the JS Journal columns to thank the friends and col­leagues who contributed to my retirement presenta­tion. I had the opportunity to say farewell to many of you at Blackfriars but I was unable to thank the many friends I had made during my very long association with the branches.

My grateful thanks and appreciation go to all of you who have made my long career both interesting and stimulating.

Should you see any future correspondence sign­ed 'Disgruntled of Bromley' you will know the source!

Clare Smart, checkout assistant. Queen's Road, Norwich. I would like to thank all the staff and management at the Queen's Road branch for all their magnificent fundraising efforts for our three year old son, Adam, who was diagnosed as hav­ing cancer earlier this year.

If it hadn't been for all their hard work Adam wouldn't have been able to enjoy nearly as many spe­cial treats during his ill­ness.

I would also like to thank everyone for their unending support and gen­erosity since his death in September. I'm sure that without their friendship the last eight months would have been even harder to get through.

Irene Milsom widow of Don who used to work at Chingford.

My family and I would like to thank friends for their flowers and letters of sym­pathy following the death of my husband, Don.

Tom Kempton, widower of Rosalyn, who worked at Chislehurst. I cannot praise highly enough the kindness and thoughtfulness shown by all your staff who came into contact with Roz. In partic­ular the manager, Mr Allen and the staff at Chisle­hurst , were truly her friends and gave her the support she so needed in her fight against cancer.

Our doctor told me Roz was a remarkable woman who showed courage and determination all through her fight.

Please accept my deep felt thanks for all you have done.

LETTERS ARE WELCOMED AND SHOULD BE SENT THROUGH THE INTERNAL POST TO THE EDITOR, JS JOURNAL, lOTH FLOOR, DRURY HOUSE, OR BY ROYAL MAIL TO THE ADDRESS ON PAOE 2 .

117

The stirring story of the Christmas Pudding

sk most people how the tradi­tional Christmas pudding came to be on their dining room table on Christmas day, and they'll probably tell you it's because they picked it up from one of the shelves down the cake aisle.

True as this explanation may be, it does not quite do justice to the story of culinary evolution which lies behind the Christmas pud's establishment as one of the Great British traditions.

The story begins with William the Conqueror's cook who is said to have invented the original plum pudding when he concocted a dish of thick soup made of beef, raisins, currants and bread, and fortified with alcohol.

Succulent cherries destined for the JS Luxury Pudding.

In 1728 this dish was described by a leading commentator of the day as: 'Christmas porridge... a dish for everyone from the King to the artisan. '

By the end of the 18th century, plum porridge had been almost universally replaced by plum pudding, which had become a sweet dish with suet the only relic of the meat ingredients.

David Ellis helps out in sultana quality control.

Twentieth century recipes still have the basic ingredients of fruit, breadcrumbs and alcohol, but to find out exactly what it takes to make today's perfect pud, the Journal spoke to cake buyer, David Ellis.

Says David: 'The recipe is constantly updated. This year, for the J S Luxury Christmas Pudding we have come back to a much darker colour, rich crumb, with more traditional alcohols like brandy, sherry and rum. The Luxury Pudding also features heavily on cherries, walnuts and almonds. This gives you a distinct taste of all the separate ingredients, like the nice big cher­ries, whilst at the same time it all melts together to give a delicious overall flavour.'

Mixed ingredients are measured by hand into the pudding basins.

1 8

With mouth watering, the Journal accompanied David on an inspection of the makers of some of JS's Christmas puddings, Matthew Walker Ltd in Derbyshire. There we met the company's sales director, Martin Harris, who explained the secret of a successful recipe: 'Quality fruit is the most important part of the pudding. The Sainsbury's specification demands that we use the best Californian raisins.

Puddings emerge from a six hour steam.

Turkish sultanas and currants from Greece. 'All the ingredients from salt and cinnamon to

breadcrumbs and mixed peel are weighed carefully to the specifications of the recipe.

'The mixing is important; too much damages the fruit and raw ingredients and leads to a heavy pudding; not enough and you get an uneven taste and texture.

'After mixing comes the most vital stage - loading the mixture into the pudding basins. We do this entirely by hand as no machine can match the efficiency of the human eye or the lightness of touch of the human hand. Machines which pump the mixture into basins tend to break down the fruit and you end up with a stodgy pudding where you can't see the constituent ingredients.'

The basins then go into giant pressure cookers. For the two pound JS Luxury Pudding it takes six hours at 105 degrees centigrade and five pounds per square inch.

After cooking, the puddings are cooled in a tempera­ture controlled store for around 24 hours. The puddings may only be packaged when they are within five degrees of the temperature outside the basin otherwise condensation will form which could cause mould.

Once packaged the puddings are stored in a cool, dry warehouse, away from extremes of temperature. Says Martin: 'They improve with age. In our opinion a pudding needs at least three months to mature. '

It was here we discovered that the maturing process has something of a divine tradition. This dictates that puddings should be made on 'Stir-up Sunday', the 23rd Sunday of Trinity, which has as its prayer for the day: 'Stir up, we beseech thee .... bringing forth the fruit of good works.'

iVIartin Harris (left) and David Ellis checli puddings in the cooling room.

119

The steering committee lool(s at different designs and

material samples.

Neiv Fashion in store I t is now ten years since the last nnajor redesign of staff uniforms and the company have for some time been

considering new ideas for the various uniforms currently worn by some 65,000 members of staff.

The first stage in the redesign process began in the summer with a staff panel being set up which will play a key role in the selection process. These members of staff were selected from branches representing each of the five JS areas, with the individuals drawn from as many different work areas in a JS store as possible. Following the first meeting of the staff panel in September, the designers have visited a number of branches in order to carry out painstaking research.

After a review of their recommendations by a steering group at head office, the staff panel will be closely involved in the final design stages before trials for the new uniform commence in spring 1991.

The Journal will bring you pictures of the new uniforms once in-store trials begin.

Meanwhile, if you have any comments, suggestions or advice on uniforms please write, via the internal mailing system, to the JS Journal, Drury House, Blackfriars. We cannot promise to reply to letters but we guarantee to pass them on to the steering commit­tee for their consideration.

staff panel members, Maria Benge from Purley Way

(far right), Susan Watkinson from Archer Road

(second from right) and Ermine Hope from Purley

Way, discuss the drawings of designer Jo Guiness

(far left).

20

o

APPEAL

H9MEBASE

Royal year of fundraising

Charity begins at home; and it continues at Homebase. Their adopted charity for this year is royal in two ways. The company is raising funds for the Royal Marsden appeal, and the appeal's president is Her Royal Highness, the Princess of Wales.

The Royal Marsden comprises two specialist cancer hospitals at Fulham and Sutton. The hospitals use innovative technology and train many nurses in caring for cancer patients.

Sutton has a children's ward which uses the most up-to-date technology, but it is far too small. The appeal was set up originally to raise money for the expansion of this ward but it has grown to cover both hospitals.

A questionnaire sent out to all staff resulted in Homebase adopting the charity and staff set themselves a target of £20,000. Although they have until April to make the target, they have already raised over £15,000. Here are just a few of the events which have helped.

A sober choice of dress here for Newcastle-under-Lyme Homebase. Staff there were taking part in a fancy dress pub crawl and raised £180.

Northampton Homebase staff braved the waves and

put to sea in a beautiful pea green raft.

Well, it wasn't quite the open sea, but rather the

River Nene for the annual Rotary raft race. With spon­

sorship the store raised £80.

Nine members of Homebase head office and stores found their training paid off when they completed the MaSt marathon at Thruxton Racing Circuit and collected £1,500.

Mark Sharkey, hire techni­cian at Leeds Homebase, really did make a sacrifice for the Royal Marsden. Despite being scared of heights he abseiled down this rock face. Store manager, Bernard Todd, and deputy, Richard Flood, both experienced abseilers, trained ten members of staff for the event which raised £317.

Normally a 'chatter-box' Michaela Dawdry of

Basingstoke Homebase, took part in a sponsored silence

during stocktaking and raised £67.

Many other Homebase employees have taken part in sponsored events such as parachute jumping, sitting in a bath of custard, slimming, and cutting their hair, to name but a few, in an attempt to reach their target for the Royal Marsden Appeal.

2 1

B E H I N D T H E BATTY BEHAVIOUR AT BADGER FARM

Badger Farm's deputy store manager, Steve Fryer, became concerned about an unusual branch visitor spot­ted hanging round the back door, by a member of staff.

Steve became even more concerned when, after two days, the back door loiterer refused to eat anything despite being offered some of the restaurant's finest fresh orange slices.

The RSPCA were called in and they identified the mysterious visitor as a Whiskered Bat. The bat was eventually released back to its natural environment.

Badger Farm's Whiskered Bat turns his nose down at

some slices of orange.

CUSTOMER AND FRIEND

Customer services manager, J i l l P r e s t o n from Kidderminster , brightened the day for one of her regu­lar customers, pensioner, Lily Wilson. When Mrs Wilson failed to appear on her regular shopping day for the third week in a row, Jill made inquiries amongst her neigh­bours and discovered Mrs Wilson was ill in hospital.

Jill paid a visit to the hospital and presented Mrs Wilson with a bunch of flowers from staff" at the store.

Jill at Lily's bedside.

MONEY THAT WAS RAISED IN THE SADDLE

It was a case of get on your bike and stay on for as long as possible when staff at Clifton Down organised a sponsored bike ride, and raised £400 for MENCAP.

Nick Mitchell, fresh foods deputy, handing over the

cheque for £400 to MENCAP.

V ^ I U

SALUTE TO A QUARTER CENTURY «

Staff" at Bishops Stortford raised their glasses to the branch's 25th birthday recently. At the celebration along with members of staff, retired and current, was Fred Knight who opened the store in 1965, and is now himself retired.

Fred (centre, wearing glasses) toasts another 25 years.

22

!S3

iiiilA

STOCKING UP FOR FREE AT STAFFORD

Stafford branch staff were content to let Margaret Hill leave the store without paying for her shopping. But don't all rush to the store for free groceries.

Margaret was the winner of a three minute trolley dash. This was the first prize in a competition which raised £1,600 for MENCAP. Mrs Hill managed to grab £134 worth of goods.

Manager, Robert McKinlay, with Margaret outside Stafford store.

FLOWERY SELL Three big hearted members of staff at Kempston branch raised £1,021 for MENCAP. Joan Steele, senior frozen foods assistant, George Woods and David Bareford, both senior store warehouse assistants, sold bouquets of flowers outside the store.

David turns flower seller outside the branch.

FAIRY TALE FUNDRAISING Staff at Lancaster raised the princely sum of £1,666 when Amanda Wray, checkout assistant, and Tong, packer, became fairytale characters for three days of fundraising.

The princess and the frog gave away 2,000 orchids to the public, in return for a small donation. The money raised went to MENCAP and Age Concern.

Amanda sitting pretty while Trevor waits hopefully for that kiss.

123

B E H I N D r ^ G O O D T H I N K I N G B A T M A N mmmmm.

And Robin, and Snow White, and Mary Poppins, etc, etc. Staff at Chase Lane completed a sponsored walk in fancy dress and raised £978 for the Sunshine Coach Appeal.

Also at the store, deli assistant, Margaret L a c k w e l l ' s husband David, appeared on Julian Clary's Channel 4 Show 'Sticky Moments' and is pictured with his prize 'Fanny the Wonder Dog".

C A S T L E ' S C A S H I E R F O R A D A Y

When the chairman's office received a letter from nine year old Rebecca Hodges asking if it would be possible for her to become a cashier for the day, it led to her dream coming true at Cas t l e Bou leva rd , Nottingham.

That's where she spent the day serving customers after a few hours tuition and under the watchful eye of Gerry Fletton, customer services section manager.

Rebecca achieves her ambition with help from

Gerry Fletton

G O O D N E I G H B O U R S A R E R I G H T O N C U E

Thousands of pounds have been given away over the past few months to pensioner groups under the Sainsbury's Good Neighbour scheme. The latest dona­tion, shown here, was a £250 cheque presented by Heyford Hill manager, Dennis Barnes, to the Oxford Old Age Pensioners Club.

Dennis Barnes left and a member of Oxford OAP club.

G R E A T D A Y O F G O L F

F U L L S T E A M A H E A D F O R C O A C H A P P E A L

Pardon me boy! staff at Stanway raised £200 for the Sunshine Coach Appeal, by inviting people to guess the weight of a model steam engine lent by the section manager, warehouse, Anthony Carlo. The winner of the competition received two hampers of JS goodies, but no chatanooga choo choo.

Eighteen keen golfers from Terry Brown's district held a golf day at Dunwood Manor on September 24. The singles competition winner was Geoff Ware, Boscombe The team event was won by Len Skellen, Chr i s tchurch , Mark Healy, Lordshill , and Nick Wills, Boscombe.

The JS Three Counties Golf Society which organ­ised the day will meet again on Monday, April 8 1991 at Broadstone Golf Club.

Anyone wishing to join this friendly society should contact Mike Lendon at Lords Hill Branch.

24

Warren Millar's design kept to the bear essentials.

Leventhorpe's graphic students at work on the

new designs.

THE WONDER OF WALTHAMSTOW Paul Hartgen, section manager grocery, and Sharon Brown, supermarket assistant , both from Walthamstow took part in a sponsored three mile fun run at Regents Park in aid of Cancer Research. The cause was especially close to their hearts as Paul's wife (who is also Sharon's sister), Angela Hartgen, supermarket assistant at the same branch, is bravely fighting the illness. They raised £3,300 for the Middlesex and University College Hospital, which Angela attends.

DESIGNS ON DISPLAY Leventhorpe school near Bishop's Stortford took part in their own soap drama when they held a competition amongst the sixth form graphics students to redesign the packaging for Sainsbury's Non-biological Auto­matic Washing Powder.

JS's design studio manager, Audrey Fletcher, went down to the school to judge the competition.

She said: 'I studied each of the 25 designs and gave each student a critique. There wasn't a winner as such as we went on to make a display of all the designs which was put into the foyer of Telford store.

'There were some very exciting designs and a lot of effort went into the work.

'I think the store links with local schools are extremely important and I would certainly welcome the chance to be involved again.'

EDMONTON KEEPS BABY WATCH Branch personnel manager, Sue Liondaris, and members of staff from Edmonton raised £1,200 by sell­ing unwanted gifts and having a weekly raffle, for the Baby Watch Appeal at the local Chase Farm Hospital. Proceeds went towards buying new pieces of equip­ment for the unit.

Branch manager, Michael Botwright, and Sue Liondaris, handing over the cheque to hospital staff.

2 5

PEOPLE ENGAGEMENTS

STEPHEN SHEPLEY and ANNABELLE

HoRSEFiELD, both packers at Woking, were engaged on September 22. Staff presented thern with a crystal vase, bouquet of flowers, a bottle of champagne and an engagement cake. The couple hope to marry in 1992.

WEDDINGS

Secretary to the produce technology department, JULIE BENSON, and payroll supervisor, DAVID MANNING, both from Blackfriars, married on August 4 at All Saints Church, Belvedere.

MARTIN EDWARDS, admin

manager, fresh meat buying, and SUSAN FYNES, departmental

director's secretary, were married at Annunciation Church, Chislehurst on August 18. They are pictured outside Chislehurst branch where Martin's mum Marie works as checkout supervisor. The couple spent their honeymoon in Austria.

DAVID ELLIOT, senior deputy manager at Newbury, and KAY BERRY, administration manager (in training) at Kempshott were married on July 7 at London Street United Reform Church in Basingstoke with Bridgwater manager, Paul Gaylor, in attendance as best man.

David and Kay Elliott

LONG SERVICE

Employees who have completed 40 years service are:

FRANK RANDALL, deputy meat manager, Woodhall Farm. WILLIAM SKELTON, manager,

services engineers, Blackfriars. RICHARD STENNING, warehouse

reception manager, Wallington.

Employees who have completed 25 years service are:

ALEX AIKEN, clerk, Basingstoke depot. PAULINE CARD, branch systems clerk, Redhill.jAMES ERRINGTON, non perishables, Basingstoke depot. RUSSELL GALLIVAN, driver, Buntingford depot. TOM GLASCOTT, deputy manager, Belgrave Road. PETER GREEN, assistant manager, Chichester. CHARLES HASTINGS,

stock controller, Basingstoke depot. CHARLES HORAN,

despatch and returns, Charlton depot. JOHN HUCKLE, bakery manager, Wandsworth. ANGELA JEFFRIES, branch personnel manager, Basingstoke central. DOROTHY JEPHCOTE, checkout

assistant, Nuneaton. ALAN LANGHAM, development division, Blackfriars. GABRIEL MASCARENHAS, assistant manager, purchases accounts, Streatham office. GERALD MORGAN, section manager, Broadmarsh. DOROTHY PENNY,

hygiene, Basingstoke depot. TERRY REILLY, Non perishables

warehouse, Basingstoke depot. JIM SHERWOOD, manager, Stratton. JOY SIMMONS, office manager, Oxted. ROBERT STOWE, manager, Bradford. BRIAN TOMPKINS, deputy manager, Basingstoke central. PAUL TURNER, manager,Derby. ROBIN

WEBB, returns, Basingstoke depot. RONALD WEEDON,

distribution planning, Blackfriars. JOYCE WELLS,

section manager, Kettering.

RETIREMENTS

ALAN BRITLAND, refrigeration

plant manager, Buntingford depot (39 years). BERNARD BRITLAND, meat manager, Dover (36 years). JOHN MUGGERIDGE,

non perishables, Charlton depot (35 years). DENNIS WILMER, meat manager, Leatherhead (35 years). JAMES DAVIES,

engineer, Haverhill Meat Products (28 years). JOHN AIREY, branch manager, Chingford (25 years). SAMUEL HENDERSON,

operations planning, Charlton depot (24 years). JOHN DARTON, branch liaison manager, Charlton depot (23 years). BRENDA SNOW, supermarket assistant, Bitterne (21 years). ROBERT TOBIN,

operations planning clerk, Charlton depot (20 years). STANLEY HOARE, chargehand

motor engineer, Buntingford depot (20 years). THOMAS SMITH, returns operator, Buntingford depot (20 years). JAMES TIPPER, warehouse assistant, Poole (20 years). JAMES BONESS,

engineers general operative, Haverhill Meat Products (19 years). ERIC VENTRIS, trolley retrieval, Ipswich (18 years). AUDREY PERRINS, fresh food replenishment assistant, Basingstoke central (16 years). ALAN DOWNEY, trolley retrieval. South Woodford (16 years). RAY SMITH, reception manager, Dover (15 years). MAJORIE CAUSLEY,

section manager staff restaurant, Christchurch (15 years). RON HOWE, section manager, produce, Bridgwater (11 years). LILLIAN CABLE, health and beauty assistant, Dagenham (9 years). NORA BENHAM, confectionery

assistant, Chichester (9 years). KENNETH ROBINSON, district

security manager. Northern area office (8 years). DENNIS BANKS, Hoddesdon depot (7 years). STEFAN BORODAJKEWYCZ,

customer services assistant, Keighley (6 years). STEVE LAWSON, trolley retrieval. East Filton (I year).

FRED BLACKMAN (below), section manager, reception, at Farnham

has retired after 41 years with JS. He joined as an errand boy in 1939 earning one pound a week, and before his first pay day, he was sent by his manager, the late Mr Endicott, to get a hair cut with a sixpence advance on his wages. Fred worked his way through posts such as van driver and domestic deliveries, butcher and senior leading salesman to become section manager, reception in 1988. Fred says many thanks to manager, John Hardley, and all staff at Farnham, for the wonderful farewell party, and 'thank you' to the drivers from Basingstoke, Hackbridge and Hoddesdon depots for their help in the past years.

OBITUARY

ANN BELL, display assistant at Taunton, aged 47, died, after a long illness, on October 12. She had been with the company for seven years. SIMON BROOKE, section manager at Exebridge, aged 23, died suddenly on October 24. He had been with the company for a year. JEAN IVY JOHNSON, stock control clerk at Charlton depot, aged 58, died on September 25 after a long illness. She had been with the company for 20 years. DAVID MARTIN, section manager, warehouse reception at Hampton, aged 30, died on October 6 after a long illness. He had been with the company for five years. ALAN MYERS, section manager reception Beckenham, aged 57, died suddenly on October 21. He had been with the company for three years. MARK OGLETHORPE, data base analyst at Blackfriars, aged 29, died suddenly on October 16. He had been with the company for six years. RAINNEE SOLWAY, section manager at Redditch, aged 31, died, after a long illness, on October 6. She had been with the company for ten years. MARJORIE TETLOW,

systems clerk at Stockport, aged 50, died after a long illness on October 19. She had been with the company for five years.

N E w L I N E S

F R O M R U S S I A W I T H LOVE

This is the latest edition in the JS regional cookery series. An exploration of authentic recipes from the Soviet Union, with fascinating insights into the customs of this increasingly popular cuisine. Available in most stores at £1.25.

S A U C E OF P L E A S U R E

JS Fresh Classic Sauces have been created by professional chefs and are freshly prepared each day. They are available in three varieties: Cider and Apple; Au Poivre and Orange. So for that special meal just choose your meat and there will be a sauce to suit. Each pot serves two and is available in selected stores at an introductory offer price of 88p.

Lyn's son David with, left to right, Sue Turnbull, Ian Wright, Nicky Plaistow, Andrea Grainger, Steve Hutchinson, Dave Beatham and Lyn Nowles.

T H E Y ' V E C L E A N E D U P ! Almost all the Clean-up operations have been complet­ed by JS Homebase and Savacentre branches now and Britain is all the brighter for it. And, along the way, hun­dreds of pounds have been raised for charity.

One of the more adventurous operations was at Southport. They made a clean sweep of the beach between Ainsdale and Formby, but the efforts began long before the day itself, as BPM, Lyn Knowles, explains: 'We began with a Clean-up raffle to raise funds, and local businesses donated prizes. We were able to hand over £1,500 to various charities'.

127

,BUTCHERS

mm W^tt^^^'-'r"~^^

-i

S

^KUHl Vh.^

MEASURING UP TO THE PAST

A WONDERFUL RECOfD AND YOUR SAFEGUARD No " LION " SCALE has ever been rejected or condemM^by any Weights and Measures Inspector for inaccurate adjustmenl.

J4D CABLE AODHESS : " RYTEWEIGHT, ' LONDON.

Herbert and Sons advertises its 'Lion' scales.

Scales in use at 99 Gloucester Road,

Kensington in 1957.

w hen the J S home economics department moves to new kitchens in Drury House early next year, one more piece of h is tory will find i ts place in the J S archives.

Consumer marketing manager, Wendy Godfrey, has earmarked a very special pair of scales for replace­ment, as the job of measuring ingredients will go over to an electronic system.

The old scales , m a d e by H e r b e r t and Sons of Haverhill, have been in daily use for at least 30 years. The home economics team say they are really sad to part with the scales as they still do a good job weigh­ing meat and poultry for use in the sampling room.

The scales have imperial weights, which are still necessary for testing recipes and recommended cook­ing times. These are specified in imperial weights on packag ing , as mos t cus tomer s st i l l use impe r i a l weights.

Herbert and Sons have been making scales for J S for nearly a century, and Mr James Herbert invited J S archivist, Bridget Williams, to view his own archives.

Herber t and Sons were established in 1760, and used to be based at Smithfield, close to London's most important meat market.

Shirelle Shaw, food preparation assistant in the home economics department at Blackfriars, uses the scales to weigh a joint of bacon.

Their early price lists show an impressive range of butchers' equipment, from cleavers and ham stands to sausage-machines and tradesmen's cycles.

By far the most celebrated of their products, how­ever, were their scales which appear in photographs of J S branches dating back to the beginning of the century. J S used two types of Herbert's scales: balance scales for tea and other groceries, and 'Lion' scales for meat and provisions.

By the 1920s, J S was using well over 300 Lion scales (the name came from Herbert 's t rade mark, a rampant lion on the top of the standard model).

J S scales were custom buil t with the Sainsbury name on the top of the central column, which was dec­orated with a pink and white enamel pillar.

The scales in the home economics department date from a l a t e r period, and are very s imilar to those appea r ing in a Herbe r t leaflet from 1949 'Modern Scales for Modern Shops'.

Their streamlined design not only offered, in the words of the leaflet, ' the finest and most accurate weight scale made for retail shops' but also the very highest hygiene standards of the day, being very easy to clean. I t is a t r i bu t e to t he i r qual i ty t h a t they should still be in use today.

Herber t and Sons still make scales for J S today. They supply the electronic machines used on deli­catessen counters . And if anyone wonders why the Lion scale looks familiar, they may have seen it in a recent J S adver t i semen t for Tradi t ional Bacon. The scales in the photograph were loaned by Mr Herbert from his collection!

28