Harrington goes on work ‘plaice’-ment to Watford Sainsbury’s

Watford MP Richard Harrington recently visited Sainsburys on the Dome Roundabout to learn more about preparing food and serving local customers. Mr Harrington was welcomed by Suzanne Clayton, Counters Manager, at the branch. During their time on the job they covered the importance of safety and hygiene while preparing food as well as getting a few tips from trained colleagues on how to fillet a fish. The day is designed to highlight the various career opportunities retail offers, and the training available to colleagues. Mr Harrington said: “I had a great day accompanying Suzanne. It’s interesting to see how passionate the colleagues are, and meeting local customers.” Suzanne added: “It’s not every day you have your local MP in to work with you – I really enjoyed sharing some of the skills I’ve learnt and having an extra pair of hands.” This year Sainsbury’s was awarded its second consecutive Gold Investors in People accreditation for supporting, developing and motivating its colleagues. Over 22,000 colleagues who work on the fresh food counters, bakeries and cafés have received job-specific City & Guilds-accredited training in the seven Food Colleges across the UK. They receive in depth training from a team of experts that covers product knowledge, knife/preparation skills and practice sales, customer service and merchandising. Further coaching skills are taught to ensure the training can be cascaded and passed on when colleagues return to store.