David Rutley, local MP for Macclesfield, got behind his local food counter in Macclesfield Sainsbury’s store to learn more about preparing food and serving local customers.
David Rutley was welcomed by Robert Gillard, Counters Manager at the hot food counters. During the visit, they covered the importance of safety and hygiene while preparing food as well as getting a few tips from trained colleagues on how to prepare a hot fresh pizza. The day is designed to highlight the various career opportunities retail offers, and the training available to colleagues.
David Rutley said “I’ve had a great day accompanying the Counters Manager Robert Gillard, meeting local customers. It’s interesting to see how passionate the colleagues are, and find out more about the skills they have developed.”
Counter Manager Robert Gillard adds: “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.