My Sainsbury’s Story

I had worked in media for over 10 years in varying roles, starting as a bright-eyed young Yorkshire lad who had moved down to London and fell into my first media role. In those years, I have worked at a few different companies, from music, short form content, influencer marketing, but always with a digital focus. Then I had found myself between jobs, interviewing for my next gig, when a little thing called Covid descended on the world. This led to uncertainty, panic, and most worrying of all for me… recruitment freezes.

Sadly, mortgages don’t pay themselves, so I ended up taking a job at Sainsbury’s working the nightshift, restocking the ransacked shelves with pasta, canned goods and toilet paper (when we had it!) after the public had finished their daily panic buy. I’ll be honest, going from a cushty media job, entertaining and shmoozing clients Monday to Friday 9 to 5 (as Dolly sang) to a 9pm til 7am shift of lugging heavy roll cages and totes of vegetables was quite the shock to the system (and the body!). However, there was one benefit that my previous roles didn’t offer: I was helping to feed the nation, and my team and I at Sainsbury’s were working all hours to try to support everyone through the entire pandemic. No WFH, no furlough – just hard work.

I did that for around 3 months, until I was approached by the Store Manager asking what I wanted my next steps to be. I knew winning the lottery was a bit of a long shot, and the media industry was still up in the air, so I asked about potential managerial roles. A couple of interviews later, I was promoted to 4s manager in the Groceries Online department at one of Surrey’s flag ship stores. If I thought nightshift was challenging, I was in for a rude awakening!

2am on Monday, I rocked up for my first day in management. Being mentored and looked after by a great team, I learned the ropes of what Groceries Online was all about; the picking, the packing, the loading of the vans, rota and staff management, how to deal with sickness (funnily enough, it happened a lot in those days) and frantically arranging driver cover to make sure that those in isolation and in need of home deliveries weren’t left in the lurch, not to mention enforcing social distancing and PPE usage. I was surrounded by an amazing team who all pulled together to keep up with the growing pressures placed on the GoL department as we tried to keep up with the demand and ever-increasing item numbers, adding vans to the fleet as we tried to include extra runs each day, sickness, and a restless public.

It was hard, it was stressful… it was rewarding.

Fast forward 2 years, I had continued to learn as I moved through the different departments. A short stint looking after the Food Services team following a long term illness (I am definitely no Paul Hollywood, but thankfully the guys making the bread were damned close!), supporting the food team during the height of the buying frenzy to make sure we kept availability high and the shelves as stocked as possible throughout trading, and lastly leading the Customer Services Core – the face of Sainsbury’s – and at times the only communication some of the customers had with anyone during lockdown. We were friends, therapists and providers of service that was essential. I was averaging around 25k steps a day, lost a stone and a half (don’t worry, I quickly put that back on!) and my skills had developed sevenfold. Working the manned checkouts, managing a rota of around 60 employees, labour management, money management, fire safety, you name it, I had done it.

We had weathered the worst of the storm, we had helped keep the nation going through the thick and thin, and the world was slowly coming back to normal. I checked inside move (an internal recruiting site for Sainsbury’s) and had seen a role at Nectar360: Client Service Manager for New Business. I spoke to my store manager and explained that I wished to apply, and they supported me through the process. I won’t bore you with the long version, but I got the job and within a few weeks had joined the elite at head office! Back in the world of media (albeit a very different one to the weekly client lunches!). People were working from home, meetings were held via teams (thankfully not a quiz in sight!); it was a strange new world, but I’d rolled with the punches before.

I joined the New Biz team, looking after SME’s within the Impulse category, managing clients direct, helping them cut through and reach their desired audience. Now, organisation isn’t my strong point, but when you have around 80 active clients, you have to learn, and FAST! It was a completely different level of stress, ensuring that deadlines were hit, artwork is correct, store lists are spot on… it was a mad house, and I loved it! The feeling you get when you help a tiny brand achieve their dreams of being featured on a Sainsbury’s shelf with their advertising prominently on display was very different to that of working in store, but still very rewarding.

Cut to now, I had done the best part of 2 years with the New Biz team, onboarding clients, helping others strategize, planning the years promotions and supporting media, when a role for Senior Client Service Manager had become available. I threw my hat in the ring, and thankfully my hat was chosen! I have now come full circle, through some long and winding roads, but learning every step of the way, back to the world of digital media.

If there’s one thing that I have learned about Sainsbury’s/Nectar360, is that there are roles available no matter where your passion lies, and internal moves are extremely achievable, you just have to look which way you want to head.