assistant

warehouse worker

truck driver

senior operations clerk

stocking associate

Booker Group

I would avoid this company if you intention is to be a picker there. Your back will be tested to limits on daily basis. Work is hard, physically demanding and quite often it's difficult to reach pick rate set by the company. Management simply doesn't care that with the orders you getting it's impossible to achieve the target. They want you to push yourself  and start working like a slave basically do everything what is necessary to achieve the target including messing up your back in the process if that what's required. I've seen people taking only 15min out of  their 45min break just to give themselves a bigger chance of hitting the target and they have done it daily basis too. It's really depressing place to work run by not very smart people (managers) who are confusing this place with prison because they're trying to run it like one. If you do something wrong there must be punishment for it. You will be treated as if you were serious criminal who committed most hideous crime. Whether you booking holiday or asking for overtime you can be discriminated. You will be feed with lies why you holiday was rejected while the schedule for that period was free or why they somehow managed to missed you when they were singing up people for overtime. If something happens in the warehouse some kind of accident you'll be taken for a drug/alcohol test for every single thing, every single time. 

The next thing is changing pay rate in the first year of employment with Booker. You starting on agency on £9.45 (it was a bit lower when I started) and you have to work for 6 months before company will offer you full contract with Booker. During the period of 6 months you need to hit minimum pick rate of 85% and don't have any absences because they will punish you by postponing your full time contract by a month or two or even longer.  When you get on the contract they will give you lower pay rate which is £9.14. It's Booker's way to exploit employees a bit more after 6 months on agency. That lower pay rate is temporary but not for 3 months of probation but for the next 6 months! Absurd! Basically it'll take you 12 months(if you avoid being punished in the meantime) before you will get £10.36 that most of employees is currently on. 

On the start on every tax year there should be a pay rise and there is but it's done a bit differently than anywhere else.  Pay rise will be paid out almost at the end of every single tax year as a single one off payment. That way if someone will quite before the end of the tax year they won't have to give him that pay rise payment which is another way to exploit employees.

Another thing is shift pattern. Forget about two days off in a row every week. At some point you will be working 6 days in a row and it'll be your standard roster. If you sing up for overtime you'll basically work 9 days straight. One week you will be working on morning shift (6am-2pm) and the next week on PM shift (2pm-10pm) etc. The shift pattern I was working on looked like this :

Morning shift I was working on : Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, off on Thursday and back on Friday and Saturday

On Sunday you changing to PM shift so I was working Sunday, Monday Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and weekend off.

So after your mid week rest day on morning shift (Thursday in my case) you will be working until you next mid week rest day on PM shift which overall give you 6 days straight in the warehouse then 1 day off and back for another 2 days and then finally you will have a weekend off. If you work overtime on both of your mid week rest days you'll be working 12 days in a row. You will be working every bank holiday. The exception is one of the Xmas days but Booker will take your day of holiday to cover for it. Very generous of them.

The only pros of working there is overtime and that's it. Don't consider this company as a place for making career. It's a dead end. Have some respect for yourself and your body.

If you still thinking about joining this company I would recommend you to choose B shift. I have worked on both shift and I can say that B shift got managers with more human touch.

PLEASE JUST AVOID!
terrible angry delivery manager with a far worse temper than the hulk he throws rolls of shrink wrap about everywhere in a mood he and his best mate the area manager had a agenda to get rid off all the long standing drivers to bring in more of a booker brain washed driver which just won't happen.
No organisation whatsoever place gets by day by day with pure luck. Frozen food in mouldy 30 year old containers which stink and was never washed frozen was always delivered always out of temperature managers informed and just ignore. Dangerous cages with wheels missing and metal sticking out everywhere rammed full off beer and pop even topping 580kg one we weighed pallets stacked with crisps and toilet roll at bottom or one side driveways for transit vans to get ya 18t up with gravel and dirt to try and move rotten cages on arrogant customers. Expected to load during breaks due to no loader that day again you tell manager and he wants to fight you. Pump trucks that won't lift high enough no electric power truck to help drivers move there 800/900kg pallets uphill into customers shops want you to work overtime but say they carnt pay as contract states 1.5x they try to get away with time owed. All management run round for days before regional manger comes to protect there own jobs I've never seen floor's swept as much in my life. They would rather pay agency before there own staff you get followed round by armed gangs for cigarette theft then when you do get robbed you get thouroughly examined to try to find something you did wrong as they have to blame give the driver a warning for whatever they can. Inward facing cameras for training haha more like just to sack drivers for anything they physically can people watching them all day then doing investigations on what they've saw by watching and listening to you all day. Rats in the delivery yard all around the bins, angry rdc drivers threatening in house drivers over pushing in but you work in there one incident of a assault recently managment ignored again despite cctv footage. Area manager constantly trying to change days shifts hours rota patterns. Always after you on health and safety but when you mention it or need help it's ignored. Trucks loaded to back doors with no room for chilled or frozen to fit on then you have to throw your cigarettes wherever you can fit them. All drivers have had accidents/injurys and when reported they try to turn it around to blame the drivers working procedure and discipline you. Drops where they were double manned then told on your own double parking or bus stop parking 2 steel plates to get your 580kg cages up 2 steps then alleys in the dark to get cages to delivery point. When straps wear out they just hate spending a few £6s on new one they think they last a life time expected to use your own phone with no allowance for work purposes no cage counts or information to start your day just crack on and hope for the best.  4 drivers gone in last 5 months that should answer your questions risk assessments about slopes and half cages and weights completely ignored. Could put loads more but hopefully you get the picture and ust don't do it you'd be better with covid than a job at booker YOUVE BEEN WARNED. INNIT! 

L
I worked as a warehouse operative in the chill department at Booker for a year. Unfortunately, there was little to no progression within the company. Despite being promised training opportunities, I spent my entire time focused solely on picking tasks. I repeatedly asked for training, only to be told, “later,” time and time again—while others around me were given training opportunities. When I finally raised concerns, a manager dismissed them by saying that “a year here is nothing” and that they had more important things to focus on. If that’s the case, what’s the point of making false promises about career progression when, in reality, all they want you to do is pick, pick, and work you to the bone without complaint?

For an entire year, I received a weekly bonus without any additional recognition, while certain employees were assigned easier tasks. When I first joined, I was assured that the company takes good care of its staff. However, as a younger employee (aged 20-25), I did not feel valued or supported in my professional growth. A company should invest in its future workforce, yet there seemed to be no real incentive to stay in a role that offered no opportunities for advancement.

There were no one-on-one meetings to discuss career development or personal goals. Employees were expected to work as a team, yet the bonus and performance systems were entirely individual-based, creating an unfair dynamic. Favoritism was also a clear issue, with the same individuals consistently given easier jobs while others were left to handle the more physically demanding tasks without recognition.

Additionally, the company conducts an annual survey, supposedly to allow employees to share their opinions. However, what they don’t disclose is that the better the survey results, the bigger the bonus the managers receive for the year—raising questions about how much employee feedback truly matters.

When I finally raised concerns about the lack of training, I was only provided with basic fire safety training. Furthermore, performance targets were unfairly structured—employees working five days a week were held to the same standards as those working only three days.

The company also heavily promotes mental health awareness, but in practice, this felt contradictory. If you took a sick day, you were pressured to return to work quickly and often faced a disciplinary process. The overall work environment was demanding, unappreciative, and driven by favoritism, with little reward for hard work and dedication.

The only real positive about working at Booker was the people. The team consisted of good, hardworking individuals who were often undervalued. The best part of the job was the people around me, but unfortunately, that alone wasn’t enough to make up for the overall work experience.


This place makes me laugh.Where do I start.There is so much that is wrong with working at Bookers...
1. Management. Clearly they don't care about anyone of their employees.They seem focused on bonuses.They have no people skills and presumably ok to belittle and talk to you like dirt and expect you to do things like change shifts with no notice,yet when you want a holiday they want a month's notice.
2.Although there are health and safety notices around the place,there really isn't much health and safety at Bonkers.As long as you sign the relevant sheets when the manager asks you to and then says "do u want me to go through it or just sign it off" is about all the training I've ever had.The only thing they seem hot on is fork lift segregation and that's because they don't want any more hassle.
3.The delivery service.OMG.well this is another thing.Most of the time lorries are overweight on axles as you cant load them properly because customers order too much and delivery supervisors/management wannabes just wanna get the orders out.Due to risk assessment irregularities drivers have to use all there might to get 6-700 kilo pallets off the back of an 18t vehicle and over rough terrain and up hills and down hills with a pallet truck that's brakes don't work.Still no one listens to your cries for help all you get is,oh, we've got another drop for you to do,but for God sake don't use any overtime,that is another thing.
4.Overtime.well most companies will honour paying their employees when they've worked overtime.Not Bonkers,they think they can scam you out of this.If you work overtime at Bonkers,according to hr,you should be paid for it,but hold on,in store management take hold and you are offered days in lieu which you never get or an over time four week cycle when they add up the hours overtime at end of rhe month,well they add them up their way and still try and scam u out of as much as they can.
5.Overall I would like to say how much I enjoy working here.At break time away from listening ears colleagues talk about how much this company takes the p*** and all the ideas colleagues have that would genuinely make Bonkers a better place.All those ideas are pushed under the carpet or deliberately not heard as your opinion ,as an employee and non management,frankly doesn't mean anything and it's a shame because it could be so much more of a better place but it never will be.The only goid thing about bookers is that most of the people are a laugh and we all know it's a nightmare but we do it because we gotta not because we want to.

AVOID this place like the plague.Join bonkers at your peril.

Here's an average day:

Come in at 6, start putting chilled in cages with the ambient that's been picked the night before. Once this is finished it's on to bread. Then start loading 18-24 cages onto your truck using the tail lift. At some point someone comes out and tells you that they've just finished picking something for one of the first cages you loaded, meaning it's going to be in the way for the entire day.

Go through 5-8 pallets of frozen looking for the boxes belonging to your drops. Load the freezer with these boxes by hand.

Leave the yard for about 8:30 if you're lucky, 9 :30 if not.

Drive 15 to 20 minutes to your first drop. This is the longest drive you're likely to do until you're finished so enjoy it.

At most drops you'll get the tail lift out, bring down a cage or two out, put any frozen into the cage if there's space, then push it over the most broken surface the town can muster, to the door of your drop. For some reason despite booker only needing the goods to be somewhere safe and secure the reps will have arranged that the drivers carry it significantly further into the building. Once that's done it's time to put the cage away, put the tail lift away, then jump in the non-air conditioned cab for a 5 minute journey to your next drop.

Once your 15-25 drops are done, you're back in the cab to drive 15-20 minutes back to the yard, where you unload the empty cages by tail lift.

Management will tell you that overtime is not mandatory, but will insist that all drops are completed before you come back to the yard, even if there's no chance any driver could complete them by their finishing time.

Management will tell you that they track your overtime, but they won't, and will only pay out if you can produce a timesheet or tacho records.

You will not have time for a break.

There is no diary or web portal to show when holiday can be booked, so you request a date in writing and it's confirmed (or not) by a manager anywhere from a day to a week later.

Holidays like Christmas are booked up over a year in advance, so good luck if you have a family.

The longest serving drivers on longer contracts will also get shorter runs, so they're getting paid for more hours but not even doing their contracted hours.

You will constantly be impressed that a branch of the biggest wholesaler in the UK can be so useless at delivering food.

Oh and Booker are expensive even after staff discount so for the most part you won't be saving any money shopping there.

worked there through agency for long time (long time on-going)

overall: just place to start when no experience and run away when possible

good: place for 1st job for drivers without experience, once you passed assessment you can work, trucks are waiting fully loaded, majority are brand new or in good condition, they do not cut your hours and pay over time rate regardless total weekly hours, you supply them with days to work in advance; plenty last minute odd shifts for someone interested (tbh: do not know anyone who prefer random shifts at random days and hours instead of regular work); better then no work at all,

bad: irregular job, 2-3 shift per week the most, random start hours, delivery route and time slots based on Google Maps, you cannot rely on - no rota, no guaranteed days, 
job itself is very physical (cages as heavy as 500kg pushed up to slopes with no help at all, uphill downhill, collapsing at you) with handball (many outlets want you to handball 7-8 cages of goods into freaky places like basements or tiny spaces),
many outlets requires higher reversing skills from unexperienced drivers (confined loading bays, loading doors at high with obsticles like air condition boxes, electricity cables or pipes), little to no access into back doors, customer car park occupied by staff cars, little outlets located in the middle of village with cars parked everywhere, funny angles slopes and you struggling with 500kg cages collapsing at you, trucks higher then petrol stations cannopies, little to no space for class 1 trailers but still you will get it,
frequently you need to take brakes while delivering as there is nowhere to stop on your way (delivering around Manchester, Leeds, etc); as there is no access you need to stop on double yellow, block others, stop in the middle of main road in rush hours, etc, many routs are for experienced drivers only but they push you into it anyway;
pay is poor for amount of manual handling (comparable to warehouse pay), carrying risky/valuable items and number of drops (7-14 around the cities) but some routes are with more driving and then long hours (15+ then risking infrigement or bring back stock),

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part of working at Bookers St Pancras was going home they wanted you there all day as Butchery Manager no staff only given trainees who knew nothing about cutting meat on your own most of the day

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
You’re under pressure from the minute you start usually about 6.00 am until you leave usually about 4.00-4.30 am if you’re lucky once again no help checking dates,temperatures of 78 freezers,and putting on a display and filling the shelves as well as checking the mornings delivery and ordering for the week ridiculous amount of work to be done and be available to talk to and visit customers

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
As the Butchery Manager you are literally on your own the environment is very split no one offers to help as it’s a specialised job,most of them won’t touch meat anyway or refuse 
When you’re doing ok it’s ok but as soon as the trade drops off a bit they’re on your case and want answers it’s a vicious circle 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
As Butchery Manager I would start at 5.30-6.00 am every day on arrival I would have to print off My daily ordering and delivery sheets,go to my department get changed and then proceed to scan the temperatures of 78 freezers and 4 fridges and counters and record them.
The next task would be date check every cabinet and reduce accordingly then put on a fresh counter display and fill fresh meat cabinets and frozen chest freezers (73).
During this time you had to break off to order your meat fresh and frozen by 10.30 if you could find a computer spare.Usually you’d get a break about 11.00am for about 10-15 minutes then back dealing with orders that you had to prepare for delivery depending on how many you had in if you was lucky to have staff to help you with this then it was different because you’d train them up to do things but most of the time you didn’t.


It's a very toxic environment. Certain colleagues don't understand the difference between personal & professional matters, and like to judge people on their personal lives because of jealousy and envy. They constantly undermine others to make themselves look good, whether it's behind their back or to their faces - even about things that don't involve the workplace (i.e., personal issues, insulting people based on their personalities or intellect). These types of things are either overlooked or ignored by the management team, who are terrible at people skills. They claim to be managers but don't really "manage" anything, and couldn't come up with a good idea to save their lives. Instead of sitting down & maybe talking to people & communicating with their staff, they automatically assume people aren't doing enough work, which usually results in disciplinaries or written warnings. This leads to low morale and people walking on eggshells all the time, to the point where they don't even want to be there anymore, which I think is being is proven now. It boggles my mind how they have any staff left. Some barely even communicate with their staff. Even a simple good morning goes a long way. Micro-management is another thing that is taken to a whole other level, for instance being told to do something that you're clearly already in the middle of doing, just because the power goes to certain people's heads. Management talk down to the people who actually work hard & keep themselves to themselves, but treat the actual adults who act like children, and cause a lot of the drama & turmoil, like royalty. And I think that some of this behaviour should be made aware of. Do yourself a favour and avoid this place - at least until they begin to seriously improve the way they treat people. People get by better on communication than intimidation.

Having left the Company now I will open up about How the job was, I was taken on to be front of house with Lifting and shifting and manually loading business customers shopping to prevent theft which would be a regular occurrence. I estimate 10-15 tonnes of loading by hand per week with a bad back. 

there are job cultures at the company which I absolutely hated such as working colleagues unpaid past their shift finish time which had enraged staff. Also when you sign up you apparently sign up to a compulsory stock take overtime day which means if you dont come in you can be fired for breach of contract. 

Customers for the most part are lovely barring a few very abusive ones and managers expect you to take the abuse which and take it as the firery character of the customer. I refused to serve one particular chap who screamed at my co worker who I defended and got a barrage of abuse from also. when I spoken to the regional about this he didn't budge and wanted to get me in a room with the customer which I refused as its my right to not take abuse.

so how would I some it up as a firm, I worked Monday-Thursdays and it was busy, lower down staff are lovely but because supervisors, managers, receptionists and the regional/divisional are in the same store all managers are afraid of each others shadows. you find that the regional might muck in but the store manager will sit in his chair all day twiddling his thumbs while you sweat away working. 

I would say the job itself is horrible but the hours suited for abit and the hourly rate was okay. everything else besides the colleagues was rubbish and cycling 1500 miles to the store in 8 months shown my dedication. I had to leave following pulling my back for the 3rd time in them 8 months. they dont look after you and wont be sympathetic so be wary.

I worked at Booker South Elmsall for several years and always gave my best to the job. Unfortunately, my experience there was disappointing overall due to a lack of professionalism, poor communication, and weak management practices.

There were repeated issues with basic procedures not being followed, including incomplete records, lost correspondence, and missing documentation around important matters like training and workplace incidents. Despite raising genuine concerns, it often felt like nothing was properly addressed or taken seriously.

One of the biggest issues was clear favouritism within the branch. Certain individuals were treated differently, creating an unfair and demotivating environment for others who worked just as hard.

The day-to-day work itself was fine, and I always tried to support my team and keep standards high, but the management structure made that difficult. It’s disheartening to dedicate years of effort to a company that doesn’t show the same level of respect or accountability in return.

I hope Booker uses feedback like this to improve how it treats its staff and handles internal processes. There are good, hardworking people at the branch who deserve better leadership and clearer communication.

Former Employee

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Assistant 2 salaries reported	£37,500 per year
Warehouse worker 2 salaries reported	£12.46 per hour
Truck driver 1 salary reported	£15.73 per hour
Senior operations clerk 3 salaries reported	£28,392 per year
Stocking associate 1 salary reported	£37,922 per year

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