trading manager

buyer

graphic designer

deli associate

Booths

Booths is a medium-sized grocer based mainly in North West England. It’s band identity is selling high quality products in a pleasant shop environment. It stocks high quality produce, sold at premium prices. And it does purchase locally to some extent, with a wide range of quality meats, fish, cheers, beer etc. Booths is sometimes referred to as ‘Little Waitrose’ – I believe the prices are actually higher than Waitrose.

Booths markets itself as being ‘different’; from the perspective of both the customer and the employee. From the employees’ perspective. ‘different’ is certainly not a badge of honour. Despite prices being unashamedly ‘premium’, general assistants’ salaries are firmly rooted precisely at the national minimum wage (£7.83/h), with their being no opportunity for economic betterment if one remains within the organisation. I find it in credible that after several years one will still be on minimum wage – compare that to Aldi for example, and even Tesco etc.

I was working in Settle branch. The management of this branch at least spend a lot of time reinforcing the ‘fact’ that being employed in Booths is an enriching experience, citing ‘freedom’, ‘respect’, ‘dignity’ etc. During induction it was incredible how often this was drummed into us; perhaps the philosophy being that if they say it enough the new staff (and perhaps even the managers) may actually believe the rhetoric.

On the shop floor things were certainly different. All I witnessed was a demoralised workforce, who generally felt deeply aggrieved against the management. The schism was palpable. With the exception of the actual manager at the time, I never experienced or witnessed any obvious appreciation and respect shown by the management to the wider workforce. Everything was absolutely minimum – minimum pay, not forgiving even a couple of minutes late, but being very accepting of staff needing to continue a little after their roster period, without asking for compensatory pay. In my case I was exactly 5 minutes late one morning – and please bear in mind that 5 minutes was actually changed in my uniform, signed in – I actually arrived at the shop exactly on time. The reason that I was ‘late’ was that my child left their school books at school. I only noticed this as I was due to travel to Booths. As I had pass by the school to drop the books off, my very slight lateness was inevitable. From the management response I was met with, it would have appeared to the unsuspecting observer that I had perpetrated gross misconduct.

I was only ever going to work at Booths for a short period while I considered a possible career change. But after 10 days I was very clear in my mind: fortunately I didn’t need to work in a employment culture where my hard work was never appreciated in the slightest by managers (again not including the then manager). Spoke to me in an utterly disrespectful manner and could not even acknowledge me when we were in proximity with one another. For £7.83 I quickly worked out that it was simply not worth it.

I am a manager, currently being responsible for 103 staff members. In my experience I have worked out that the vast majority of my colleagues are fundamentally hard working, committed and dependable. I give them latitude, demonstrate my appreciation, forgive them for small mistakes and always show them respect and take an interest in them as people. I get a great deal more from them than I would if I took on what I consider to be the ‘Booths way’. I only wish Booths could see this.

With a pay rate at about 5p above minimum, no overtime rate and no unsociable hours enhancements for such inconveniences as starting work at 6am, anyone taking on a General Assistant's job with Booths can be certain that the only way on from here is "UP!"

The work itself was no better or worse than you might expect in a supermarket really - All tasks were unskilled and menial, often cold and smelly, sometimes dirty, always joyless. Some colleagues were great to work with, others were a royal pain, just like anywhere else. Many customers seemed to have a real sense of "Upper crust entitlement". It is difficult to pretend to care about such middle-class problems as "Not being able to buy Venison meatballs for THREE weeks!" when you're up at the crack of dawn for more or less minimum wage and don't know how you're going to pay that month's electric bill on the pittance you are paid! However in fairness these supermarkets were set up to get that sort of person's money, so they can't be blamed for shopping there I suppose.

Now, all reviews will mention "Bad management" - I can't comment on that in this case, I have no idea whether they were doing an efficient job or not.  Given what we were paid, I hope they weren't doing a good job for Booths frankly! I liked some, and not others. I can report first hand that a senior manager frequently felt equal to screaming at me for minor infractions of the rules as using the toilet (once during 4 hours between breaks doesn't seem unreasonable?). I cut my hand once on the butchery counter (I must point out that training here was none existent), she screamed at me again, yet never even asked if I was seriously hurt. Ultimately she yelled at me for apparently not doing an adequate date check (despite receiving no training whatsoever!!) and I went and handed in my notice that same shift. In the real world, there's no point in making a complaint to head office, I had no employment rights and you know what will always happen next...

They insisted that I worked a full month's notice in order to recieve my last month's pay (!?), yet in that time this manager never found the decency to apologise for her behaviour, nor apparently did any other member of management report the very specific reason I had resigned to head office. Says it all. Whilst I will acknowledge that this individual did seem to have a particular problem with me specifically, bawling me out on the shop floor during opening hours does tend to suggest they are going to be a liability to the firm in general.

Enough said - it's been a few years, things may have changed for the better, but I seriously doubt that. if you are desperate for work, you may just find that you have to go for it. There are worse environments to work in, such as scrapyards, waste cooking oil processing plants, fishing trawlers etc, but I have NEVER been paid so little for being spoken to so badly!  If you do end up here, I would say: always be on the lookout for something better!

I have worked with this company for many years alongside my studies. During the first 2 years of working with the team, I had never once received an incident report or a verbal warning for a simple task or a single late start, which were very rare for me. However, since returning to the position during the summer holidays and taking on more hours I have realised that the entire system is flawed and contradictive.
       Some members of staff are incredibly petty and take simple disagreements to management, wasting both their own time and taking the management away from more important issues within the store. Small mistakes or simple misses are noticed and dealt with in extreme ways, whereas helpfulness and care with tasks is left unnoticed with no thanks. 
      Training is lacking when new starters join the team, leading to them being disciplined for things they do not know or have not been taught. Staff in a team leader or supervisor role feel they are able to speak to their teams in a disregarding and offensive way instead of working towards a solution. An example of this is when a new starter joined the team on the counters and left within a week of starting due to being assigned to the raw counter after applying for the cafe. 
      Similarly, supervisors and team leaders are unable to accept constructive criticism or help if they are inexperienced. An example of this is the discipline I received after asking a new team leader if they needed any help or if they were unsure after working on the bakery, resulting in the baked goods being in bad condition and not being sold. Often, if you are younger than other members of staff, involving yourself in working as a team leads to you yourself being slandered and reported to management. Therefore, leave those who are struggling and in power above you to struggle as it will simply be thrown back at you in the form of an incident report or a talk in the office with your manager if you try to help them. 
    Wants and requests are ignored regarding shifts and uniform. Do you want a Thursday off in order to continue a lifelong outdoor hobby? Prepare to have Wednesdays off instead where you have no commitments whatsoever. If you order new uniform you wont receive it for 6 months if that, and you will also be disciplined for not having any.                                                                                               The way in which this company had deteriorated before my very eyes has shocked me, staff happiness is not a priority here clearly. I am very happy to be working my notice and no I will not be recommending this company to a friend. 
    The only reason why I have not quit outright is the lovely members of staff that I have been friends with since the beginning. They are the only reason why I continue to work well in this environment and also the fact the end nigh. 
I wish you all the best of luck!!!

On a typical day at Booths I would usually be putting out stock from the delivery. We typically get around 15 cages of delivery a day which would take around 7 hours to put out with the average of 3 people working on it. If I am working a morning shift, I will be putting out fresh stock which is a lot easier than ambient stock because there isn't as much of it. Besides putting out stock, I will either be helping out on till, taking off due dates out of the fridges, or reducing stock that is close to it's use by date. It is a very hard working job which most people put their all into.
The management however can be very lazy. They don't usually help out on the shop floor when we are busy and need more staff, and they aren't very good at organising staff time off, or paying staff the correct amount. They have had lots of problems with underpaying staff. They usually spend their time in the offices chatting amongst each other, but besides this, they are very polite to all workers, and do sometimes get involved when necessary.
Most people in work get along with each other in separate age groups, however, I would say that the younger workers get along a lot better with each other than what they do with older staff members. There are a few people that are very nosy and love to gossip but besides that, I'd say that Booths has a friendly atmosphere.
There aren't many hard parts of the job. I would say the only time I find working difficult is when there are lots of customers, like on a Saturday for example. This is because shop floor assistants are needed all over the shop to help customers find things, helping out on the tills when there are queues, but also trying to put out stock when there are lots of customers in the way can be extremely difficult, especially around Christmas time!
What I like most about the job is the friendships created. I would say that the people you have the same shifts as are the people you relate to the most and can built good friendships with, no matter what the age difference. By doing the same thing, you seem to have lots in common which is good. I also think I am good with customers so I do like interacting with the customers and getting to speak to new people!

Absolutely appalling company to work for, I worked for Booths for over two years in the Ripon store. In the beginning, everything was fine and dandy, until, the management change that is.

In late 2015 Booths decided to remove the middle management positions from all of its stores, making over 250 employees redundant within the company.

Since then general assistant staff members were expected to pick up the slack from the management rolls, this included and not restricted to admin duties, and ordering without extra pay for any of these duties of course.

The company doesn't care for its staff members, they would rather side over the customer than an employee. On numerous occasions, I was sworn at by customers for faults which were out of my control.

Each time the Manager would side with the customer, and apologise on my behalf for things which I didn't even do. They'd rather, please some upper-class pompous rude moron with free products than admit they were at fault.

After I left the comapny, it took almost 2 months to fully get the pay I was owed. The so called "Manager" of the store only put through 8 hours of pay to Payroll, when In fact, I worked 68 hours for the whole month.

It was only after several emails to Payroll, store managers and finally the CEO I was paid the money owed. This was after I threatened to take the company to court for underpaying me that is.   

Don't even think about being sick either! You're treated like you've been  
lying to get off work to go partying or start a holiday early in my case.

Long hours filling positions for staff members who rapidly leave the company and short brakes results in unhappy overworked staff.

This, of course, will eventually lead to sickness, and in many cases staff members being signed off with stress. 


Working there was definitely a life changing experience in the fact it gave me the knowledge of knowing I'll never work in an environment like it again.

To conclude, I would look for a company which treats its staff with respect and dignity than work for Booths.

After spending many many years at Booths, I loved every minute and made some great life long friends until the massive management change. The company lost great staff either through redundancies or the same way I did. Before the management change we were told higher management would be fully supportive with training and home life issues because it was massive change in the company...........this turned into one big lie.
After moving to a new store I had a month to decide to take redundancy but in this time I was loving it meeting new staff and the new challenges which lay ahead so I stayed on. BUT once that month was over that's when the trouble started, my family life was an issue, my work wasn't good enough and support from higher management stopped, all I was told was to "deal with it". With new roles to take on i did need some support and guidance, but again I was told to " deal with it". From the beginning it did request what hours I could do to help with childcare and I would do any extra hours if I was given some notice. The company did state 4 weeks notice but it was more like 4 hours notice which is not acceptable,this then became an issue with the higher management. Eventually after doing the extra hours they asked of me which I could do at short notice there was no thanks or praise. I also know with being on salary I am required to do the extra but with no thanks its down right disrespectful then being told I'm cr#p.
With hours constantly changing week in week out and a quick chat to the higher management about the hours and child care I was then told that I was not coping and should step down, so with no support and guidance I chose this option then left before serving my notice and got paid the rest of the month. It felt like I was bunged some money and sent on my way feeling worthless after spending nearly 15 years with the company.

So to finish off, it is an OK place to work as a general assistant but once you get to management its a case of watching your back because there is plenty to stab you in it once you turn it.

When I joined them, over four years ago, I thought I was joining a company for whom quality customer service was the ethos that the founder espoused over a hundred and fifty years ago - "quality produce served by quality people". Initially,you built firm relationships with customers based on the knowledge of the products- in my case, wines and spirits - that you sold and the advice that you gave. Nowadays rumours abound that the members of the family want to sell the company and enjoy a lifestyle that those millions would provide. At the moment only the chairman is a hold-out as he is still concerned about the legacy of his forebears.
 In the past, we only felt that Waitrose were our true rivals in this field of quality customer service but that is no longer the case. The make-up of the current senior management team appears to view Aldi and Lidl as well as the four mainstream retailers as our rivals, so specialists like myself are becoming a redundant feature as the company do not feel that we are required any more. Their viewpoint seems to be that the inert products on the shelves can sell themselves and I would be better employed just filling them. I no longer have time to talk to customers to sell products to them personally and the result is that they go elsewhere because we have become just like our mainstream competitors, where they can shop on price and stock availability.
A day at work is all about pressure and time management. The supervisory staff have little idea of the time it takes to do the jobs given. A lot of time is spent moving displays around in the hope that they will attract sales based on price or "on-package" promotions that are often found on our rivals' shelves as well. 
As a retailer of over forty years experience it saddens me that this grocer has become like its' rivals and has lost what its' founder had hoped would make them different.

When I started it was a fantastic place to work. I had a number of years where I loved going to work. Everyday was new. I learnt everything I needed to via a comprehensive training plan. I truly believe that this is where my love for my job began. I worked on every department and the staff who trained me were amazing, truly knowledgeable and passionate. 
As the Booth family took a step back, new directors were appointed who changed the business beyond recognition. The newly appointed retail director especially was the worst man I have ever encountered to date. He bullied store management which I have no doubt fed down to the shop floor. They tried too hard to become something they weren't. They implemented a new management structure, which I was successful in gaining, however it meant we lost a huge amount of experience and knowledge within the business. I ended up becoming very unwell and this still affects me to date. I can no longer deal with any amount of stress without becoming emotional. This is mainly because of the extreme pressure I was put under while working for the business, no support was offered-just further scrutiny instead. Nobody even noticed how I was feeling. 

I believe the business is now back at the helm of the Booth family, for which I am very pleased about. The retail director mentioned above has been pushed out and the business is starting to return to how customers remember it. Although it will never be the same again due to the staff that have left I do feel they are starting to return to some of their old ways, such as introducing a Greengrocer position. 


I wouldn't recommend working there however are there is still too many new people in high positions who have no idea about retail or how to effectively manage staff.

- Each day was different when working at Booths, as I worked on the deli counter so customer demands varied depending on the time of day, time of year & even the weather! There was lots to do, from cleaning, documentation to be completed, restocking the counter & of course serving customers.
- My product knowledge was always expanding, with new items being added to the counter all the time. I also went on both food hygiene and health & safety courses were I learnt lots of valuable information that I was able to put into practice at work. 
- Overall the management at Booths was good. Sometimes they were a little unorganised & shifts had to be moved around to make sure the departments were covered. Also there was never any discussion or opportunities announced for promotion in the workplace.
- My co-workers were great, we all worked pretty well together as a team which was important whilst working in such a small space as we had to make sure we were all following health & safety regulations but also serving customers to the best of our ability.
- The hardest part of the job was when the counter became very busy, with lots of demanding customers, health & safety checks to be completed, counter needing a restock & food to come out the ovens whilst there was only a few staff on could be stressful. I always worked through it as calmly & efficiently as possible though & prioritised the workload, customers being number one priority for all of us whilst a supervisor could complete other tasks quickly & efficiently.
- The most enjoyable part of the job was being able to share my product knowledge with a customer & giving them an opportunity to try something new & them listening to my recommendations. Knowing I had given a customer a satisfying shopping experience was very rewarding.

You start excited, optimistic and dedicated, and you end up totally gutted and disappointed in the way they do the things round there and their so-called 'family' which you're not a part of if you have no 20 years of service or are not a shareholder, and they treat you even worse if you're an immigrant but that's a different story. 
What surprised me most is that they disguise the fact health and safety is neglected to an alarming extent there. If you raise your concern you'll get sacked straight-away. Then, they will make up a shitstory of you to legitimise sacking you.
As for the job itself, the fact that you work alone for the most part of a shift was quite enjoyable. The tasks given to you are straightforward. The hardest part might be getting used to working 10 hours a day. Don't worry if that's not enough for you. They will ask you to do another 10 hours if they need you to. 
Great majority of people working there are in their mid 30s/40s/50 which clearly shows younger generation don't want to work there and have them exploited and walked over. They were nice and helpful daddies though. 
Management? For God's sake one of the worst management I have encountered ever. And that's enough to describe them. 
In conclusion, if you like working alone, have some sort of financial constraints or simply in desperate need of money, that's the right place to work at. You might be lucky enough to hold on to this job long enough to get yourself out of trouble.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Trading manager 3 salaries reported	£23,000 per year
Buyer 3 salaries reported	£32,971 per year
Graphic designer 1 salary reported	£25,500 per year
Deli associate 1 salary reported	£17,000 per year

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