Four Sainsbury's managers seconded to work full time for their communities

From next week four senior Sainsbury’s managers will leave their desks or walk out of their stores to work full-time within their local community in the new role of Business Connectors. 

The new job they’ve chosen to do will unite local businesses, the voluntary sector and community organisations to work in partnership for the benefit of the people in their communities.  Acting collaboratively as local brokers, Sainsbury’s Business Connectors will bring knowledge, skills and the expertise of the business community and the voluntary sector together, and put them to good use locally to support, promote and benefit local communities. 

Sainsbury’s firmly believes that their stores should be a hub of the community, and they were one of the first companies to sign up to working with BITC to develop the Business Connector role.  As part of their commitment to the concept, Sainsbury’s will pay for four of their senior managers to pilot the scheme in different parts of the country from this week/next week.   

Gwyn Burr, Customer Service and Colleague Director at Sainsbury’s, and Chair of BITC’s Community Investment Leadership Team, said, “Recent events on our high streets have shown that communities can and will pull together in times of crisis.  But on a day to day basis community organisations are facing significant challenges, so support from businesses will become increasingly important for them.  We know that the Business Connector model works because it is something that our stores have been doing for a while – working with local people and organisations to provide expertise and additional resource, and giving us a greater understanding of the needs of the communities we serve. Our Local Charity Partnerships are a great example of this, with each store working in partnership with a local charity to provide ideas and volunteering as well as fund raising.”

Gwyn went on to say, “The Business Connector project, under the auspices of BITC, will enable us to build on that heritage and share our knowledge of working with communities with other businesses. This will be of great benefit to business and communities alike.  We believe that Business Connectors have the potential to be a powerful and positive force for good within their local communities, and I’m convinced we can achieve a real step change by having  individuals in place to act as a local broker, bringing together what business can offer with what the voluntary sector needs.”

• Lisa Cunningham, Head of Central Retail at Sainsbury’s Store Support Centre in Holborn, will take on the role of Business Connector in the Slough, Windsor and Maiidenhead area
• Kay Horne, Store Manager, will be seconded to work in the area around Tottenham
• Mark McParland, store manager, will be seconded to work in the Brighton area
• Jonathan Dawson, store manager, will be seconded to the Nottingham area

Business Connector Kay Horne said, “I can’t wait to get started in my new role.  As a store manager I’ve always worked closely with community groups and local organisations and I intend to build on that experience in Tottenham.  I aim to get involved as quickly as possible to understand what the community and business needs are and work with the people of Tottenham to develop the relationships and infrastructure that  I’m sure will reap rewards in the future.”

 Trained by, and working under the umbrella of, BITC, and paid for by Sainsbury’s, Business Connectors will facilitate and promote long-term, strategic partnerships between the business and voluntary communities.   The role will develop and evolve as the key stakeholders identify what works well in their region and best practice is shared across the country.  

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Notes to Editors:

• Sainsbury’s was named Community Retailer of the Year at the Retail Industry Awards
• The company supports more grassroots charities than ever before – through Sainsbury’s Local Charity of the Year over £1m has been donated in one year to around 800 community groups and charities across the country
• Colleagues have volunteered over 3,500 days to work with their chosen charities
• Schools, nurseries, sports clubs, Scout and Girl Guide groups have all benefited from the £100m worth of sports, cooking and gardening equipment and active experiences donated via Sainsbury’s Active Kids initiative – the biggest ever donation of its kind by any retailer
• Sainsbury’s is the only grocery retailer in the UK to be awarded Gold accreditation from Investors in People in recognition of the work they do to train and develop their people.  All 150,000 Sainsbury’s colleagues have the opportunity to study for nationally recognised qualifications, and the launch of six in-store Food Colleges will see up to 10,000 colleagues a year receive specialist training to gain the skills they need to work on fish, meat, deli and hot counters and in-store bakeries
• The company’s expansion plans will lead to the creation of 20,000 new jobs across the country in the three years to March 2014
• Sainsbury’s last week announced it would be recruiting 15,000 colleagues to work in stores over the Christmas and New Year period
• Sainsbury’s has 450 in-store cafes that are regularly used for community activities and meetings. Local charities regularly raise awareness of their work and collect money in stores through bag packing and other activity.
• In a move to bring policing to the centre of the community, Sainsbury’s has introduced a police presence into 34 stores, including a police training unit in Barkingside, East London, providing rent-free accommodation to local constabularies

For immediate release

Contact Sainsbury’s Press Office 020 7695 7295

Sainsbury’s stores are at the very heart of the communities they serve. It is not only important to provide great service and quality products, it’s also vital to make a positive difference to communities and to be a good neighbour.

This begins with the positive economic impact Sainsbury’s stores have in generating local wealth, by providing employment, using local suppliers and contractors, and regenerating local surroundings.