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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
Entertainment
Christian Brayford & Sophie Buchan

Former Greggs employee reveals 'extremely difficult circumstances' working at bakery chain

Everyone loves Greggs - whether it's their sweet treats, meal deals or sausage rolls, there's something for everyone.

Even the vegans!

However if you think working for them is a walk in the park, you'd be wrong.

Christian Brayford, who now works for GrimsbyLive, has revealed what it's really like to work for Greggs.

From the endless supply of sausage rolls, steak bakes and chocolate chip muffins to the free food - not is all as it seems.

Talking about his time at the fast-food chain which he worked at during 2020 - the start of the pandemic - Christian said he still enjoys the food however the free food didn't make it worth it.

He explained: "At the time, I was a shift leader so I was in charge of cash handling, staff management, dealing with complaints, ordering stock, and banking at the end of the day.

"The working hours could be extremely demanding. You had to be there at 4am on some shifts, and usually you wouldn't leave until after 6pm or later.

"And when you arrived for work, it was absolutely freezing. It was probably colder outside the shop than it was in it - without the exaggeration.

"You weren't allowed to wear a jumper either - you were provided with a Greggs hat, Greggs t-shirt, a kitchen apron and a hair net (all staff regardless of the length of their hair had to wear one)."

For any of us, making a sandwich isn't difficult but when it comes to Greggs, there was a "specific guide, or cooking matrix, which had to be followed to incredible detail when preparing a sandwich" from the amount of sauce and veggies to how much protein you were to put on and if you "went over by the slightest margin, you'd have to make the sandwich again."

With every retail and fast-food role comes a wide-range of stories about customers - and Greggs is no exception with many customers complaining about loyalty stamps that were out of date or a certain product wasn't available.

Speaking about the daily complaints, Christian said: "I strongly sympathise and understand all customer service workers who go through similar things - but in different situations and environments - on a daily basis.

"I certainly made it harder to motivate yourself to get up in the morning."

In addition to deal with some not-so nice customers, Christian said that the cleaning and logging process could take hours and although it may not sound like a lot, "it certainly felt like it after a demoralising shift of dealing with complaints, rudeness and a high demand for a cheese bake" he said.

As with most food jobs, some companies will allow their staff to get free food or to take home what is waste at the end of the day.

Christian said that one of the "glorious delights at the end of the day was being able to take food home - you'd be really surprised at how much food was wasted."

He added: "It was literally a tonne of pure sausage rolls and baguettes and sweets. But it was great to decide which food you wanted to take home. Sometimes I'd walk out of the building with about four of five bags of food.

"It was great to see my family's face when I brought them something back."

After deciding to hand his notice in, Christian felt it wasn't worth it in the end given what he had to deal with.

He said: "Even by the time the first lockdown was imposed, I felt like a walking zombie.

"The long hours were particularly draining. Sometimes you'd be working five days on shift patterns of 14 hour days which can be demanding. The pay was hovering very close to the national minimum wage of around £8.40 at the time.

"So you can't really complain and grumble as it was a job. The free food at the end of the day was amazing - even if it impacted my waist line.

"But what really tipped me over the edge was the rudeness of customers and I still see the similar kind of rudeness today but in a different shop.

"People can be so thoughtless and insensitive as to how their actions might be devastating or impact another person - the abuse was unjustified and uncalled for.

"But the saying goes if there isn't a reason to complain, someone will find a reason too.

"I loved the food, but I don't think the experience of working in a Greggs was all it is cracked up to be."

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