Waitrose helps inspire Guernsey students

Tuesday 24 April 2018

One of Guernsey's supermarket chains has been working with students to inspire the next generation of budding retail leaders.

Waitrose began its school visits last year and since then has delivered presentations to more than 200 secondary school students, from La Mare de Carteret, St Sampson’s and Le Murier schools. Waitrose Partners, as all its employees are known, have also been supporting students studying the City and Guilds Retail Skills and Retail Skills Management courses at the Guernsey College of Further Education. These students were also given tours of one of the branches to show them all the different aspects involved in keeping a successful supermarket running efficiently.

Last month, the Waitrose Rohais team manager, Sam Alabaster, visited students from St Sampson’s and La Mare de Carteret High to explain what working in a retail business involves and how a hard working attitude and good people skills have helped his career.

Mr Alabaster used his own experience to demonstrate the career possibilities to the students. At just 21 years’ old he has already progressed to a team manager and is now supported by two assistant managers with 36 Partners reporting to him.

“I am keen to pass on my experience to young people and to talk about the economic importance of the retail industry for the island. It’s something I’m really passionate about. Although some students are already interested in the retail industry others may not have considered it an option. I want to show them what a great industry it is to work in. Students have been surprised at the great variety of jobs within this sector" he said. 

“Feedback from the schools has been brilliant and the students are really engaged. Working at Waitrose has opened so many doors for me. I love the variety my job brings, it’s very satisfying and I have a huge sense of pride from what I have accomplished so far.”

Chloe Wallis a student at La Mare de Carteret High School said: “Sam’s talk has taught me a lot about the different job opportunities available within the retail sector. I would definitely consider a career in this industry.”

Emyr Davies, a careers teacher at La Mare de Carteret High School, said: “The talks that Waitrose give are so beneficial to our students. It makes the outside world of work more realistic. By being more informed they are able to make a better link between what they learn in school and how they can apply that to a career. The timing has also been perfect as our students will soon be looking for work experience opportunities and subsequently making decisions about what they want to do when they leave school in a year’s time.”

Pictured: La Mare de Carteret High School students and Sam Alabaster