Who is your Hidden Hero?

Voting has now closed. The winner will be announced on 13 June at The Grocer Gold Awards.

We selected five unsung heroes from the world of grocery – a shopfloor worker, a delivery driver, a sales rep, a cleaner and a factory floor worker – and invited them as guests of honour at The Grocer Gold Awards. We asked you to do the hard bit… and choose a winner.

Mahad Ahmed, delivery driver, Andrew Thornton’s Budgens

It’s not the length of time Mahad’s been delivering groceries to the people of north London that makes him a hero. It’s the extra mile he’s prepared to go.

When one of Mahad’s regulars failed to answer the door to his delivery, despite the elderly gentleman ordering groceries the previous day, he followed his instinct and kept returning to the address, asking neighbours for help and then calling an ambulance. “I knew there was something wrong,” he says. “The man had suffered a stroke and could not get to the door.”

Mahad does not see this dedication to his customers as exceptional but simply something his mother taught him when growing up in Holland after his family left Somalia, his home country. “I always follow my mother’s example, to look after people,” he says. “I remember her sending money back home and saying that we needed to look after our family there as we were so lucky to be in Holland.”

Mahad says he loves his job because he feels it is about so much more than delivering groceries. He sees it as a way of being part of the local community. “London is so hectic, no one has time, but it’s important to make time for people,” he says. “I like that at Budgens people can call in their grocery order. It makes a difference speaking to someone over the phone, and people appreciate that.”

Mahad was recently awarded a special certificate from Haringey Borough Council for his quick thinking.

Gould Pearson, sales rep, Petty Wood

When Gould Pearson started out with Petty Wood in 1969, he was given a good bit of sales advice: smoke. “They said even if you don’t smoke, buy a packet of cigarettes, offer one to the customer and light it in the store,” recalls Gould. “They can’t throw you out while you’re sharing a smoke.”

Despite the fact that Gould has never been a smoker, the advice served him well. He’s now viewed as Petty Wood’s most loyal and successful salesman, after spending a career on the road, selling to shopkeepers around the UK. He says the job has not only given him an exceptional view of human nature but also of the changing landscape of the retail industry.

“When I started, the stores were privately owned by the most colourful characters,” he says. “The grocers wore boater hats or bow ties and often were still serving customers as you were trying to sell to them They knew all about the products, the taste of them and the value of them. Now, many customers are managers and you don’t get the same stories.”

Gould says it’s this connection with the customer and the thrill of closing deals that’s kept him on the road, rather than climbing up the career ladder into an office. “It’s a great buzz when a customer says they’re not looking to buy and you come away with an order,” he adds.“People think it’s a lonely life on the road but I’ve met so many people and had so much fun. I can’t imagine being in an office all day.”

He retires in September. But not without a few stories to share at his leaving party.

Brian Ross, stock procurement and environmental manager, Premier Foods, Fleming Howden site

Brian Ross is a green giant of a man. At Premier Foods’ Fleming Howden site, he’s single-handedly launched and managed a waste reduction initiative, helping to raise awareness among his colleagues of the importance of recycling and cutting the amount of waste sent to landfill.

Not that Brian’s one to take all the credit for himself. “When we needed staff to get on board with helping to reduce waste, they were there supporting me. It’s not just me that’s brought about changes, it’s everyone here,” says Brian, who confesses to being a bit of a recycling nut at home, regularly taking unwanted items out of skips and taking trips to  the  local dump. “Where once we had 90% waste at the site, we now send that amount to recycling.”

This sense of responsibility is a recurring theme through Brian’s career. You could argue it was this that first got 15-year-old Brian noticed by the management on his first day of work at what was then the Ranks Hovis Mill in Leith, Edinburgh, in 1962. During a lunchtime match, the young Hearts fan and football fanatic smashed a ball through the factory manager’s window. Brian decided it was best to admit responsibility. “I don’t know what made me do it, but I went up to the manager’s office, where he was picking up bits of glass, and apologised,” says Brian. “He had a reputation as a bit of a tyrant, but I didn’t see that. Instead of sacking me, he took me under his wing and I learnt a lot from him.”

His treatment by his first manager clearly rubbed off on Brian. His colleagues say Brian’s can-do attitude and willingness to roll up his sleeves make him a great role model for younger colleagues. And, given Fleming Howden’s recycling record, we agree.

Ray Meadows, shop floor worker, Sainsbury’s, Brentwood

There’s no disputing the warmth with which Ray Meadows, who has spent the past 56 years working for Sainsbury’s, is thought of. Indeed, three of his former managers took the time to get in touch and nominate him as a Hidden Hero of Grocery. That’s more nominations than any of our other heroes. He doesn’t just have a place in his colleagues’ hearts, either. “There are people who pop into the store especially to say hello to Ray,” says Darren Scott, manager of the Brentwood branch of Sainsbury’s, which is where the 76-year-old currently works on the shop floor.

“It is a privilege to work with him and he is a great inspiration to the younger workers. When we were moving over to a larger store, there were staff who felt quite nervous about it, but Ray was fundamental in helping them with the changes.”

Ray started his career at the East Ham Sainsbury’s as a 20-year-old unloading the delivery vans. Having worked at several different stores before settling in Brentwood, where he continues to work part-time, Ray is one of Sainsbury’s longest-serving members of staff. “It keeps me going. I would have packed up a long time ago if I didn’t come to work,” laughs Ray, adding that it is the family atmosphere of Sainsbury’s that keeps him coming back. “I like the feeling that I am part of a team,” says the keen gardener.

To honour the many years of work he’s put in, he recently took over from Scott to manage the Brentwood store for a day. And in 2008 he was asked to cut the ribbon on a brand new extension to the supermarket.

Georgina Lester, cleaner, Morrisons, Strood

Where does Georgina Lester – AKA ‘Gina the Cleaner – get her energy? Without fail, the 69-year-old starts every shift at the Morrisons in Strood, Kent, while most of us are still away in the land of nod. And then, when her colleagues are arriving bleary-eyed for their shifts, Morrisons’ answer to Pam Ayres’ has time to lighten the mood by delivering one of her snappy comic poems about the daily happenings of the store and its staff on the supermarket’s Tannoy system.

“The poems cheer up the staff and I like to think if they are happy, then they will pass that happiness to customers,” says Gina, who has worked at the store for 17 years, starting when it was still trading under the Safeway fascia. She is from a generation where work started early, in Gina’s case as a six-year-old helping her father with his seafood business.

“My father sold shrimps and cockles door-to-door and my brother and I used to go and collect the bags for him every morning,” she recalls. “We used to catch the 5.30am bus to get the bags and then help him and my mother sell the seafood. I have always appreciated work and I will keep going until I’m 90 if I possibly can.”

She adds that life at the supermarket is more than just a job. “Morrisons is not just a place of work, it’s like a family,” says Gina.  “There is always someone to chat to if you have a problem and we all take care of one another. The managers are wonderful and they treat everyone the same, no matter what you do at the store.”The feelings are reciprocated by Morrisons’ management, who nominated their poet for her energy and dedication to the store.

Wherever she gets her drive from, we’ll have some of what she’s having.