Name: Joe Hollingsworth
Job title: NPD director
Company: Geary’s Bakeries
What was your first job? My first job was apprentice baker with Morrisons, in Parkgate (Rotherham). I wanted to do something with food, but wasn’t sure what. I applied for their retail apprenticeship scheme in 1994, and after being interviewed they offered me a choice of three apprenticeships – bakery, butchery or fishmonger! It was a very easy choice for me.
What’s been your worst job interview? In the early 2000s I went for a job interview at a bakery. The first half of the interview went OK, I was happy with the answers I gave to the questions I was asked, but didn’t feel like I was warming to the guy interviewing me, who was the MD. Halfway through the interview we were interrupted by one of his employees, repeatedly trying to get his attention from outside the office. After a few minutes, the MD excused himself to go and speak to this person who was very apologetic for interrupting us.
They went into the office next door, and I could hear every word of what was said. I have never heard anything like it before, or since! I thought at the time it took some level of skill to roll so many offensive, unpleasant things into a single conversation but the ease at which it rolled off of the MD’s tongue made me conclude it came very naturally to him. He came back into the office I was in and carried on like nothing had happened. I received a phone call later that day offering me the job, which I declined without hesitation!
“If you talk to people of a school leaving age or in college then pretty much nobody is aspiring to enter the bakery industry”
What was the first music single you bought? The first single I bought was ‘Inside’ by a band called Stiltskin. It was one of those songs that got made into a huge hit just because it was on a Levi’s ad in the 1990s. It had a great guitar riff. Once you bought the single you found out that that was the only good part of the song! It’s probably 30 years since I’ve heard it, but from memory the rest was just quite shouty.
How do you describe your job to your friends? I say I’m a glorified baker! I lead a team that develops recipes and bread products that you will see on the shelf in supermarkets, for retailer own label and the Jason’s Sourdough brand.
What is the most rewarding part of your job? Seeing a product I’ve developed finally on shelf and online (and selling well), after a lengthy development process. In some cases we’re starting developing a product nine to 12 months before it hits the shelves, going through initial recipe development, scale up trials, retailer submissions etc.
It’s really rewarding to see what all that hard work has resulted in. Next level is when the product or range of products you’ve developed are selected for things like TV promotions, or will win an award. One year a product I developed made it on to a retailer’s Christmas carrier bag, my mum’s still got one of them!
What is the least rewarding part? When you go through the development process, your products launch and you see them in retailers for the first time… on the bottom-left corner of the fixture where nobody can see them! It hasn’t happened often, just a couple of times over the past 15 years I’ve been doing product development, but it’s really disappointing when it does happen. You’ve gone through all the hard work you normally associate with developing and launching a new product, and then it’s marketed in a position where it has almost no chance of being seen/purchased.
What is your motto in life? Try to give people the benefit of the doubt, and to understand things from their point of view. Most people are trying to do the best they can, and the right thing from their point of view. If you can understand their point of view, you have a much better chance of understanding their actions.
If you were allowed one dream perk, what would it be? I’ve always wanted a Ducati motorcycle, but always had a lot of other priorities between me and buying one. So, I guess I’d have a company Ducati Panigale V4R. I’ll ask Jason (Geary), wish me luck!
Do you have any phobias? I wouldn’t call it a phobia, but I am not good with spinning things! As a kid I’d go on any ride or rollercoaster and be absolutely fine, no problem. As an adult I took my then three-year-old daughter on a spinning teacup ride at the coast, and ruined my entire day. She was fine! I also found out this summer just gone, I’m not good with small boats on the sea. I took my boys sea fishing whilst on holiday. We caught loads of fish, but oh my word I have never felt so ill! They were ill too, so hopefully this sits firmly in the ‘never again’ category.
What has been the most embarrassing moment in your life? Probably vomiting after getting off a small child’s teacup ride, in front of lots of people/families having a day out at the seaside.
If you could change one thing in grocery, what would it be? I’d improve awareness of the jobs associated with the industry for young people, to try and develop more interest in entering it. Taking bakery for example, if you talk to people of a school leaving age or in college then pretty much nobody is aspiring to enter the bakery industry.
On the face of it, why would they? Unsociable hours, not great pay and limited scope for career progression. If you look further into it though, there are so many options beyond being a baker. If you have the underpinning knowledge then there’s the obvious bakery supervisor and operations manager route, but there are some amazing opportunities for progression in the support functions too – technical, finance, supply chain, engineering etc. We’ve tried to do exactly this through the Geary’s bakery apprenticeship we launched last year – get people enthused about bakery and help them build the knowledge that unlocks the other opportunities. Other areas of the industry are the same, there are lots of great jobs that 90% of the population don’t even know exist.
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What luxury would you have on a desert island? I’d have a bed. There’s not much that can’t be solved if you’ve had a decent night’s kip!
What animal most reflects your personality? Our late springer spaniel Benji, who we lost in June. He was pretty old, but still literally springing around like a lunatic right ‘til the end. I still feel 25 in my head, and probably overdo it in terms of exercise and running around with my kids. I’ve always got far too much going on, but keep going anyway!
What’s your favourite film and why? I love watching Home Alone with my kids at Christmas. They love it and it’s probably the only film I can get them all to sit down in a room with me and watch start to finish, so it’s nice family time.
Which celebrity would you most like to work with and why? Valentino Rossi. Back in the days when I had time to watch Moto GP he was such a dominant force, just amazing to watch. He’d start from 10th on the grid sometimes, but through superior skill and (more important) mindset, he’d claw his way through the rest of the pack and end up on the podium. I have absolutely no idea how we could pass this off as ‘work’ though, I’d just like to meet him. Maybe we could do a limited edition Jason’s Sourdough packaging in his trademark lairy colour scheme.
What would your death row meal be? I’d go for tapas with a few cold beers. I love the variety you get with tapas, like lots of little meals you can almost justify as a single one.
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