I currently work at the branch level and to anyone who is a perspective employee and has come looking for info to make their decission all I have to say is run. I wish I had read this page when I was considering joining Greggs.
If you are just looking for a paycheck, for fairly simple work, 8-5/mon-fri then great they are always hiring. But if you are looking for a career, for job satisfaction, for some responsibility then I suggest you look elsewhere.
Just to make things simple I am going to make a numerical list of what I hate about my job:
1. They use the bonus program as a way of getting people to work extra time (...), but at a branch level there is very little feedback so really your bonus turns out to be very mediocre.
2. Lost Time..if there was also gained time this part wouldn't bother me but it is just all take, for instance if you were to show up to work at 7am (start time is 8am) and you got a personal phonecall at 8:30am that lasted only 30 seconds you would then be charged 6 mins (1 min for the call and 5 mins for an administrative fee) eventhough you gave them an extra 1 hr of time that morning.
3. School. If they actually got people who knew the products well and knew how to teach then this would be a good thing. But instead they have people who are basically reading the info from the catalogue at a speed so fast that it is virtually impossible to get everything written down. And oh yes you better write it down because at the beginning of every school they ask questions to random people and not just any questions, the most obscure questions they can come up with, and if you don't know the answer then you are stupid. (...).
4. Vocabulary. They need to retire "awareness". Pick up a thesaurus. (I know that one was kinda bitter and childish but did I mention that besides trying to bring an "awareness" to perspective employees I am also ranting?)
5. Don't ask any questions or have any ideas. I have made the mistake of doing both, at Greggs there is no smart question, and ideas are only good if they are managements.
6. If you are calling in sick or leaving early you need to ask the big guy himself. You think with a company that has over 600 staff members that maybe a few managers could be trusted to take those types of calls. Delegation is not their strong suit.
7. The store opens at 7:30am but staff don't start to get paid until 8am, (...), if you work at the branch level like me and nobody is there to help customers before 8am you will be humiliated in school next week in front of all the other staff.
8. They like to call overtime once and awhile but instead of paying the staff a rate of 1.5 they do a flat rate of $25/hr. Now for some people this is even less than there normal wage.

There are other comments I would like to make but unfortunately they would require me to use names, initials, or functions and really all I am trying to do here is just caution people, not get sued.
I hope this helps someone avoid making the same mistake I did.
Oh and one last thing, the company is always priding themselves on the fact that throughout a recession they are constantly hiring people not laying people off. Now this would be a good thing if the number of staff members overall was constantly growning. Otherwise you have to wonder, why would people be quitting a job during a time when nobody else is hiring?

Posted on 5 May 2010 by Rater #45 | Flag as inappropriate

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