J SAINSBURY plc
Sainsbury's is a family business; now also embodying employee and public share-holding. It was founded in 1869 by a young couple in Drury Lane. On this foundation four generations have built. In 1985 50,000 people were employed.
This window symbolises one hundred and fifteen years of growth from a small dairy to the modern multiple chain of super- and hyper-markets and a complex organisation supplying and servicing them.
Each new generation of family and each member of the enterprise, as they have come into business, has had to meet the changing market needs and commercial conditions of the time; many made changes that transformed the style and structure of the business.
The story is of constant adaptation; the reshaping of the company's methods of selling, training and management. Although the changes were notable, the basic principles the founder established a hundred years ago remained largely intact. Matters of scale, consumer choice, the introduction of new technologies, becoming a public company, encouraging staff consultation and share distribution, often tested the business and human acumen of managers and staff as the service they provided reached out across England.
The window symbolises how J Sainsbury plc represents diligent and responsive service in high quality provision of food. With its head-quarters in the parish, it seeks to serve the nation.
