‘I help with Black Friday and Christmas gifts’

From working as a Saturday girl at Boots in Derby city centre at the age of 16, Jenna Whittingham-Ward is now part of overseeing the company’s huge gift operation.

Mrs Whittingham-Ward, who runs the gift department at the company’s head office in Nottingham, said preparations for Black Friday and the Christmas period this time of year started a year ago.

Speaking from Boots’ main warehouse in Burton-upon-Trent in Staffordshire, she said: “When you see a gift you have been involved with being gifted to someone else, or you get gifted it yourself, there is a real magic there.”

At the distribution centre, there are more than 2,000 staff members and about 200 robots, which whizz around collecting orders.

Mrs Whittingham-Ward, from Melbourne in Derbyshire, said when she started in her part-time job, she worked in the baby department.

“My main job was to make sure the nappies were fully stocked,” she said.

The 39-year-old said while studying her degree at Nottingham Trent University, she got a placement at the head office, and secured a permanent role after graduating.

“I have been there almost 20 years now,” she said.

She added: “When I started at Boots, you look up at your big leaders and don’t think you will be one of those people.”

She said being part of the team helping this time of year run smoothly was “really exciting”.

“Shopping for Black Friday, shopping for Christmas, we know customers really love it,” she added.

“When customers are shopping for something for their loved ones, it is a really lovely shopping mission.

“To feel you are helping with part of that – whether it is designing something that looks beautiful or having a promotion which means someone can afford a gift they might not have been able to afford before – it is a lovely area to be involved in.”

She added it was a “very busy” time of year.

“For most people in retail, Black Friday has become such a big part of that festive moment now,” she said.

She said planning started a year ago.

“We will have the range ready to go and all of the operations and marketing teams kick in throughout the year,” she said.

“When you see a gift you have been involved with being gifted to someone else, or you get gifted it yourself, I think there is a real magic there – we have done something really good that someone has spent their money on for someone they really care about.”

At the Burton warehouse, where the BBC went behind the scenes, the operation in the lead-up to Christmas involved about 2,450 employees, when it would normally stand at 1,500.

The centre is 500,000 sq ft – the size of six football pitches – and includes rows and rows of 16m (52ft) high shelving full of stock.

This year, Boots has 22,000 Black Friday promotions – compared to 21,000 last year.

Fifty robots – known as “cobots” – were added to the operation for this peak trading period, after the machines were first introduced to the warehouse in 2019.

Eddie Storr, director of supply chain, said: “Cobots are a fundamental part of our picking process.

“Cobots are driving to the stock they need, then on the iPad is being presented what stock is required.

“A picker will scan the item, put it in, tell the cobot it has got what it needs and the cobot goes to the next pick location.”

He added: “We are busier this year than we have ever been.

“A Royal Mail wagon will leave here every 45 minutes full of boxes.”

Gavin Rutter, 21, of Newhall in Derbyshire, who packs orders in the warehouse which come through online, said: “This time of the year, it is non-stop picking.”

Mr Rutter, who has worked there for three years, said spirits were kept up with chats with colleagues.

“Some of the people in here are very nice, very fun people,” he added.