Thresher Wine Shop > Reviews (7)

I used to be employed by Thresher's wine shop for almost a year whilst studying. I feel this gives me a fairly knowledgeable angle on the retailer. Maybe not as good as those vinos out there, you know who you are.

Firstly, I feel it should be noted that 30 million UK customers are only a 10 minute walk from any one branch of Thresher. Also, Thresher supplies 12% of all the alcohol consumed in the UK, quite a lot considering the competition from the supermarkets now. Thresher group is an umbrella company which includes Wine Rack, Victoria Wine, Bottoms Up, Haddows, Huttons and the Drinks Cabin.

Being female, I was very pleased with security at the shop I worked in. Off Licences generally are a popular target for robberies and even hold-ups. This is due to the fact that there is often a lot of money in the till and some of the drinks themselves can fetch a fair bit of money. My branch had double, electronic security doors. The type you find in a lot of banks now. These are very useful, however, some of our customers used to find them a nightmare. They were sometimes quite confusing, you had to wait for one door to shut, before the other opened. It should be noted that not all Thresher's have the same form of security, in fact I would say some of them aren't very safe for the employee at all.

The range on offer at Thresher includes wines (white and red) some of which are reserves, all spirits (more expensive whiskeys are on the top shelf behind the counter), beers, lagers, alcopops, champagne (one of the best ranges around), soft drinks and snacks. All varieties are clearly on display - trust me, we would get a good telling off if we didn't keep our stock up. A bottle missing meant and earful. Everything is clearly priced under the product.

There are monthly offers, which are very decent. For example, you can often get 3 bottles of a decent red or white wine for 10 quid, or two slightly superior for a tenner. There are also offers on the champagne, sometimes up to 20% off certain brands. There is always an offer on beer, such as 6 bottles of Grolsch for a fiver. For any of you who are members of CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale), there is a good selection of ales, such as Ale Mary and Ramrod. These sometimes go on offer, 4 for a fiver.

I would say as a smoker, their range of cigarettes wasn't the best. I smoke menthol cigs and they only had Superkings. They do however try to keep a high stock of all the brands they do sell. So they never run out of the most popular brands like B&H and Marlboro.

You can buy vouchers from the shop for presents. Also, if you aren't satisfied with your wine, there is a Wine Buyer's Guarantee. This means they will give you another bottle if you bring back the old bottle. Not once did I find this happen, as generally people were very satisfied with the wine.

Of course, the staff are extremely helpful and very willing to help you with anything. I remember needing to learn a fair amount about wine. This is because a lot of customers ask advice about what wine we recommend.

Or, for example what wine goes with pork, beef etc. Therefore, the staff will usually be quite well informed.

Thresher's is usually open from Monday to Saturday, 11am until 10 pm and on Sundays from 12 midday until 10 pm. It may seem that 10 pm is a little early, but us workers have to get home. It also means that you avoid all the drunken people leaving pubs at 11 o' clock.

If you are thinking of working for Thresher group, it is a great place to work as a sales assistant. There is opportunity to move up the career ladder too, and they give you all the training if you start as an assistant. A basic salary for sales assistants is around five pounds an hour. The average for a lot of shop work. you also get bonuses for meeting targets. These can be quite substantial. One of the best perks though, is the 20% discount available to all employees. This was fantastic for me being a student.

UPDATE *******

Ok, I now have to report the major negatives I have discovered from working for Threshers. It should be noted that my experience doesn't necessarily apply to all branches, but in case any of you were contemplating becoming an employee, I feel I should let you know what happened to me.

I had worked for Threshers for almost a year and felt very stable, within the job anyway. I felt I had good relationship with my manager and assistant manager. Which isn't always easy to achieve.

I then had a major upset within my personal life, which then meant I was in hospital for a month, through no fault of my own. My branch was informed, and sent sick notes from my GP. There was literally nothing I could do.

After being released from hospital, I was signed of work for the foreseeable future. This was due to my emotional state. Of course, there was no way I could have given notice for this event. My manager was, in my opinion, extremely rude. He said, and I quote.... 'I didn't know what was wrong with you, you could have been schizophrenic for all i knew!'

Considering my state at the time this seemed to me to be the most inappropriate statement. The worst thing is, i know people who have ben diagnosed with schizophrenia, and it could have been why I'd been in hospital for all he knew! Total discrimination...

Anyway, I've been trying to get a new job recently while I'm back from uni. Therefore, I needed referees. My assistant manager has now taken over as manager. And he even sympathised with the situation in the past. I went to ask for a reference and he denied me one, purely because I didn't hand in a notice.

Can anyone please tell me, how can you give notice in such a situation? What if it had been a physical injury?

On the positive, I've got a new job regardless.
I'm not saying this would happen to everyone and at any branch. However, it could be a fault in company policy.

********I still receommend the actual shop itself however***********

You can visit the site:

www.thresherwineshop.co.uk

Or if you have any queries, here are the contact details:

Thresher Group
Enjoyment Hall
Bessemer Road
Welwyn Garden City
Herts AL7 1BL
Tel: 01707 387 200
Fax: 01707 387 416