I can relate to that having retired last year after 40+ years in academia. But as a minion, I could always fend for myself. Uni campuses tend to have everything one needs to never need to leave. We had (well, it still has!) 15 coffee bars, one large refectory, one complex of posh eateries that could be booked for equally posh meeting, shops, postal services, laundry services and a catering service that will bring food to you / your meeting for official purposes. Lots of on-site accommodation too. In olden days we even had a senior eatery where tech staff were not allowed! Decades back we even had an on-site travel agent where staff had an on-demand counter and could simply say 'I want to go to x' and tickets would be provided. Companies can even be set up within the uni framework such that academics have access to office space, phone and Internet, and admin provision, with the uni being company secretary so HMRC and Companies House are sorted for you.
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Have you ever come across anyone in a workplace with a similar sense of entitlement as this?
- Thread starter 175mph
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I can relate to that having retired last year after 40+ years in academia. But as a minion, I could always fend for myself. Uni campuses tend to have everything one needs to never need to leave. We had (well, it still has!) 15 coffee bars, one large refectory, one complex of posh eateries that could be booked for equally posh meeting, shops, postal services, laundry services and a catering service that will bring food to you / your meeting for official purposes. Lots of on-site accommodation too. In olden days we even had a senior eatery where tech staff were not allowed! Decades back we even had an on-site travel agent where staff had an on-demand counter and could simply say 'I want to go to x' and tickets would be provided. Companies can even be set up within the uni framework such that academics have access to office space, phone and Internet, and admin provision, with the uni being company secretary so HMRC and Companies House are sorted for you.
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R
RailUK Forums
How many people worked on the site?
At its peak about 13,000!
Blimey. Imagine the washing up!
Good story!
The first question I'd ask is "why do you think there should be any sort of canteen / restaurant?".
Finding out why the person thinks this way will help you understand where they're coming from and thus be able to formulate a good answer.
For example, if he worked in a large warehouse (like a Tesco warehouse), they usually provide food. Tesco is a national chain, so it's easier/cheaper/classed as a "perk" for them to supply food in a canteen.
If he is now working in an independent factory, explaining why employing canteen people to cook/maintain a kitchen isn't going to work (IE, cost).
Ha ha ha!
Although don't Class 66's have a stove in the cab?
Maybe I mis-read / dreamed it.
I understand the reason behind it but can see the nay sayers now - "yes [Manager], I spadded as the sausages needed turning".
175mph
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I forgot to ask, was this a steelworks site by any chance?
DarloRich
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This cannot be real, surely!
Having read all these I have to say, I used to be head of security at a casino and casino's usually don't let staff leave the premises and so they provide chef cooked meals. Usually breakfast, lunch and dinner. We also had our fill of snacks, they provided bread, sliced meats and cheese, coleslaw etc, all in a big fridge in the staff room. We had a range of hot and cold drinks. We had kettles, toasters and sandwich makers.
When I was a student I did a year out working for BR Computing at Furlong House in Nottingham (academic year 1992-3), and I don't remember an actual canteen but there was a trolley service that I used to get cheap sausage rolls and sandwiches from - a vague memory tells me that there was a canteen but I never went there.
The only other place I've worked at that had a canteen was a freight forwarding company at Dartford that I was at for a year around 2005.
The only other place I've worked at that had a canteen was a freight forwarding company at Dartford that I was at for a year around 2005.
175mph
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Did they provide English breakfast?
Bletchleyite
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I hope no company I work for ever does that (other than at an off-puttingly hefty fee so I'd only bother once a week maybe). A few weeks in and I'd not get through the door.
At the start of my career I was sent away for 6 months staying in Marriott hotels, where there was indeed a free buffet full English, that caused me to balloon by some 3 stone or so. Fortunately my business travel more recently has been outside the UK where breakfast tends to be a rather healthier continental buffet.
175mph
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I'm one of the lucky ones who would burn it off very quickly, with minimal effort.
Bletchleyite
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I'm one of the lucky ones who would burn it off very quickly, with minimal effort.
Not fair
we have an on site restaurant, fish and chip shop, papa johns, Starbucks and an ice cream truck which whilst we do get a discount I would never have the time to eat there.
However, we do have a microwave, tea urn, toaster and sandwich maker in our department though. Complemented with a fridge and freezer. Plenty of cutlery and crockery too.
However, we do have a microwave, tea urn, toaster and sandwich maker in our department though. Complemented with a fridge and freezer. Plenty of cutlery and crockery too.
They did, although scrambled eggs usually.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Good, much nicer
Never really liked anything eggy that looks like egg for some reason, I think possibly the white is too rubbery unless you mix it all up.Good, much nicer
To be honest though, security only worked nights, so I only ever got dinner and snacks, the eggs may have been that fake nonsense. Occasionally I got invited to eat with management and their fare was waaay better.
175mph
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Did management get luxuries like cavier or lobster?
duffield
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There was indeed a canteen at Furlong house. There was a canteen at next office we moved to when FH closed. But when we moved to our current location we just got kitchens with microwaves and kettles. No trolley any more either, and no sandwiches (even though our other sites have sandwich vending machines
).
175mph
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Did you sit there patiently waiting for the nonexistent trolley to arrive?There was indeed a canteen at Furlong house. There was a canteen at next office we moved to when FH closed. But when we moved to our current location we just got kitchens with microwaves and kettles. No trolley any more either, and no sandwiches (even though our other sites have sandwich vending machines
Also, what was the food quality like in the canteens in your last two locations?
Strat-tastic
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Tetchytyke
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Well it's not a sense of entitlement then, is it?
Tom B
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Canteens are especially welcome when people are on shift, or where the location is difficult for obtaining food (eg in the middle of nowhere, or conversely in the middle of an expensive part of the city). I suppose economies can be achieved if the central kitchen is also functional for others, e.g. in hospitals etc.
Don't forget that many places used to have an on site bar for staff to frequent, which would often be open at lunchtime as well...
Don't forget that many places used to have an on site bar for staff to frequent, which would often be open at lunchtime as well...
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They have a hotplate. Deltics had a toilet & basin so new locos are lacking.
Hospitals tend to have different kitchens for staff and patients (or at least they used to).
Iskra
Established Member
In my uni days I used to work at a MSA. For the first 2/3 years we got a free meal per shift at any of the onsite restaurants. Then it got changed to 70% discount instead. Staff had to eat in the staff room, managers got to sit front of house.
Nope, a holiday park on the south/south west coast actually, we have a couple of bars too! Free use of the facilities at both our site and others within the brand is good too, sitting on a nice lounger by the outside pool on a nice hot summers day is glorious.
Indeed, which makes me wonder why this thread was created at all.
Busaholic
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I had a stint as a croupier for Grand Met and absolutely hated everything about the job, except the money (good) and a very few of my fellow croupiers, but, as you say, free food was plentiful. Boredom caused one to overeat, also the thought that you were getting one over on the management.
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