Long-serving Paul Dixon waved goodbye to friends and colleagues at Sainsbury’s in Ely this week after more than 41 years service.

Paul, 58, started out at the tender age of 16 as a managerial trainee in the King’s Lynn branch of Sainsbury’s and said that his role back then involved “pretty much everything” right up from making the tea.

Over the years, Paul has worked in many different stores and in many different roles but remembers his spell in London as personal assistant to the retail director of Sainsbury’s during the 1980s as a particular highlight.

He was moved to the Ely branch of Sainsbury’s when the store opened in 2011 and has seen out his final few years helping get the fledgling store off the ground.

Last Thursday, colleagues held a party for the 58-year-old at the Lisle Lane store.

He said: “Compared to when I first started, Sainsbury’s today is unrecognisable, it is a different world. The way we do things now compared to when I was 16 has changed so much, from the technology right up to the industry itself.”