OCADOLIFE 13 - November 2009

In the past, we’ve talked about new improvements to our service, but today we’d like to celebrate another, even more important part of our business: our people.

We launched Ocado as a three-man band back in 2001. Just 10 years later, we work alongside several thousand extraordinary people, each one playing a crucial role in delivering the Ocado service that you know and love. That could be anything from keeping our website running smoothly to delivering your groceries to your kitchen – come rain, shine or snow. (LINK TO: Ocado winter heroes.)

For example, just to launch the first new UK ‘supermarket’ in a generation needed the help of lots of talented and “switched-on” people, many of whom still work alongside us today. Without them, Ocado as you know it wouldn’t exist!

As part of this focus on our people, we launched the Ocado Council in December. Bringing together representatives from all over the business, from Leeds to Southampton, it’s a forum for addressing local issues and sharing ideas that we hope will improve Ocado as a business and as a place to work.

We also created an Ocado “mission statement” to share our excitement and passion for great service across the business. It sounds scary, but it’s just a single side of A4 that sums up what we’re trying to do and how we’ll do it. If you’d like to read it, you’ll find it in the ‘Our business’ section of our website.

Our business is powered from bottom to top by smart thinkers and “can-doers”, and it’s their extraordinary drive, passion and talent that keeps us moving forward at such a pace. We think it’s the biggest difference is between us and our competitors, which is why we’re so proud to celebrate their efforts.

Jason,

Ocado Co-Founder