Asda Gosforth 'store grandmother' Angela is loved by colleagues and customers

Everyone at our Gosforth store loves 83-year-old checkouts colleague Angela Turnbull for the way she's always got time for a smile and a friendly chat with all the people she meets.

Grandmother-of-four Angela has worked at the store for almost 20 years and says she enjoys it just as much now as she did when she first started.

She said: "I just like coming in and meeting people. I've got great colleagues to talk to and everyone is just so helpful, you know.

"I've got regular customers and they all very nice. If you are pleasant with them and helpful, then they are pleasant with you; that's the way I look at it. I love chatting to my customers while I'm scanning the shopping. I do enjoy it and I'm sure they appreciate a kind word and a chat.

"I'm 83 now and I reckon I must be the oldest colleague in the store and I get on with everyone no problem, no matter of their age."

Service section leader Tina Scott, who's been at the store for 28 years, says Angela is an inspiration.

She said: "She's lovely with her customers and they all love her as well. She does enjoy coming into work as she likes getting out and about and meeting people. She's always happy and always happy to do anything,

"She's an all-round trouper, she really is. She's come in through thick and thin. She won't let anybody down, she just gets on with it. She's so dedicated to her job; she's a good un, she really is.

"Colleagues here all look up to her, and have a lot of respect for her. We have colleagues as young as 18 in this department and then there's Angela who's 83. They see her as their own grandmother."

Angela, who's a widow and has two sons, was a telephonist at a chartered surveyors before coming to work at Asda.

Community champion Michelle Castledine said: "I've been here 16 years and Angela was here when I joined, so I remember her from way back then.

"She's such a really lovely person – she's just so friendly and so nice. I've never heard a bad one said about her. She's just Angela. Every department likes her; she's very popular."