You can only use machines to pay in the ‘big’ Sainsbury’s in Camden Town

OLDER residents are being locked out of public life, a former mayor of Camden has warned, after seeing all of the cashiers removed at a supermarket.

Shoppers at the “big” Sainsbury’s in Camden Road, Camden Town, now have no choice but to tackle the machines when they pay – a scenario that Councillor Richard Cotton described as being part of a “digital dystopia”.

He is one of 31 councillors to have written to Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts to complain of the decision to replace all traditional staffed check-out tills with the self-service machines.

The shop removed the tills this summer and Cllr Cotton warned that disabled and older customers were feeling the impact of the decision most.

He said: “Imagine trying to negotiate self-service checkouts if you’re in a wheelchair. You’re removing an easier option that was there before.”

He suggested blind and partially-sighted people will be particularly badly affected too, adding that staffed tills also worked to reduce isolation among vulnerable customers.

“A friendly face at the till might be the only person they speak to that day,” he said.

Former mayor Councillor Richard Cotton

Cllr Cotton pointed out that Sainsbury’s boss Mr Roberts, who according to the Retail Gazette took home £4.95million in pay last year, has made a commitment to “inclusion and diversity”, adding “How is this an example of inclusion?”

The move away from staffed tills is “just another way of maximising profits at the expense of consumers and at the expense of the most vulnerable,” Cllr Cotton added.

“I know the obvious answer to that is a lot of the council stuff is digital too. The difference is, public services are often being forced to do this because they’re being forced to cut back on spending.

“That clearly isn’t the case where Sainsbury’s is concerned, because Sainsbury’s made £690million pre-tax profit last year.

He added: “We’re removing human interaction from almost everything. We’ve seen a lot of concerns about doing away with ticket officers in train stations…

“I think we’re heading towards this digital dystopia, [impacting] particularly older people and people with less mobility.

“It’s part of the cashless society we’re moving towards. I think Covid was used as an excuse to do a lot of things to make life easier for the companies, not the consumer.”

Cllr Cotton will be lobbying Sainsbury’s to bring back a number of staffed tills.
Another former mayor, Councillor Jenny Headlam-Wells, who supports the campaign, said there used to be “pleasant” staff on the tills but now “customers are just annoyed”, adding: “It’s rather unpleasant. There’s an awful lot of shouting going on.”

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We have recently increased the number of self-service checkouts in our Camden store to meet customer demand for this service.

“Our colleagues are on hand to help anyone who may need support and we continue to offer manned checkouts for our customers who wish to use them.

“We strive to be a truly inclusive retailer where people love to work and shop and offer assisted shopping for customers with disabilities in all our stores if they are not able to shop independently.”