Asda Elgin pair celebrate 30th year working together
A PAIR of Asda Elgin employees are celebrating their 30th year working together.
Helen Farquhar and Nicky Leslie started working together on the same day 30 years ago and they've been great friends ever since.
Both 49, the pair celebrate their 'Asda-versary' every year, whether that's going out for a meal or having a cup of coffee in a café.
Helen, who remembers going for her interview in 1993 like it was yesterday, said: "I was looking for a job as I was unemployed, and Asda were looking for night shift colleagues.
"When I went for the interview though they said, because I had some retail experience, that I could go on the tills.
"At the time we were at the old Asda site which is across the road from the store we are in now. I think we moved there about 24 or 25 years ago.’’
She added: "The 30 years have gone by so quickly, being here so long you get to know a lot of the customers. Nicky and I don’t work similar hours at the moment – we seem to be like passing ships, but as we’ve been friends for so long, we always text each other.
"We are really good friends and we’re always here for one another."
Nicky applied for a position at Asda after her former neighbour, who worked in the old Asda store, brought her an application form.
She said: "I was unemployed at the time. I had the interview and by the time I got home I was told I’d got the job.
"Helen and I usually go out for a meal on our ‘Asda-versary’, she is like the little sister that I don’t have – she’s a very good friend and I’d be lost without her."
Nicky has been a strong supporter of the Asda Tickled Pink campaign which raises money and awareness for Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel.
In 2013 she had her head shaved and raised £500 as her later mother Maureen had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Kaye McLeod, the store's customer trading manager, commended the pair for their 30 years of service adding that they are both very popular colleagues.
She said: "We’d like to say a massive well done and thank you to Nicky and Helen for completing an amazing 30 years of service with Asda.
"With them both starting on the same day they try to have a yearly get together where they meet up to celebrate their time in Asda.
"Nicky is famous for her tannoy announcements and loves a hug.
"She’s even shaved off her hair to raise money for charity. Helen, has spent her whole career so far on the front end and is the consumables queen within the department.’’
