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At the
present time in the U.K we hear a great
deal about the difficulty women have in
trying to attain any position in
management. I've come to the conclusion
that J. Lyons was a very progressive
company in more ways that one, especially
when when it came to promoting women to
positions in management.
In 1934
when I joined the State Restaurant (a
Lyons' restaurant in Liverpool ) at the
age of 16, it was managed by a woman -
Miss Barnes - her assistant was a woman -
Mrs. Davies - and the two supervisors were
also women. This was a tip top class
reastaurant but there were no men in the
management team at all.
Men were
in the management position in the teashops
and in the Orchard House, Head Office, but
the majority of teashop management were
women. People like me who joined at the
age of 16 were taken on as Junior
Trainees. After spending twelve months at
the State Restaurant, along with another
eleven youngsters straight from school it
was decided by Mr. S. H. Gluckstein to
transfer two of us to the teashop
department for the specific purpose of
training for management. It was Company
policy to promote from within the
organisation. Any young woman could be
considered and chosen from any capacity
within the teashops - Nippys, cashiers,
Front Shop Sales etc. Promotion was open
to anyone worth their salt, including the
male porters. I knew a number of male
managers who had been teashop
porters.
In Orchard
House the Personnel Dept. was managed by
women Miss Joerin, Miss Potter, Miss
Fowler. This did not change until 1963
when the Corner House male managers took
over.
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