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219
Despatch
219
Despatch was the office and 'nerve centre'
of the Departmental Despatch, and got its
name from the telephone extension number.
When the telephone extensions were
re-allocated
in 1950, following the installation of a
new telephone exchange, it was decided to
leave it unchanged because it was so
familiar to many people both inside and
outside the company. It was the proud
boast of this department, like the
telephone exchange itself, that it was
manned 24 hours a day 365 days a year. It
never closed.
The
main job of the Departmental Despatch was
the routine delivery of bakery and kitchen
goods to the teashops and restaurants.
Many of these items were perishable and
had to be delivered as quickly as possible
while as fresh as possible. Teashop vans
were loaded with trays of goods which
amounted to some 52,000 trays a week
delivered to the teashops in 540 van runs.
For the Corner House and restaurants a
special fleet of vans operated an hourly
service between 6 am and 8.15 pm (more
frequently in the peak periods) in order
to maintain a constant supply of fresh
rolls.
If
there was a breakdown in any of the
factory production lines then 219 Despatch
would inform the Bakery Sales Office who
in turn would warn the catering
departments. If it was after office hours
then 219 Despatch would contact them
direct. The Bakery Sales Office worked
hand in hand with 219 Despatch, receiving
orders from the catering establishments,
placing these orders on the factories and
sending the charge notes down to 219
Despatch to await the arrival of the
goods. 219 Despatch would also arrange the
delivery of emergency goods if for some
reason the original consignment had not
arrived. They would arrange with the
Transport Department for a van to come
round and pick up the emergency order for
quick delivery. Sometimes a van would
break down in transit and it was necessary
to send another to off-load the goods but
the next call on his original route was
urgently short of bread. In this case a
taxi would be summoned to deliver the
goods direct. The staff working in 219
Despatch had to be flexible and they had
at their disposal a range of emergency
procedures to handle most emergencies. One
of the most frequent request came from the
royal palaces who wanted just a dozen
fresh rolls. A special van would deliver
these post-haste. Calls would sometimes be
received from the police if lights in a
teashop had been inadvertently left on
overnight. 219 Despatch would contact the
appropriate person to arrange for them to
be turned off. (Can you imagine this
happening in the twenty-first
century).
219
Despatch was a vital component in the
teashop/restaurant operation and had been
honed to near perfection over many years.
It was one of the busiest offices at Cadby
Hall and staff were very diplomatic in
dealing with complaints of all types
whether from their colleagues or members
of the public. Their work was greatly
admired by all level of staff.
©
Peter Bird 2005
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