‘It’s what keeps me going’, says oldest Sainsbury worker Eddie, 92

A 92-year-old supermarket worker says he has no plans to retire as another busy Christmas season is in full swing.

Great grandfather Eddie Swan has worked at the Sainsbury’s store in Ashford, Kent, since it opened 27 years ago.

That was when, aged 65, he ended 45 years in the printing trade – but says still working is what keeps him going.

Swan is the oldest member of Sainsbury’s nationwide workforce and one of a handful of workers of pensionable age among the 539 staff employed at the giant Ashford store. He works a 12-hour week, between 10am and 2pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Swan told the Mail he had no thoughts of retiring. ‘Everybody says to me they are going to carry me out in a box,’ he said. 

‘It’s what keeps me going is coming back to work – seeing the people, not just the people I work with but the people who come in, the customers, we all have a bit of a giggle.’

Swan says his partner Ivy, 86, also enjoys having him out of the house. 

He admitted that he cannot do as much as he used to but is still able to collect up cardboard boxes and help with lighter products such as crisps and confectionery.

Swan – a fan of the Daily Mail’s code word puzzle – has two daughters, a granddaughter and a great-grandson, Ethan, aged seven, who visits him in the shop.

Store deputy manager Kimberley Wallington said Swan is ‘absolutely fantastic with the customers’.