Haverhill shopworker’s retirement after 42 years at Sainsbury’s greeted by a groundswell of affection

A deluge of comments from well-wishers has been described as ‘heartening’ by a man who retired after more than 40 years working at Sainsbury’s in Haverhill.

For the past 42 years, Richard Pannell has become a familiar – and congenial – presence at the store, where he collected the shopping trolleys.

News of his retirement was posted last week on social media by his niece, Julie Seeley. Such is the level of affection for him, it attracted more than 2,100 likes and saw 1,000 messages posted wishing him a happy retirement or good luck.

Richard, who has cerebral palsy in one hand and one foot, said of the messages: “It’s heartening, you know.”

He added: “I had a hernia operation in March and of course I don’t want to aggravate it.

“It was getting harder. They didn’t have the hours or the staff to help me so I thought it was best to retire now.

“I’ve had a good run.

“I miss the job. I think I miss the people most. All the people I have met over the years. I’ve lost count. I really have.”

“The last 40 years have flown by.”

The comments posted on social media about Richard include: “Absolute legend. Hope he enjoys his retirement, so well deserved”, “he deserves an award ‘freedom of the town’ or something similar as he is a true Haverhill legend” and “such a lovely man”.

Richard, of Hamlet Road, Haverhill, turns 62 in October and first joined the retailer when it’s store was in Jubilee Walk, in the town centre, before it moved to Haycocks Road on the edge of town over 30 years ago.

Although he briefly left the job for three months, he returned and stayed with Sainsbury’s until last Friday, when his colleagues presented him with a trolley packed full of goodies, including coffee, beer and chocolate.

Richard, who is single, has no children of his own but has a number of nieces, nephews and great nieces and nephews that he is looking forward to spending more time with.