The Booths Christmas Book

Christmas is a lovely time to make contact with friends and family that we have not seen for a long time and for my family, the real pleasure is welcoming people into our home and offering them delicious food and drink from Booths.

Every new year, once the festivities are over, our buyers assess what customers have enjoyed the most and what can be made better, then set about finding new products to include in the next Christmas Book. The production of our iconic publication is a huge effort for many of us at Booths and as I write, the marketing team have just spent four weeks photographing food, which is a big exercise in self-control!

There are hundreds of businesses that supply our products, some large, some small, and I am proud of the close collaborative relationships we have with them. It is astonishing how innovative they are in designing new and tempting foods every year and I have had the pleasure of tasting lots of new cakes and puddings; I've always had a sweet tooth! There's often an animated conversation at home before my family place their order. Everyone has their favourites and my daughters usually get their own way with the desserts! The selection of wine is my job but I know I will be distracted by the fabulous range of beers and spirits where there is always something unusual to be found.

I joined Booths 50 years ago as a raw recruit at the warehouses in Preston and remember the rush to get goods out to the stores in Christmas week. Most memorable of all is the warm welcome that I received from all my colleagues and this told me everything I needed to know about the Booths way of doing business. I hope that we will be able to give you a warm welcome at Booths this year when you visit our stores.

A very Happy Christmas to you and your family.