One of the oldest supermarket workers in the UK has just celebrated his 90th birthday, and he’s not letting his age stop him.
Ron Ellis, who works as a Customer Service Host at Asda Trafford Park here in Manchester, is not only Asda’s oldest colleague, but at the grand old age of 90, he is now considered to be one of the oldest, if not the oldest, supermarket worker in the whole of the UK.
After working as an estimator for a steelworks company for many years, Ron started out his Asda journey as a store ‘Greeter’, before moving onto the checkouts and self scan areas.
And now, despite his age, he’s loves working as a Customer Service Host four days a week, and has “no plans to retire”.
Ron – who is a widower, and has two sons and two grandchildren – has just celebrated his big birthday (24 April), and to mark the very special occasion, he was surprised by his fellow colleagues who showered him with presents, chocolates, and a card, and also made sure to decorate the checkouts area with balloons.
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Of course, no big birthday celebration is complete without a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’, and Ron’s chorus was sung by both his colleagues and many of the store’s customers – who, according to Asda, “just love him”.
“I love my job and I’ve no plans to retire,” Ron commented.
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“I’m still going strong and I love coming to work. My colleagues here are brilliant, and we get on so well. When it was my birthday, they were so kind. A lot of people don’t know how old I am, so it came as a surprise, and that day will remain firmly in my memory for the rest of my days.”
Ron also admitted that one of his favourite parts about coming to work is “having a chat with the customers”.
The UK’s oldest supermarket worker from Manchester has just celebrated his 90th birthday / Credit: ASDA
He continued: “We talk about all sorts, including football. I’m a big Man City fan, while many of the customers and colleagues here support United, but it’s all good humoured though as we’re a very friendly store”.
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Catharine Arnold, who works as one of Asda Trafford Park’s Community Champions, called working with Ron a “real privilege”.
“He’s amazing and always has a smile on his face,” she added.
“I hope I’m like that when I’m that age. He’s so very well known by customers and colleagues, they all love him.”
Featured Image – ASDA
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Boyzone to reunite for exclusive New Year’s Eve special on the BBC
Danny Jones
2025 has very much been the year of the comeback – be it Oasis, Britpop fashion in general, or short bobs and pixie cuts – so it’s only fitting that we round off the calendar with one last reunion, as throwback boyband Boyzone are set to feature on a TV special on the BBC this New Year’s Eve.
Turns out ‘All That I Need’ to make a year memorable is a load of 1990s nostalgia.
Now, obviously, despite plenty of other music names enjoying a second renaissance over the past 12 months or so, nothing is ever going to be quite as big as the Oasis Live ’25 reunion tour.
However, if you asked us to guess which group from the era were also going to reunite this year back in January, there’s not a chance we would’ve said Boyzone.
Boyzone are telling us about coming back together for one final run in their most unforgettable concerts yet 🎤
After news first began circulating earlier this week, it has now been confirmed that musician turned presenter Ronan Keating will be getting back together with two of his former bandmates.
Joining the 48-year-old for ‘Ronan & Friends: A New Year’s Eve Party’, ex-Boyzone members Keith Duffy and Shane Lynch are part of an exciting live music lineup.
Other names include actor and singer, Shona McGarty, who recently starred on season 25 of I’m A Celeb, as well as fellow 90s pop artist Louise Redknapp and singer-songwriter Calum Scott.
The exclusive reunion comes after the success of the recently aired Boyzone: No Matter What documentary show.
Spread across three parts on Sky, the docuseries (named after their hit song from 1998) looks back on the career and journey up the charts back in their heyday, all the way up to the present. After seemingly striking a chord with fans and the lads themselves, it looks like they’re not done after all…
Yes, not only is the festive TV special going to see three of the original members performing alongside each other again, but
Here’s hoping that turns into a springboard for something even bigger, and we get a Manchester arena show sometime soon.
As for the programme itself, ‘Ronan & Friends: A New Year’s Eve Party’ will be broadcast on BBC One and made available on BBC iPlayer from Wednesday, 31 December 2025.
One in 10 Brits are fired or disciplined after their work’s Christmas party, new survey finds
Emily Sergeant
We’re in peak office Christmas party season right now.
With just a week to go until the big day itself is here, many businesses across the UK are treating their staff to night out to celebrate both the festive season and all of the hard work they have been putting in throughout the year… and as you can expect, these are usually quite eventful gatherings, shall we say.
But now, a survey by has shed light on just how ‘eventful’ they actually are, as a new survey has revealed that, apparently, one in ten Brits face some sort of disciplinary action or dismissal due to their behaviour at Christmas parties.
The study was conducted by After Drink, and included more than 2,000 participants.
During the research, it was highlighted that 89% of employees admitted to drinking alcohol at these events, Lad Bible reports – with 65% of these confessing that they drank “excessively”.
One in 10 Brits get fired or disciplined after their work’s Christmas party / Credit: Kraken Images | Mimi Thian (via Unsplash)
There are a multitude of incidents which could lead to disciplinary action in the workplace nowadays, but according to the survey, some of the common reasons following festive celebrations with colleagues included inappropriate comments (23%) and even getting into fights (21%).
16% of these incidents were because of drug use during the event, while inappropriate interactions with colleagues accounted for 14%.
Some of the legal reasons you can be fired from your place of work after a Christmas party include gross misconduct, drunken behaviour, and fighting of any kind.
Despite all these risks, however, Christmas parties still remain as popular as always, and a whopping 79% of respondents said they are planning to attend theirs this year.
Emily Sergeant -
14th May 2024 
