3.2b Different Ways of Working (OCR GCSE Business): Exam Questions

HSBC

HSBC offers a range of banking and financial services for personal and business customers. The bank has branches in many cities and towns across the UK.

Employing the best people is important to HSBC. It uses several methods to select new employees. Once appointed, all employees are offered training and development opportunities that include studying for academic qualifications such as degrees and professional diplomas.

Over 70% of HSBC’s call centre employees in the UK have begun working from home permanently. Before this change the employees worked together in a busy call centre. The tasks performed by call centre employees are varied, but include taking telephone calls from customers and completing administrative work, such as opening new bank accounts. Senior managers are now considering whether to introduce working from home for all of its UK call centre employees.

Greggs

Greggs is a modern ‘food-on-the-go’ retail brand. It specialises in selling sandwiches, cakes, pastries and pies. Most of these are made by Greggs, using raw materials such as flour, meat and yeast. The company opened its first bakery 80 years ago and has since grown significantly. It currently has 20 000 employees. Greggs’ aim is to become the customer’s favourite for ‘food-onthe-go’ in the UK. This sector is growing quickly and is forecast to be worth £23.4 billion by 2024 (up from £18.5 billion in 2019).

According to The Vegan Society, the number of people in the UK choosing a vegan diet has increased during recent years (see Fig. 1).

Using the market data, Greggs responded to this change by launching vegan sausage rolls in January 2019. The publicity generated helped Greggs’ total sales to increase by 9.6% in its next seven weeks of trading. Following this success the business launched other products, including vegan doughnuts and vegan steak bakes, based on consumer demand.

Managers at Greggs constantly monitor changes in consumer tastes. Similarly, they keep up-to-date with changes in employment law. Greggs’ managers also take pride in the business being named one of the happiest places to work in the UK. Greggs offers many ways of working, including part-time roles.

EDF

EDF is a limited company which supplies gas and electricity to homes and businesses throughout the UK. It is the largest producer of low-carbon electricity in the UK and owns two fossil fuel power stations, three wind farms and eight nuclear power stations.

In 2016, EDF started to build the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, which will eventually provide 7% of the UK’s electricity needs for 60 years. Managers at EDF expect it to open in 2025.

During the construction stage, the project has created thousands of jobs. A number of these construction jobs are filled by self-employed workers. Once it is fully operational, the power station will employ over 900 people, most of whom will be employed by EDF.

EDF produces around 20% of the UK’s electricity and is the largest supplier. As EDF operates in a competitive market, the price that it charges its customers is very important.