ANOTHER three young people have been given a start to their working life at Banjo’s Bakery Cafe in New Norfolk. Owner Robbie Iles said 60 people had applied for a recently advertised sales assistant role and 10 had been interviewed.
“We had only planned to put one person on, but we couldn’t split the final three,” Mr Iles said. The successful three are Holly Cooper, Jemma Whyte and Azalea Bennett, all 15. They all live in the town and are in Grade 9 at New Norfolk High School, and welcome the opportunity to have work close to home and school.
Holly has previously worked picking cherries at Lawitta but for Azalea and Jemma the Banjo’s role is their first job. Sales manager Bianca Hugo has taken the new staff under her wing and is responsible for their training.
On top of the usual challenges of starting a new job, the young women have the additional matter of working through a refurbishment of the popular cafe, which is now under way. Mr Iles said it was business as usual in the store and he hoped the “refresh” would be completed by the end of the month.
Picture: Sales manager Bianca Hugo, left, with new sales assistants Holly Cooper, Jemma Whyte and Azalea Bennett, all 15.