Sainsbury’s has long had a special place in my heart. The weekly shop at the Orange Store offered excitement to a child and a comforting familiarity that my adult self has found hard to shake off. But roll on the decades and I’m standing, dismayed, in my local Sainsbury’s.

The boss of Sainsbury’s has claimed that many customers like the company’s self-checkouts

The supermarket in my London suburb was a friendly place and the air over the checkouts rang with chatter between customers and the long-standing staff.