Woodseats native Kay is a fixture at the palace

Floor associate Kay has worked at The Woodseats Palace for two decades.

However, her association with the building, as well as the area, goes back more than 70 years.

Kay was born in Woodseats, in a house opposite the pub where she now works, and has lived in the Sheffield suburb all her life.

Her grandparents were once stewards of the Woodseats Working Men’s Club, located behind the Wetherspoon pub, which was once a cinema.

Kay recalls: “My older brother and sister used to take me to the Woodseats Palace when I was about four or five years old – to watch the Saturday afternoon matinée.

“I remember the black-and-white cowboy pictures and the shows during the interval, with a magician and yo-yo tricks.”

Kay added: “The cinema closed and became a Fine Fare supermarket.

“I remember it opening in the early 1960s and the PG Tips chimpanzee (a real one… not someone dressed in a costume) officially opening it.”

Kay, 73, who first joined the team as a cleaner, still lives only a short walk from the pub.

Kay said: “My son Robert was working in the pub’s kitchen then and suggested that I apply for a cleaning job. I did – and have never looked back.”

Kay spent eight years on the cleaning team before switching to work as a floor associate, where she meets, greets and chats to customers (most known to her), as well as serving meals and keeping the customer area clean and tidy.

Kay explained: “I used to run a club and didn’t want to work at the bar again.

“The pub manager wanted me to stay, so I chose the floor associate role and now work three mornings a week.”

Kay’s former neighbour and long-time friend, Debbie, joined her on the cleaning team 18 years ago, at Kay’s suggestion, and is now a bar team leader at the pub.

However, Debbie isn’t the only familiar face as a work colleague.

Kay said: “Robert’s son, my grandson, Brandon (26), is a kitchen associate at the pub and is doing really well, gaining in confidence all the time.

“Pub manager Ricky has been so helpful, and Brandon absolutely loves his job.”

Kay’s granddaughters, Kayleigh (kitchen) and Shannon (bar), also previously worked part time at the pub, as students, but have both gone on to other careers.

Kay said: “When I lost my husband eight years ago, everyone at Wetherspoon was so kind. I had also cared for him during his illness and was able to be flexible with my work shifts. They really looked after me too.”

She added: “When I’m not at work, I regularly pop in and spend my wages in the pub. Debbie and I can often be found chatting at ‘our’ table.”

Kay concluded: “The job keeps me going. It always feels like a home from home and like another family.

“I absolutely love it. I really don’t know what I would do without it.”

“When I lost my husband eight years ago, everyone at Wetherspoon was so kind. I had also cared for him during his illness and was able to be flexible with my work shifts. They really looked after me too.”

Kay Slater