Meet the 93-year-old grocery store worker who loves his job — and has no plans to stop
John Shipton starts work three days a week at 8 a.m. on the checkouts at a supermarket in Exeter, southwest England. He's no different from his colleagues — apart from being 93 years old.
"It's so much fun. I've got lovely customers," he told Business Insider. "I think I'll hang about a bit — I won't dash off at 95."
Shipton started working at Waitrose, an upmarket British supermarket chain, on a three-month contract in 2011 before being offered a permanent role.
"Every week the same customers are coming back time and time again," he said. "They're great, I love them."
"I don't feel like it's work — it's more like play, to be honest."
He described Waitrose as an incredible employer. Shipton said when he'd only been working at the store for about four years, he broke his hip while gardening but was given three months paid leave to recover.
"And when I went back, they made sure that I had everything I needed to make life easy for me," he said.
Shipton decided to apply for the supermarket job after reading a book by John Spedan Lewis, who established the John Lewis Partnership, which owns Waitrose along with the John Lewis department store chain. It's the UK's largest employee-owned business and all staff have a stake in the business.
"I figured this man was going to be good to work for," he said. "I figured, although he died, his business was still running, and it was running as they organized it."
Shipton said he'd previously worked at another supermarket for six years but wasn't entirely happy there.
His career spanned a range of industries. He worked in electronics, as a maintenance controller for his city council and on a freelance basis as a computer programmer, and repairing antique furniture.
Shipton attended college for two years but decided it wasn't for him.
"They weren't teaching me what I wanted to know," he said, so he decided to join the army.
"I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I could see that when I got to the age of 45 I was going to become grown out," he said.
Shipton then worked in sales and marketing for big electronics companies. "I've always wanted to do something."
'Curious about the world'
Shipton said he was "at a loss" for about a year when his wife, Julia Marise, died in 2021, followed by his cat a year later.
"Then I thought, 'right, I'll take on some Ukrainian refugees,'" he said.
Shipton said he spent his school days with Jewish refugees after World War II.
"There was a lot of information about Auschwitz and so on, which made me think, you know, how can people start a war and treat people so badly?" he said. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Shipton felt he had to do something to help.
He wrote to the chairman of John Lewis to help Oksana get a job with the retailer. Her son, Illia, is in his final year of school and due to go to college next year.
"They're fabulous people," he said. "I might have cooked three dinners in the last three years."
Shipton said he and Illia have bonded over their shared interest in math. "I'm very interested in anti-matter and I'm studying that at the moment."
No retirement plans
The 93-year-old also regularly paints and reads. "I try and learn on a daily basis almost. I'm curious about the world. I'm curious about people."
Shipton said he's never retired — and has no plans to do so: "I just enjoy working. As I say, it's not work, it's play."
A few months ago Shipton said he was thinking of working until 95, but has decided to continue even longer. "My life is very full."
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