A former Primark employee has shared some of the secrets of the trade, including the meaning behind a particular coded tannoy message.

Journalist George Allen opened up about his past life in retail, writing in the Derby Telegraph about his experiences.

Allen explained that while there were several downsides to the job – such as ‘endless folding’, which he said is ‘the biggest part of working at Primark’ – there was one particularly gruesome problem to deal with from time-to-time.

“Urine and faeces on the shop floor is pretty common,” Allen, who worked at Primark for six months, said.

“There are even different cryptic announcements via the speakers (‘cleaner to menswear, code two’) so cleaning staff know to expect a bodily fluid when they arrive at the mess.”

So if you hear the words ‘code two’ over the tannoy system, you may want to avoid wherever it is staff are rushing to…

Allen also divulged how to get a discount at Primark, but warned that shoppers shouldn’t try to abuse it, or else face the wrath of the ‘Book of Faces’.

He continued: “If you want a customer discount at Primark, it’s very easy.

“For customers, an item with any kind of slight fault or mark gets 10 percent knocked off without debate if they ask for it, as I saw many times on the tills.

“But don’t take it too far or else you will end up in the Book of Faces. Behind the customer services desk on the third floor is a thick folder full of CCTV close-ups of the faces of customers who have nicked, conned or otherwise behaved badly in the store.

“I still see some of those culprits walking around the city and I wonder if they know of their notoriety.”

Allen also admitted there’s probably not much point asking staff for a different size, as no one really knows where anything is in the stockroom.

Saying in the six months he was at Primark he’s managed to find ‘one item successfully’, Allen said: “It’s a massive room filled with cardboard boxes and it’s basically a lucky dip.”

I’m sure anyone who’s ever worked in retail (*raises hand*) will know these quirks of the job all too well. Whether you’ve been toiling away in a shop for six months or 60 years, we salute you!

Read George Allen’s full article here.