When Helen Byrnes took a Saturday job at a local supermarket, she would never have believed that, years later, she would be enjoying a successful career at the store.

Helen, 31, who as a teenager worked part-time in the Halifax branch, is now manager at Sainsbury’s Cafe in Greengates.

She heads a team of 12, providing customers with a tasty meal or snack before they take their trolleys down the aisles.

Lunches at the light, airy cafe include hand-battered, line-caught cod and chips, lasagne, chicken tikka masala and roast dinners. “Our mega brunch is very popular,” says Helen. “It has sausages, bacon, mushrooms, eggs, chips, beans and tomato.”

A range of soups feature carrot and coriander, tomato and basil, and minestrone, with steamed syrup sponge and lemon meringue pie among the desserts.

“It is a really friendly, popular cafe, with a lot of regulars,” says Helen. “When we had a refit, two regulars, Margaret and Jim, came to open it. We are part of the community.”

Helen, who as a child loved cooking, took a degree in hotel and catering management at the University of Dundee. “I knew I wanted to work in the catering industry,” she says. “I like cooking and liked the idea of a career that could be so varied.”

After graduating, Amanda worked as a waitress at Scotland’s famous Gleneagles Hotel. “It was a fabulous experience. The level of service is incredible. But it was not all formal – we had fun too.”

She later moved to London, returning to Sainsbury’s as a graduate trainee manager. After a stint as customer service manager, she worked as food and beverage manager in the chain’s banqueting and conference centre in Hertfordshire.

“We catered for 120 weddings every year, from the first viewing to the final details, and being there on the day to make sure all went swimmingly.”

Helen took a job as assistant manager at a North Yorkshire country hotel. But happy memories of the years she spent with Sainsbury’s promoted a return to the chain. “I missed Sainsbury’s and missed my family in West Yorkshire.”

She is thrilled to be back and loves her job. “As well as managing the cafe, I do some cooking too, which is great.”

Helen’s culinary skills are a hit among family and friends. “They are always coming round, and I treat them to three-course specialities,” she says.

She credits her mum, Christine, for passing on her expertise. “I used to watch mum all the time, and my trifle is made exactly how she used to make it using my grandma’s recipe. I even use a cut glass bowl that belonged to my grandma. And I use grandma’s recipe for chicken stuffing.”

To relax, Helen likes nothing better than to put her feet up and watch Neighbours. Her free time isn’t all about relaxing, though; she is a volunteer first-aider with the Red Cross, helping at public events across Yorkshire.