Bakkavör Group UK graduate jobs

Bakkavör Group UK careers and training scheme

Bakkavör Group is a leading international food manufacturing company specialising in fresh prepared food and produce. Over £1.5bn turnover in 2007, 63 factories, 20,000 employees in the UK, Continental Europe, South Africa, China and the United States.

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The Company

Who is Bakkavör?

Bakkavör Group is a leading international food manufacturing company specialising in fresh prepared food and produce. Over £1.5bn turnover in 2007, 63 factories, 20,000 employees in the UK, Continental Europe, South Africa, China and the United States. Manufacture over 6, 000 products in 18 product categories. Our key market areas are ready meals, pizzas, desserts, convenience salads and leafy salads. Customers include all UK major retailers such as Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Asda, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Somerfield, and other major food providers such as the NHS.

Five core values underpin the way they do business:
Customer care:
They are committed to supplying outstanding service, quality and value, never forgetting that our relationship with our customers is pivotal to our success.
Can-do attitude:
They encourage personal initiative and empower our people to make things happen. Their motivation comes from a determination to succeed in all we do.
Teamwork:
They believe everyone has a valuable part to play in the success of our business. They aim to communicate effectively and are committed to the highest standards of ethics and integrity.
Innovation:
They thrive on new challenges, looking for innovative ways to grow and improve our business further.
Efficiency:
They endeavour to achieve efficiencies in all things we do, providing value for our customers and shareholders alike.

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Live Jobs

Job title	Location	Salary

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Training & Profiles

Do you want real accountability in a fast paced environment? Do you enjoy working with other people? Do you want to work for a leading international food manufacturing company?

If you have answered ‘Yes’ to these questions, then one of Bakkavör’s Accelerated Management Schemes could offer you the perfect career opportunity.

Their ‘Accelerated Management Schemes’ provide chosen candidates with the opportunity to gain immediate hands-on experience, coupled with supportive training and mentoring, in one of six areas of our business: Technical, Manufacturing, Product Development, Finance, Purchasing, Produce and HR functions. This initiative has been designed to ensure a succession of bright and progressive young people of graduate calibre in our business.

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Case Studies

Name: Adam
Degree: 2.1 BCom Business Studies
University: Birmingham University
Scheme: Finance - apply for the finance scheme here

Having been successful at the interview stages I accepted a position on the scheme starting in August 2005. So after spending several months traveling I began my first placement with Bakkavör at Wingland Foods in Lincolnshire.

Having never worked in Finance the first role was aimed specifically at helping me develop a core understanding of the role the function plays within a business. It was also used to gain a good grasp of the systems and protocols which are used through all of the sites.

Shortly after joining I began my CIMA studies. It was clear from the start that much of this was entwined with the experiences I was gaining from work. The advantage of this was that you had a platform on which to apply knowledge gained from CIMA courses in real world situations, whilst simultaneously experiences at work aided the understanding of course material.

Following eighteen months at my first placement I moved to Caledonian Produce, based in Edinburgh. This was a superb opportunity to work for a very successful business in an exciting location.

Having already developed a core understanding of finance in the first placement, this next role provided me with a chance to further expand my Management Accounting knowledge and also begin to apply my CIMA studies to the financial accounts side of work.

As the role developed I was also given the chance to participate in projects focused on improving the businesses environmental position. This included factory projects focused primarily on minimising waste and further increasing recycling levels.

For me this was an experience I thoroughly enjoyed as becoming ‘carbon-neutral’ has rightfully become high-profile within society and showed the companies commitment to increase its efforts in this area.

In April of 2008 I then moved on to my final placement in London. This involved working at one of the largest sites within the business in another vibrant location.

My role here started with providing the commercial team with a more efficient method of analysing sales performance and to aid in forecasting future sales. This diversity in work has given me exposure to another side of the business and it is very exciting to see any decisions involved in clearly visible in supermarkets!

Beyond this I will be looking to continue to develop my financial accounts experience. Discussions with the site’s Financial Controller, who was also part of the scheme, have helped me to develop a clear path for progression post-qualification.

Adam has recently completed his CIMA accountancy qualification and is currently on his final placement role of the Accelerated Management Scheme. Bakkavör appealed to Adam specifically for the quality of its training and the professionalism of its people, as well as the opportunity to gain immediate hands-on experience in a financial role.

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Name: Mehdi
Degree: Master Diploma in Food Science
University: London South Bank University
Joined: 2006
Scheme: Food Technology - apply for the food technology scheme here

I joined Bakkavör in 2006 and began my first placement at Bakkavör Pizza in London. The role here provided an excellent introduction to the company as it enabled me to observe Quality Assurance from grass roots upwards. I was able to take part in the day-to-day tasks but was also given projects that covered several months. My colleagues and managers were hugely supportive and made it easy for me to fit into my first real job.

I am now about to move to Katsouris Fresh Foods, another site located in London. There, I am going to acquire an in-depth knowledge of dealing with suppliers. This will include a total revamping of the way we check our incoming raw materials and the way we deal with supplier-related issues.

Starting my career meant there were many things I still needed to learn that were unknown to me, including the need to earn trust. A QA role involves lots of time dealing with people, as well as learning technical skills. If people don’t trust you, they will not follow you. I was responsible for ensuring good quality standards were maintained as well as making sure that good manufacturing practices were in place in the factory. In doing that, I dealt with a wide range of people, from the shop floor operative to departmental senior managers.

One of my main projects was to revamp the raw materials checking procedure. This role involved high levels of influence and motivational skills, as well as having to continually deliver to short timescales. I had to train significant changes and convince people to change their old habits.

By the end of my first placement, I was given the opportunity to temporarily become a Team Manager. This was a fantastic opportunity so early in my career. I had my own team and was able to climb one step higher on the ladder. It allowed me to acquire invaluable experienc e: the only way to get better at managing is by... managing! Plus, I had a broader view of the way improvement was driven. I was able to get more distance from the daily routine to learn what a manager’s job really was.

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Name: Ryan
Degree: Mechanical Engineering 2:1
University: Imperial College, London
Joined: 2002
Scheme: Manufacturing - apply for the manufacturing scheme here

I joined Bakkavör in 2002 and began my first placement at ASDA Walmart’s headquarters in Leeds. My remit was to improve availability and reduce wastage of Bakkavör products in ASDA stores through better planning and closer communication with the customer. It was great to see our business from the perspective of one of our customers and to work within one of the UK’s largest multiple retailers.

My second placement was within one of our automated ready meals facilities where I was responsible for the implementation of a Kaisen 5S project. This is a Japanese methodology - originally developed by Toyota - to improve factory efficiency through good organisation and housekeeping.

During my third placement I was given the opportunity to lead teams of production operatives, first as a Line Leader responsible for 15 people on one production line and then as a Section Manager responsible for 60 people on 10 production lines. This challenging but highly rewarding experience has proved extremely valuable in more senior roles since where understanding of the activity and people at the core of our business is essential.

My final placement was with a small team of manufacturing improvement consultants on a project to improve operational efficiencies. My first real lesson in the importance of effecting change through others rather than maintaining the status-quo or trying to do it yourself!

Upon completing the graduate scheme I continued work as a consultant completing several manufacturing improvement projects as part of a team of four and leading the team on one of the projects. Since then as operations manager I have also been responsible for manufacturing operations in a prepared fruit facility with up to 150 employees (plus 200 temporary workers!) and for a 150 strong shift team in one of our pizza manufacturing plants.

In my most recent role as Engineering Manager I am responsible for the maintenance and installation of processing equipment, buildings and building services on a site with 850 employees. As well as providing good breadth of experience I have been able to use some of my degree training for the first time and also to apply some of the skills and techniques learned in production to the engineering department.

My experience at Bakkavör has been both positive and rewarding. Food manufacturing is not always the most glamorous industry, and it can be hard work at times, but there are good opportunities for those who strive to succeed. Due to the short shelf-life of our products and highly competitive nature of our industry pace of life is always fast and the next challenge is just around the corner.

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Name: Gary
Degree: BSc (Hons) in Food Technology Management, PgDip in Biotechnology
University: University of Ulster
Joined: 1999
Scheme: Produce - apply for the produce scheme here

I joined Bakkavör in 1999 and began my first placement in Bourne Salads. My role as Technical Projects Manger allowed me to work on quality improvement, shelf life extension, systems development and other innovation driven initiatives.

My second and longest placement was with Bakkavör Iberia in Spain as Trial Factory Manager. My role was to manage a ‘prep at source’ small trial factory and I was allowed to contribute to the design and build of the facility.

My final placement was at Bourne Salads but this time in a Commercial Role. This gave me the opportunity to look at promotional mechanics, marketing tools and gain experience of relationship management.

The experience and knowledge gained from the scheme has been invaluable and has enabled me to successfully undertake a number of roles. I have been a Technical Manager, Procurement Manager, Operations Manager as well as a Site Operations Manager on 2 sites within our produce businesses.

Gary joined Bakkavör on the Produce Accelerated Management Scheme and is currently the Site Operations Manager for Bourne Salads. The Produce AMS appealed to Gary, initially, because of the opportunity to gain experience in different areas within the business, whilst adding real value in real jobs.

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Name: Claire
Degree: BA (Hons) Culinary Arts
University: University Of Ulster
Joined: 2005
Scheme: Product Development - apply for the product development scheme here

Having completed a university placement year at a dessert manufacturer I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in the food industry which would allow me to innovate, develop and launch products that consumers would enjoy eating. When researching which manufacturer to apply to I looked no further than the UK’s largest fresh food supplier Bakkavor. The scheme attracted my attention in terms of product categories that were open to graduates across all fresh food groups as well as the structure and support to mentor and guide a graduate through the on the job training .On joining the Bakkavor Group in June 2005 my role as a Concept Technologist at Tilmanstone Salads involved the development of Gourmet Salads, Food To Go core lines and limited editions for Marks and Spencers.

The scope of my role involved the development of these products alongside divisional chefs and M&S category buyers ensuring that the best ingredients and products were used to provide the customer with innovative products within the required price points and margins. Innovation was driven from market research and trends, gap analysis, consumer research and blue sky development. On completion of my first year I then moved to Fresh Cook.

From the outset my role at Fresh Cook as a Senior Concept Technologist for the Healthily Balanced, Steam Cuisine, Traditional Range, Gastro Pub and Deli Salad ranges, ensured that I developed and strengthened key skills: effective costings management, responsibility for development and presentation of new innovative concepts and the management of the concept critical path which ensured that all products were launched within the appropriate time scales and to margin. I was also fortunate to be a key player in the development and successful launch of the Deli salads range which launched in May 2007, shortly followed by the TV ad campaign.

As well as continual on the job training, formal courses such as commercial awareness, presentation skills, leadership and management were also provided to further build and develop the skills of the graduates.

On completion of the AMS in June 2007 I was promoted to a Product Manager in the Fresh dips category of the Bakkavor group, Bakkavor Spalding. My current role is customer facing, managing the development and launch of products into store by means of a critical path, whilst undertaking extensive gap analysis, costings and account management. Having previously trained and worked as a chef I have an in-depth knowledge and passion for food. My BA (Honours) Degree in Culinary Arts gave me an excellent grounding for all aspects of the food industry giving an opportunity to develop products which can not only feed one restaurant of customers but a nation of consumers through a retail environment. This experience laid the foundations for my current role ensuring that I strived to the highest standards and looked to challenge both suppliers and operations at all times to ensure we produced the finest innovative products.

Claire is currently in her first post-AMS role as Product Manager within the Bakkavor Spalding business.

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Name: Luke
Degree: Business & Management
University: Oxford Brookes University
Joined: 2007
Scheme: Purchasing - apply for the purchasing scheme here

I joined Bakkavör in 2007 and began my first placement at the central office which was at the time based in Peterborough, and later Spalding, Lincolnshire. I was working alongside the three indirect Category Purchasing Managers, whose responsibilities were split between Office, Factory and Engineering. The placement centrally provided an excellent introduction to the business as I was given several categories to manage and challenged to deliver real savings to many of the sites. My colleagues were hugely supportive and made it easy for me to adapt to such a diverse environment, and I visited many of the core purchasing community in my first few weeks to get a clear appreciation of the how the different sites operated and what challenges they faced.

Following that I moved to Saxon Valley Foods (based in Bedfordshire), part of the Bakkavör Meals business. Working in a business directly proved to be a thoroughly challenging yet rewarding experience, where I was involved in sourcing materials for new product launches and managing problems or changes to existing supply on a daily basis. We successfully launched 6 products for Tesco during my placement period, all of which I had involvement in purchasing the raw materials for - and it is a good sense of achievement to see them finally go out the door.

Beyond the core Buyer activities, I interacted with various departments, from technical to operations, gaining an appreciation of the ever changing customer needs and pressures the business faced.

I also implemented several changes, most notably the increasing interaction between Process and our supply base, giving them a greater understanding of the capabilities and constraints when managing new raw materials into the factory. I successfully implemented a vendor rating system too, which will hopefully give suppliers the added incentive and feedback to improve their performance; whilst helping us more clearly highlight the issues we have with the supply base.

Since August 2008, I have been working at Bakkavör Spalding as a Buyer. As one of the largest and most diverse sites within the group, operating 4 factories over 60 acres, this role will see me continue to develop as I take on more responsibility and continue to learn more about the business every day.

Luke is currently on his third placement, working as a Buyer for the Spalding Business. Luke joined Bakkavör specifically for the quality of its training and the professionalism of its people, particularly within the purchasing community, and the huge growth prospects of the company.

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Scheme: HR - apply for the HR scheme here

The HR AMS scheme has recently been launched and the first graduates started in September ’08. The testimonial below has been written by one of our Senior HR Officers who joined us prior to us launching the scheme, she gives a flavour of what working in HR at Bakkavor is all about.

Working for a Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company in the HR team is a highly rewarding and challenging experience. The thing I enjoy the most about my role is that no two days are ever the same. The nature of the business means that new challenges will constantly appear around the corner, but by learning to adapt and respond positively to these a progressive career path awaits.

The Bakkavör HR Accelerated Management Scheme is carefully structured to provide valuable insight into all aspects of the company’s business whilst ensuring you receive external training for your CIPD qualification. The scheme consists of three, one year, work placements in separate Bakkavör business units throughout the company. The structure of the scheme ensures that you will find yourself contributing to real work from day one.

Organisational skills are vital, otherwise you could easily lose your way under the mass of new projects and demands from your internal customers, however, this for me is what makes the role so interesting. The HR Officer is a generalist role and the variety it offers is great - from absence management to strategy, recruitment, disciplinary, grievance handling, change and performance management - to name but a few. There is always a new project to get your teeth into!

There are always issues arising that need to be managed, for example, you could plan to spend the whole day running a training course for Managers and 20 minutes into it they are all pulled out due to an urgent issue in the factory, the course needs to be cancelled and re- scheduled for a later date. Or, you plan to spend the day on project work, but 2 employees have been fighting in the factory and their Manager needs advice on how to deal with it and help in investigating the matter, this ends up taking a number of hours to sort out and so your project gets put on hold.

These sorts of issues are regular occurrences and therefore it is vital to prioritise, things don’t always go to plan but this is what makes the role exciting!

This kind of role would definitely suit a ‘hands-on’ person and it is vital that you understand and are able to work closely with the Operations team. Influencing skills are essential, as you often find yourself in a situation where they want to do one thing, but you need to advise an alternative course of action - which isn’t always to their liking!

I find both the regular Employment Law Updates and internal networking with fellow HR colleagues at other Bakkavör Sites useful tools to help keep up to date with changes.

Overall, the fast paced environment keeps me on my toes, which means there is never a fear of boredom having the chance to set in! The high level of exposure to different issues means that it can be rather demanding, but at the same time very rewarding. There are always new challenges to overcome and this helps keep me motivated. HR within Bakkavör is well respected and a key player in all major business decisions. This, along with the fact that there is a clearly defined career path, means that the potential for growth within the department/business is great.

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Information & FAQ

Starting Salary: £21,500 (Finance £22,500)

Location: operate over 30 factories across the UK and as a result you must be very flexible on location.

We are only able to consider candidates who are eligible to live and work in the UK and have a full UK or international driving licence.

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