Our people
What’s at stake?
With a footprint in every region in the UK, food and drink is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, contributing £38 billion in Gross Value Added to the economy annually and employing over 472,000 people (Food & Drink Federation). As a result, it offers a wide range of opportunities to build a fulfilling career but is often overlooked by young talented individuals.
Developing home-grown talent, increasing the attractiveness of the industry to prospective employees and improving workforce skills are therefore key priorities for us. Having an openness to diversity in all its forms allows us to access the widest pool of talent available and creating an inclusive environment will enable them to excel.
In addition, the cost-of-living crisis is felt across our communities with food insecurity on the rise, as shown by the latest Food Foundation’s Food Insecurity Index. As a food manufacturer, we have a responsibility to support and nourish the lives of our colleagues, our consumers and our communities.
46%
of our general management colleagues are female
132
graduates have joined our business since 2015
2.9 million
equivalent meals donated from April 2020 to March 2024 to FareShare and other food insecurity charities
Encouraging diversity
We are working towards bringing gender balance to senior leadership roles and are addressing this through the introduction of our new Women in Leadership Programme, the continuation of our successful sponsorship programme for diverse talent, and utilising our mentoring, reverse mentoring, and coaching programmes.
Employee Resource Groups
We have four colleague-led Employee Resource Groups – Multiculture, Gender, Health & Disability and LGBTQIA+. They identify what positive changes can be made by removing barriers and driving inclusion for the group they represent.
Wellbeing support
To support colleagues with their mental and physical wellbeing, we have been carrying out wide-ranging health assessments. Supported by Vitality, the organisation behind Britain’s Healthiest Workplaces, we have achieved accreditation at five sites and plan to extend the programme to all of our locations.
Early careers
Our long-running apprentice and graduate programmes provide fantastic career development opportunities while helping attract new talent and developing skills for existing colleagues. They also play a critical role in addressing a skills gap in our industry, in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) roles. We were also the first food and drink manufacturer to host engineering T-Level students.
Tackling food insecurity
As a food manufacturer, we help tackle the issues of food insecurity and reducing food waste at our sites as part of our partnership with FareShare. During 2023/24 we provided the equivalent of 949,040 meals to them and other food insecurity charities.
Giving back to our communities
Volunteering allows our colleagues to be a force for good in our communities by giving time and expertise to initiatives linked to the issues of food poverty, employability and the environment. A partnership with Neighbourly is helping towards our 2030 target of providing 1,000 volunteering days annually. In 2023/24 colleagues volunteered 502 days.
Our apprenticeship programme
