At The Compleat Food Group, we are passionate about providing our next generation of leaders the chance to progress and learn on the job, as well as providing our workforce with the opportunity to grow.
This is where our two-year Graduate Scheme comes in.
Our graduates are the future of our business and at the heart of our core purpose; to be a great place to work for our colleagues and first choice supplier for our customers.
And being one of our graduates, you’ll get to work as part of one of the UK’s leading chilled food organisations on a mission to create great quality, tasty and affordable food, that people love to eat. With an annual turnover of £640m we employ more than 3,500 people across 12 sites, producing own-label products and leading brands including Pork Farms, Wall’s Pastry, Squeaky Bean, Unearthed and Vadasz.
Our Graduate Scheme runs over two years, offering separate pathways of study into Manufacturing Operations, Engineering, Technical, Supply Chain, Finance, HR, Marketing and Commercial Management.
Designed as a gateway to management within The Compleat Food Group, providing an opportunity for qualifications and education, alongside real-life work experience. We believe in giving you the tools to succeed within management and guide you through projects to further your knowledge and expertise.
All the graduates that successfully make it onto our scheme will benefit from accelerated development, allowing quick personal progression into leadership and management roles across our business.
Throughout the scheme, you will be provided with extensive professional development support and guidance, enabling you to maximise the opportunities our graduate scheme offers. Each graduate has access to dedicated mentors who, although not directly involved in your day-to-day work, are on hand to offer the right guidance across a wide range of skills and tasks and to provide personal support.
Over the two-year scheme, you will be given responsibilities across four projects (within your chosen function of our business), lasting six months each. Successfully delivered, these projects will provide you with the full experience and opportunities you need to fast-track into a more senior role within our group.
To apply, you will have graduated within the last two years. You will also need to be passionate about the role and willing to learn more about all aspects of our business.
We are specifically looking for candidates that align closely with our values:
Successful applicants will also be willing to go the extra mile for our customers, thrive on new experiences and will be passionate about getting involved in our ESG and volunteering programmes.
Our graduate scheme offers a competitive starting salary of £27,000 per year (rising to £28,000 in year two), with 25 days of annual leave allowance, plus bank holidays. The scheme will also see you auto-enrolled into The Compleat Food Group pension scheme.
You will be supported throughout your journey with us, including being mentored by our Executive team and have the backing of the Groups’ Early Careers Advisor. You will also be given the opportunity to continue your professional development with the support of further studies.
Engineering Graduate 2021
Stephen joined the group as a production operative as a part-time job during his holidays whilst studying at University. He saw our advert for the Graduate Scheme and thought it sounded perfect to experience different areas of a business whilst he entered into the world of work.
Manufacturing Operations Graduate 2021
Danny Jagger joined our first group graduate programme in September 2021, where he started within operations spending time in production observing the lines, products, people and processes. He then began attending meetings and working with the planning and engineering departments to get a basic understanding of how it all worked.
Interested in joining our 2023 Graduate Scheme? We will be announcing news of the application process shortly – please watch this space!
