Avara Foods has welcomed a record number of new starters through its Early Careers pathways this autumn, joining their well-established Apprentice, Degree Apprentice, Graduate and Placement Programmes, alongside fresh new opportunities on the Kickstart scheme.
Whilst some businesses were forced to reduce or pause their Early Careers recruitment at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, Avara Foods has done the opposite; continuing to recruit throughout, and now expanding their offering, with a greater variety of roles and entry pathways available. Their 2021 cohort, including Graduate, Apprentice, and Kickstart candidates, was the companyâs largest ever intake. In September alone they took on 21 Graduates, and 21 Apprentices, including 5 who will achieve a fully funded degree while at Avara.
The wide range of opportunities and entry routes means that Avara Foods is an ideal starting point for anyone considering a career in food; be it within education, gaining hands-on experience or looking to progress their career, Avara offers roles and opportunities straight from school, university, or a change in career.
They now have 128 Apprentices progressing in the business, ranging from Level 2 through to Level 6 Degree Apprenticeships and have expanded their range of Graduate programmes with new functional pathways to support progression in key areas like Technical, Logistics, Finance and Information Systems. Avaraâs commitment to early career pathways is part of a broader responsible business agenda, recently re-branded as âFor Goodâ. Covering its commitments to its animals, consumers, communities, and planet, as well as people, âFor Goodâ is a new way of explaining how Avara conducts business
Avaraâs People and Communications Director, Andrew Brodie, commented, âYouth unemployment is a growing problem, which Covid has further exacerbated. As part of our For Good approach to early careers opportunities we are committed to providing long term, fulfilling careers in the food industry, bringing young talented people into our business and helping them build exciting careers for the future. As one the UK largest food manufacturers itâs essential that we attract and inspire young people, and we believe the best way to do this is by offering great careers in technology, engineering and food supply that give them great skills, professional development and a chance to learn from the best in the industry.â
Degree Apprentice case study: Rebecca Hinton
âAfter finishing my A levels I thought about university as a next step, but this apprenticeship offered me the chance gain a degree without racking up debt. Iâm still earning and, importantly, I can develop my knowledge and skills on the job as I progress. Iâm over half-way through the programme now and looking forward to gaining my qualification and taking my next steps with Avaraâ.
The newest of these opportunities is the kickstart scheme; a government supported initiative, offering 16-24 years oldâs a six-month work placement, aimed at helping those whoâve been long term unemployed back into the working world.
Hereford has been the first of Avaraâs site to run the scheme, initially recruiting a cohort of 14 candidates. This has proven a great success and they have now begun recruitment for a second cohort and are extending to more sites.
Hereford Site Manager, Marcus Billig, Commented âItâs been great to see our Kickstart team grow in confidence over the last few months, learning on the job and building invaluable workplace skills to benefit them in their future careers, whether thatâs at Avara or elsewhereâ.
