Hundreds of jobs to be created by leading food manufacturer in Lincolnshire

Staff at fresh food manufacturer Bakkavor, which is recruiting for hundreds of extra workers.

Fresh prepared foods manufacturer Bakkavor wants to recruit 310 people across its sites.

The move comes as the firm, which boasts it can take a potato from the field and convert it to ready-made mash within four hours, is facing increased demand for its products from customers.

Its clients include many of the leading supermarket chains with the majority of its products marketed under the own-label brands of Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Asda.

About 200 of the 310 jobs to be created will be based at the company’s sites in Spalding.

The new jobs will fill factory production and management roles.

Sixty jobs will be created at Bakkavor’s Freshcook site, in Sluice Road, Holbeach St Marks, Spalding, which produces a range of products from high-end ready meals through to delicatessen products and all for Marks & Spencer. The site currently has more than 600 employees.

Freshcook is M&S’s number one supplier in Dine In and it has supplied more than 30 million Dine In meals since the promotion was first introduced.

A further 150 extra people are needed at Bakkavor Pizza at the same site in Holbeach St Marks, which has 800 staff producing 1.2 million chilled pizzas a week for major retailers such as Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s, Waitrose and Tesco. It also produces Pizza Express retail pizzas.

The site says that 23 countries are represented among the staff at the Holbeach site.

Some 100 extra staff are also required at Bakkavor Desserts, at its sister site in Newark, Nottinghamshire, which is a leading supplier of cream cakes in the UK currently employing 1,700 plus staff.

The factory produces 170 million packs of desserts including éclairs, doughnuts, tarts and slices, fruit and chocolate trifles, and profiterole stacks.

Pippa Greenslade, group HR director, said: “Now is a really exciting time for Bakkavor as we continue to grow from strength-to-strength and this is demonstrated by the sheer scale of our recruitment drive.

“The diverse range of roles we have available provides people all around the country with a great opportunity to work in the fast moving and exciting fresh prepared foods industry.

“We have a wide variety of roles on offer and we look forward to welcoming new people to our team.

She added: “Bakkavor offers great opportunities for development and progression within the company along with competitive rates of pay and training, other benefits including subsidised staff shops and company discounts with retail, travel and leisure providers.”

To apply for any of the roles or for a list of vacancies visit the Bakkavor website.