A bakery with 40 new jobs up for grabs is helping staff to combat the cost of living crisis with tasty perks and a pledge to pay at least the Real Living Wage.
The Wrexham-based Jones Village Bakery has signed up to a loyalty scheme which means its 800 staff can get discounts of up to six per cent on their weekly supermarket shop at the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda.
Also available are cut price deals for holidays, gym membership, meals in restaurants, trips to the cinema and a host of other everyday items.
On top of that all employees are entitled to a 30 per cent discount on Jones Village Bakery’s award-winning products, including bread, crumpets, scones and pies.
From December 4, the family firm will be paying all operational workers at least the Real Living Wage which means everyone – including 16-year-old school leavers – is guaranteed at least £10.90 an hour, which adds up to a starting salary on days of £22,317 rising to £31,675 for the highest skilled workers on nights.
Among the rising stars at the Village Bakery is Tilly Squire, 17, from Wrexham who started there 13 months ago after deciding the college course she was on wasn’t for her.
After working as a packer initially, she then went on one of the production lines before signing up for the company’s apprenticeship programme and being given the opportunity to work in the state-of-the-art product development kitchen.
She said: “I went straight onto the adult wage so I get the same as everybody else because I do the same work. I don’t get paid less because I’m younger.
“I’m enrolled on the apprenticeship scheme and working towards my Level 2 qualification which I’m really excited about. It’s going well.
“Working in the New Product Development kitchen is a great opportunity which I’m really happy about.
“It’s a great place to work because everybody is treated equally and with respect – everyone’s friendly as well.”
According to managing director Robin Jones, it is an exciting time to be joining the Village Bakery team.
Demand for the company’s market-leading products is soaring after securing a raft of new contracts.
They will be introducing an extra shift on the new £16 million production line that makes a range of sourdough bread products and a new pancake line is due to go live in the New Year.
As a result, the company is looking to take on 40 extra staff in the next few months.
Mr Jones said: “Our decision to pay the Real Living Wage represents an investment of more than £1 million.
“We want to reward out staff because they are a vital ingredient in our success story as we continue to grow.
“We need people to come on the journey with us and this is a great way of attracting people to come and join the team.
“We’re not looking for people with a string of qualifications. What we need is people with the right attitude because we can teach them the skills they need.
“Tilly is a great example of someone who is working really hard, wants to learn and is making a great deal of progress which is why she’s been given the opportunity to work in our flagship development kitchen, helping the team to create new products.
“She has a great future in front of her,” he added.
HR manager Jason Page said: “We are a growing company and there are lots of opportunities here for the right people.
“The staff are our secret ingredient because they play a big part in creating the Village Bakery magic.
“There are great rates of pay and we have also teamed up with an organisation called Reward Gateway to offer all Village Bakery employees access to an exclusive discounts platform along with other bits and pieces as well.
“Primarily there are discounts there for major retailers, the main supermarkets, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and so on which means they can enjoy about six per cent off their normal weekly or monthly shop.
“There are also various other kinds of discounts from restaurants and travel to cinemas to gym memberships.
“Our workers also benefit from a 30 per cent discount on all the products that we make and there’s also free teas and coffees and other hot drinks available so it all adds up.
“We’re all going through a cost of living crisis at the moment, so our aim is to do as much as we can to help our staff ride out the economic storm.”
Anybody who would like to know more about the jobs available at Jones Village Bakery should email Jason Page at [email protected]
