Finance Graduate 2021

Premier Foods is one of Britain’s biggest listed food companies, employing over 4,000 colleagues at 15 manufacturing sites and offices up and down the country.  Many of our brands have been part of UK life for more than a century and you’ll find them in 94% of British households.

We LOVE food at Premier Foods. We love how it brings people together and provides moments of pleasure in a busy world. And so do our consumers. Many of our brands have been part of UK life for more than a century, but we don’t let them stand still – we’re constantly innovating in line with our purpose to create the food our nation loves most for modern life. And today you'll find our brands in 95% of British households.

Assessment centres will be held online in July 2021. 

Overview of the Finance Function

The Finance function operates within our business units – UK and International – as well as at Group level, in Head Office and our Shared Service Centre in Manchester. It is focused on providing insightful information to enable informed, timely and agile decision making across the business and to maintain strong financial control across the Group.  You will gain a broad exposure to the different faces of Finance, across a number of roles that will provide a great foundation to your career.

During the first week you will be based at our Head Office in St Albans whilst you participate in a ‘Welcome’ to the organisation, your fellow graduates and our well-loved brands. You will also meet with a number of our Senior Managers and Executives and hear first-hand about their career development, aspirations for Premier Foods and specifically the departments they work in.

This period will be followed by two weeks based in several of our manufacturing sites to understand our Supply Chain, Distribution, our products and the people who manufacture them. You will also spend time in our Research and Development department to understand our innovation processes, how we develop new products and have the opportunity to do some taste testing!  This period will involve two weeks of overnight stays (funded by us) and is an excellent opportunity to socialise and form working relationships with other graduates who have joined the programme.

After your manufacturing experience you will then work on a structured development programme which will include a mixture of project work, off-job training and on job shadowing. During this time you will continue to enjoy invaluable support from your peers and a business mentor.

There will be three rotational placements of varying lengths, which will cover the following areas:

Commercial Finance Placement (Sales and Marketing) 

During this period you will work closely with either the Business Support Units, which may involve some time spent in manufacturing sites/factories

• Providing financial support to the brand and / or sales teams by analysing performance and areas for improvement.
• Assisting with production of month end, quarterly and year end accounts.
• Assisting with the creation of the budget and forecasts for the business unit
• Support for new product development
• Analytical support for the joint business planning process in Multiple Retailers

Group Finance Placement – St Albans

• Group Finance is involved in consolidating and reporting the Group’s performance to the Board on a monthly basis and external stakeholders (shareholders, banks, equity analysts) every quarter. In addition running the budgeting and re-forecasting processes and for ensuring the integrity of the Group’s reported results.
• During the placement you will support either the central procurement or Financial Planning and Analysis teams - business partnering the procurement team or the Grocery and Sweet Treats divisions.
• You will get exposure to Executive level management either through the Procurement Director or Chief Financial Officer (CFO), so have a real chance to make an impact straight away in your Premier Foods career

Supply Chain Finance Placement 

• Providing financial support to the brand and / or sales teams by analysing performance and areas for improvement.
• Assisting with production of month end, quarterly and year end accounts.
• Assisting with the creation of the budget and forecasts for the business unit

(Please note that the Supply Chain placement will be spent in one of our manufacturing sites and assistance will be provided with temporary accommodation)

Minimum Entry Requirements

• 3 A Levels – minimum of 280 UCAS points gained
• Degree qualified (Finance / Accounting, Economics, Maths, Engineering preferred but not essential) 2:1 minimum achieved (or expected)
• An understanding of the UK FMCG/Retail sectors
• Clear career aspirations demonstrated through employment or work experience/placement
• Experience of working within a Finance Department is desirable
• Analytical and highly numerate - extremely detail conscious
• The right to work in the UK and English speaking
• UK driving licence  
• Your base will be St Albans AL1 2RE and you will need to be prepared to relocate here: you may be required to spend time in other locations with overnight stays which maybe ad hoc evenings or longer periods during your monthly placements
• Experience of leadership roles across sports, hobbies or other interests
• Strong Communicator both oral and written
• Skilled in Microsoft Suite
• Prepared to undertake professional study over a three-year period to gain a CIMA or ACCA qualification (fully funded by us)

What can you expect?

• £28 k and attractive benefits package including: 25 days holiday plus statutory holidays, pension scheme, life assurance, employee discount scheme including travel, food and shopping discounts.
• A real community of like-minded fellow graduates
• Sponsored professional development
• A Business Mentor
• More than 10 days of off-job development workshops covering such topics as communication, presentation and influencing skills
• Invitations to social events and executive networking opportunities. Our graduates are sociable and enjoy informal dinners and drinks and have the opportunity to attend more formal events such as charity dinners and sales conferences.

“Premier offers graduates the chance to get involved in real roles right from the start, there is certainly a feeling that we are valued members of the team who go a long way to helping the business achieve results. The greatest benefit of the finance graduate scheme is the ability to rotate around the business; not only does this give great exposure but also the chance to build working relationships with a wide variety of business partners - including sales, marketing, category, procurement and also exposure to senior management. Going on the factory tours within the first few months also helped put into context exactly what we do and the scale of the operations involved within the business. Most importantly everyone I have worked with has time to help and support my learning, which means I can get more out of the roles and in turn add more value to the work I am involved in.”

                                            - Ben Carlyon, Finance Graduate

Please Note: We receive a large volume of applications therefore we are not able to respond to all applications individually. Ordinarily we will respond to you within 2 weeks if we wish to take your application to the next stage. If you have not heard from us within this time period, unfortunately, you have not been successful on this occasion, however this should not prevent you from applying for other opportunities within our business.

Our much-loved brands include Mr Kipling, Cadbury, Bisto, Batchelors, Ambrosia, Sharwood’s, Oxo, Loyd Grossman, Homepride and McDougall’s, with some supported by our strategic partnerships with Mondelez and Nissin.