Graduate Finance 2022

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.

At Premier foods we believe in inclusion, authenticity and individuality. We aim to ensure all existing and potential colleagues are given equitable opportunities and are respected, valued and encouraged to bring their true authentic selves to work no matter who they are, what they look like, who they love or what they believe in. Our culture is one where everyone is welcome.

Graduate Programme

 Finance Rotational Programme commencing September 2022 

• Location: St Albans & UK sites 
• Starting Salary: £28,000 plus benefits 
• Assessment centres will be held online in Feb and March 2022. Exact dates to be confirmed.

Overview of the Finance Function 

Finance is a critical function driving the business forward, partnering our operating segments – UK and International both at our St Albans Head Office and across the manufacturing and logistics operations in the UK – 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.

Month 1 Induction 

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. Your first role is likely to be based in Manchester or one of other other UK based sites. The rotations will cover three of the following areas:

Commercial Finance Placement (Sales and Marketing) 

• During this period you will work closely with either the sales or marketing teams, 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 financial information, providing insight into performance. 
• Assisting with the creation of the budget and forecasts for the segment 
• Support for new product development 
• Analytical support for the customer joint business planning process 

Premier Business Services (Shared Service Centre) - Manchester 

• At PBS you will get great experience in our Record to Report team working to deliver the month end close, with the potential to also get involved in external audit. In this role you will get a solid understanding of general ledger accounting and how this supports internal management reporting and external statutory reporting. Expect a lot of interaction with a wide variety of stakeholders; other PBS teams, Site Finance, Group Finance,Commercial Finance to name a few. 
• You will get to understand how financial control operates at a practical level and how important this is to any business 
• In addition, you will spend time with some of our transactional teams (Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Treasury Operations, Payroll) to understand how these teams provide critical support to the business – this will some project work around specific problems. 
• You will also learn about continuous improvement methodologies, which are critical to a shared service centre in moving our service forwards. 

Supply Chain Finance Placement - site based 

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

• Providing financial support to the operations teams 
• Analysis of and insight into supply chain costs, for example logistics, labour and / or material variances 
• Assisting with production of month end, quarterly and year end accounts. 
• Assisting with the creation of the budget and forecasts 

Procurement Finance Placement - St Albans 

• Assisting with production of month end, quarterly and year end input cost information, providing insight into variances 
• Assisting with the creation of the budget and forecasts in relation to input costs 
• Providing financial support to the brand teams by analysing forecast input costs 

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 eventually: 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? 

• £28k 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 conferences.