Sweet treats on offer as biscuit maker begins hunt for engineers
Elkes Biscuits has embarked on a recruitment campaign for engineers, as part of plans to increase its workforce by more than 50%.
Founded in 1908, Elkes Biscuits manufactures a range of products like bourbon creams, digestives and custard creams for retailers.
The Uttoxeter-based factory already employs 620 staff after opening applications for 110 operational and managerial roles last September.
It’s partnering with an external engineering training provider to guarantee multi-skilled opportunities, as the firm looks to grow its 2.5 billion biscuit yearly output by almost 50%.
Sweet benefits are on offer for those who want to join the historic firm, including a reimbursement of up to £8000 for relocation purposes and a sponsorship licence for overseas recruits which could result in the individual ultimately having permanent right to remain in the UK. Sponsored recruits also get support funding for two months to help them settle in the area.
Elkes was saved alongside 500 jobs in February 2022, after it was sold by 2 Sisters Food Group to Bernard Matthews owner Boparan for an undisclosed sum. Boparan owns a number of food production and high street names including Carluccios, Giraffe and Ed’s Easy Diner.
In September 2023, Elkes announced plans to increase its workforce by more than 50% following major investments and sales growth. Major capital projects are also planned over the next three years.
Elkes Biscuits General Manager Kevin Hand said: “All 620 colleagues here are valued for the part they play in making great biscuits, and we’ve worked out we have a massive 7000 years of experience between us all.
“But when you’re making 53 million individual biscuits every week, we need to ensure our kit is running smoothly and will be able to take the ramp up in capacity. That’s why our engineering team is so vitally important and we would like to take on more with this particular skill set.”
Elkes’ HR Manager Deb Shenton added: “We have brought many engineers through the apprentice route to having a permanent full time engineering role with Elkes Biscuits and it’s really satisfying to see this internal progression and careers blossoming.
“We are partnering with an external engineering training company to ensure individual training pathways for all our engineering colleagues, as part of the Elkes Engineering Academy, guaranteeing true multi-skilled opportunities. This is something we’re very proud of.”
“We have some excellent examples of career progression and there’s growth opportunities in engineering specifically, including apprentices, electrical engineers and technicians all the way up to Chief Engineer.”
