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Consumer demand sees Avara Foods create 130 new jobs
Avara Foods has created 130 new permanent roles at its Brierley Hill site in Dudley, as consumer demand for poultry products remains high.
Previously operating five days a week, the Dudley plant is now running seven days a week. Production records have been broken, with the company producing hundreds of thousands of units more, than in 2020. Production capacity has increased by 30%, with the upcoming summer months also particularly busy for Avara Dudley, handling seasonal barbecue foods.
Positions are open across all operational functions including production, technical, engineering, planning and stores. The company has been recruiting for the new roles in recent weeks, and there are still many opportunities available.
Following increased consumer demand, Avara Foods has created 130 new permanent jobs at its Brierley Hill plant / Picture: Avara Foods
Covid safety and compliance is a key driver for Avara at this time, with the company investing over £6m in protective measures across its UK wide operations. This includes screens and curtains installed along production lines to create physical barriers, floor markers in shared spaces to aid social distancing, and staggered shift start and finish times to reduce the number of colleagues coming into contact with one another.
Canteens and break areas have spaced out seating and perspex dividers and additional cleaning regimes have been enacted in high traffic areas and more hand sanitising stations installed across all sites. Temperature checking of visitors, new starters and daily random temperature checking, along with a company-wide face covering policy provides further peace of mind for those working at Avara. The company’s sickness policy has been amended in light of the pandemic too, to ensure those required to self-isolate are not unfairly disadvantaged.
Mick Hillson, site manager at Avara Foods Dudley, said: “We’re well established here in Dudley, and this latest recruitment drive is evidence of our ongoing commitment to the area. Our factory is very important to Avara’s wider operations, and I’m pleased we’re expanding. I look forward to welcoming new colleagues to our friendly and enthusiastic team as we continue to enjoy growth. We understand many people are facing uncertainty but want them to know with a variety of full and part-time positions, both permanent and temporary situations and a broad spectrum of roles available, we’re a local employer they can look to for a new opportunity.”
Avara Foods is one of the UK’s largest food companies, supplying chicken and turkey to the nation’s most popular supermarkets and restaurants. All Avara Foods’ current vacancies can be found at www.avarafoods.co.uk/careers.