The Company
Established in 1922, Jardox has spent 100 years supplying food ingredients to customers within Retail, Food Manufacturing and Foodservice sectors, operating from an established site in Otford Kent and a new 8-acre site in Wincanton Somerset.
With a policy to develop and invest in the business, the new Wincanton site provides additional production capacity to underpin growth for the foreseeable future, allowing for innovation and development of new products for customers.
Food Careers has a long-standing relationship with Jardox, dating back 13 years, and has assisted Jardox to appoint multiples hires (10+) from Skilled Technologists through to Senior Managers.
The Challenge
Recruitment of: Assistant Quality Manager, and, Quality Assistant.
Jardox contacted Food Careers to assist in recruiting a Team who would take the Wincanton site from an empty shell to a fully functioning Food Factory. This included the recruitment of two individuals to set up and manage a newly established Quality Department.
The difficulties associated with recruiting during a global pandemic and much publicized shortage of experienced Food Manufacturing candidates represented a challenge. Another potential obstacle was location, with Wincanton, Somerset offering a small ‘catchment’ area, being relatively rural with only small towns and villages in the nearby vicinity. Time constraints was a further consideration, with Jardox working to a tight schedule and needing to install and commission production lines and gain BRC Accreditation all within a few short months.
The Result
Food Careers conducted a National search of their database in combination with a broad-based advertising campaign which yielded a positive result across both vacancies.
Assistant Quality Manager: A candidate for the role was quickly identified who was working in another part of the Country but had previously worked for another Food Manufacturer close to Wincanton. As this individual still had ties to the area, they were able to consider the opportunity and brought several years’ experience working within Quality and Technical for major Food Manufacturers. They were subsequently interviewed, offered the role, and commenced as Assistant Quality Manager. After 5 months they were promoted to Quality Manager, the same month the site achieved BRC ‘AA’ Accreditation following a lot of hard work by the team.
Quality Assistant: Food Careers searched both locally and further afield for suitable candidates and following the interview process, the Quality Assistant appointed was an individual who relocated for the role. They were excited by the challenge and bought into the company, it’s culture and the opportunity to broaden their experience and gain exposure to an early-stage food production site embarking on a sustained period of growth.
Although the recruitment market in 2021 was extremely challenging for a variety of reasons, having a fundamental understanding of Jardox, and its culture, assisted Food Careers in identifying individuals matching the company’s recruitment ethos which is about recruiting people who ‘add value’ and placing people in roles where the job fits the person. This approach has resulted in a very low staff turnover at Jardox.
The Result also underlines that ‘tricky’ locations should not be a barrier to recruitment and despite having many options, candidates will relocate for interesting roles. This is provided the Recruiter communicates effectively with the candidate, fully understands the role and company, and can positively promote the company and unique benefits of joining them.
