M&S salad producers Bakkavor serve up long service awards to workforce

Bakkavor, which has two sites in Bo’ness, held a Hallowe’en-themed event as they handed out awards to many of their loyal workforce.

Five of those present – George Bell, Michael Connelly, Lesley Kerr, Anne Macdonald and Betty Towers – had each clocked up 25 years working at the factory which produces salad dishes.

Others received awards for ten and 20 years service which were handed over by the site’s general manager for the last seven years, Kirk Connor.

Many of those attending the celebration also have family working in the factory and Kirk said the business was people-centred, as well as wanting to put back into the local community which has supported the business for so many years.

It currently has around 1000 people on the payroll in a variety of jobs: everything from engineers to Michelin chefs working with its food development team, as well as the many people on the food production lines.

Kirk said: “Yes we have people who work for us for a short time and move on but over half our workforce are long serving. We have someone with 39 years service and two of our senior managers have been here for over 25 years with one of them starting out on the factory floor.

"In fact, many people started on the shop floor before going on to other roles. We are always keen to allow our employees to advance. The last three engineering apprentices we started all came from our existing workforce – one was in his mid-30s doing a different job but wanted this opportunity. Our health and safety apprentice is in his mid-50s and was previously the union rep but jumped at the chance of this role.

"Bakkavor is a £2.2 billion business with 20 sites in the UK and operations in China and the US. We always encourage our people to develop.”

One of those receiving a 25 year award was Betty Towers who lives in Bo’ness. Since starting out in the tomato shed sorting the different varieties, she is now a team leader manager. Her two sons also work with the firm, while husband Gordon has clocked up 26 years service with Bakkavor.

She said: “I love working here. It’s definitely a family-orientated business and there is a great rapport between staff and management. It’s a great place to be part of.”

Her words were echoed by Michael Connely of Denny, another with 25 years service and who works as the stock control manager.

He added: “I came in as an agency worker where my job was catching potatoes at the end of the line. After a while a job came up in buying and I went for it. The people are very, very nice here and a lot of them stay for a long time because they like it so much.”

As well as investing in their people, a £2.2 million investment is currently underway at its Bridgeness factory which is where it makes all its products that contain nuts – the Carriden plant is nut-free with no-one allowed to bring in anything with nuts.

Around 95 per cent of the salads it produces are made for Marks & Spencer with many of the items classed as “food on the go”. When Covid struck over four years ago, it had a huge impact as so many people had to stay at home and the need for workplace lunches plummeted. The Bo’ness site furloughed 700 staff but thankfully, it has seen business return as demand for their products once again grows.

Kirk added: “We make 100 different products every day and everything is fresh. While others would perhaps bring in things like dressings, we make ours from scratch and that could involve 30-40 different ingredients. We use 400 raw ingredients every day.”

Bakkavor are supporters of community activities as it gives back to the town that has supplied many of its workers. This includes the Bo’ness Fair and sponsorship of school events, including supplying football strips for youngsters.

Kirk said: “We want to play a positive role in the town that has supported us, as well as getting the message across that this can be a great place to work and can give people a long career.”