A North Wales bakery is pledging to pay 16 year old school leavers \u00a35 an hour more than they would get for flipping burgers at a fast food restaurant.<\/p>\n
The Jones Village Bakery in Wrexham says it\u2019s going to give them the full adult rate of the Real Living Wage even though it\u2019s not legally obliged to.<\/p>\n
That means the teenagers will be earning \u00a312.60 an hour instead of\u00a0 \u00a37.55 which is the National Minimum Wage rate for their age.<\/p>\n
Over the course of a year that\u2019s an extra \u00a310,000 a year for 16 year olds working at the Village Bakery.<\/p>\n
As well as school leavers, the fast growing company is looking to recruit people of all ages so long as they are willing to work hard.<\/p>\n
In the next two months there are 50 jobs up for grabs with another 50 coming on stream in the New Year.<\/p>\n
According to the firm, all new recruits qualify immediately for a raft of perks.<\/p>\n
The in-house loyalty scheme means that staff can get discounts of up to six per cent on their weekly supermarket shop at the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury\u2019s, Morrisons and Asda.<\/p>\n
Also available are cut price deals for holidays, gym membership, meals in restaurants, trips to the cinema and a host of other everyday items.<\/p>\n
On top of that all employees are entitled to a 30 per cent discount on Jones Village Bakery’s award-winning products, including bread, crumpets, scones and pies.<\/p>\n
Machine operator Josh Williams, 19, knew all about the Village Bakery before he joined four years ago because his dad, Matty, also works there.<\/p>\n
He said:\u00a0 \u201cI was doing car mechanics at Coleg Cambria but I wasn\u2019t really enjoying it and I was lucky to get a job here and I\u2019m really enjoying it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe training here is excellent and if you work hard you\u2019re rewarded with the adult rate for doing the job. It\u2019s a place with great career prospects.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve also referred six of my friends to work here and my sister, Leah, started here last week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tilly Squire, 20,\u00a0 who works at a technologist in the New Product Development team,\u00a0 started there straight from school as a 16 year old.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI have really enjoyed working here from the first day. I never thought I would achieve what I have done.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started in production and then I was chosen to go on the apprenticeship scheme and I joined the New Product Development team from there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was shortlisted for the Rising Star Award at the Welsh Food and Drink Awards and as a finalist I got to go and we all went as a team to Llandudno.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got to take my mum and dad as well which was nice because they were very proud.<\/p>\n
\u201cI chose not to go to\u00a0 college but I got to continue my learning here while still being paid.\u201d<\/p>\n
CEO Simon Thorpe says \u201cinvesting in young people\u201d has been a key factor in the success of the Village Bakery.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe\u2019re always looking for the next generation of talent and if we expect them to come in and work hard, then it\u2019s right that we reward them properly.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody doing an adult job deserves an adult wage. If you work hard you can expect to be looked after by the business.<\/p>\n
\u201cTilly and Josh are role models for the type of people we are looking for.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey both joined us when they were 16 and to see how they\u2019ve progressed and developed a career is wonderful to see.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople with the right attitude will thrive here and we will look after them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a long-standing grow-your-own policy and all of our bakery managers have come from within.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat ethos has served us well and it is helping us lay the foundations for the future now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose people are the Village People. Quality is at the heart of everything we do and that\u2019s not just about having the best equipment.\u00a0 It\u2019s all about the people who make it happen. That\u2019s where the magic is.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a point echoed by HR manager Jason Page who said the company had been a Real Living Wage employer for many years.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe want to make sure we are a company of choice and that when you come here and do a full week\u2019s work you will get \u00a312.60 an hour as a minimum.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s our introductory rate of\u00a0 pay so we are looking for people who have an appetite for hard work and to learn new skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will train them and going forward will have higher rates of pay reflective of skilled work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are opportunities to gain professional qualifications with our apprenticeship scheme.<\/p>\n
\u201cFast food restaurants and other employers are perfectly entitled to pay the National Minimum Wage rate for 16 year olds which is\u00a0\u00a37.55 per hour but we have opted to take a different approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not look at age as a determining factor. If you\u2019re here contributing and working hard it makes no difference if\u00a0 you\u2019re 16 years old we\u2019ll pay you the adult Real Living Wage.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWe\u2019re not just looking for school leavers. We\u2019re looking for the right people, whatever their age, so long as they have the right attitude and they want to work hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs well as production jobs, we have careers in IT, we have careers on the commercial side and engineering, in finance, HR and so on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are great opportunities here to progress and make sure that working here provides a good standard of living.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vast majority of people who work here are local to Wrexham so money we pay in wages is recycled in the local economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anybody interested in applying for a job should send an email in the first instance to <\/strong>recruitment@villagebakery.co.uk<\/strong><\/a> and leave a name and telephone number.<\/strong><\/p>\n