In Focus

By Abigail Brierley

Exclusive report

The job market is a challenging place for school leavers and graduates at the best of times, yet the recently added insecurity brought on by the COVID-19 situation has left young people more concerned than ever.

The wholesale industry has typically been very keen to engage with young people, and for many businesses the pandemic has not seen this stance change, despite the added logistical complexity. This is because companies recognise the mutual benefits that can be gained by providing placements and jobs for school leavers and graduates.

Parfetts highly values young people –under 24 year-olds account for over 20% of its employee demographic.

As an employee-owned business, it views having a robust recruitment strategy as key to its continued success, and a major part of this is identifying young talent to develop within its in-house ‘Futures’ programme. This gives employees opportunities to learn about all areas of the operational side of the business while working, with a view to holding key positions within its depots in the future.

Louise Slater, head of HR and compliance, explains how the pandemic has actually benefited the company’s recruitment: “We have seen a change in the backgrounds of our new employees that have joined Parfetts, especially in some of our younger recruits.

“Some of them had set career aspirations in sectors that no longer took on apprentices or closed their graduate schemes. We have benefited from this and seen younger employees looking to change their career ambitions, say from working in aircraft engineering to having a career in the wholesale sector.

“As a company, we are very much about opportunities for all; however, we understand the benefits of recruiting young people as they can help build our talent pipelines,” she continues. “They allow for employee diversity and bring with them a different viewpoint and ideas. It also benefits our other employees as some go on to develop themselves by coaching and mentoring the younger workers.”

Slater also highlights the career development opportunities for young employees at Parfetts: “Parfetts has tremendous success in developing employees who have joined our company whilst working part-time and studying at college and university.

“We also have employees who have worked for the company since leaving school, college or university that are now retail development advisers, general managers, and even a director. We would love for them to continue, and to that end, we have an exciting new scheme aimed at bringing more talent into our business, and this is being launched over the coming weeks.”

Wing Yip, the UK’s leading Oriental grocer, offers a range of opportunities for university students.

Director David Yip says: “At Wing Yip we are always keen to support young people and have been doing so for numerous years. We know that the past year has made it more challenging for young people to secure placements and progress in their careers, so it was especially important that we continued our work to support local students.”

Despite the COVID-19 restrictions, the company has maintained its partnership with Loughborough University, whereby it offers five year-long, paid placements to students each year. The positions available are general management roles in each branch (Birmingham, Croydon, Cricklewood, Manchester) and one marketing role at the head office in Birmingham.

Despite the experience being a very different one this year right from the beginning, with the application process having to be held via phone and video calls, and in-person assessment centre days cancelled, Wing Yip has continued to prioritise young people and ensure they get the most out of their placement.

The programme gives the undergraduates the chance to learn more about all retail functions, from purchasing, sales, warehouse operations and logistics to online store, finance, IT, property and investment portfolio management. “This helps to illustrate the wide range of exciting career opportunities available in retailing,” says Yip.

Wing Yip also benefits from the scheme: “As much as we do to support everyone involved in the programme, we are very grateful for all the hard work and dedication shown by each student,” he adds.

Undertaking a placement allows students to apply degree knowledge to real-life practice, gearing them up for the world of work. Alongside the placement scheme, Wing Yip runs a retail module in partnership with the business school at Loughborough University.

Although Wing Yip does not currently have a formal graduate programme, it is developing one in house in recognition of the value that university leavers bring to the business. Yip explains: “Year on year we receive many applications from graduates for roles within the business. Those graduates that do come to work with us are incredibly driven and hardworking, meaning they tend to progress quickly.”

Pricecheck also works hard to ensure it engages with and recruits young people into the business: “We’re really proud to have strong relationships with our local universities and we offer both graduate and paid placement opportunities each year,” says joint managing director Debbie Harrison.

Harrison is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Sheffield Hallam University. “Ordinarily, this allows us some fantastic opportunities to welcome students for tours, attend careers fairs and lecture within the universities,” she says.

“Without this, we’ve spent a lot of time attending virtual careers fairs and hosting Instagram takeover days, and we have turned to video to showcase life at Pricecheck much more.

“We know that young people value so much more than salary; it’s about work-life balance, career opportunities and culture. We’ve had to be creative in how we can show all of these aspects while following government guidelines.”

Last summer, Pricecheck recruited nine graduates and four placement students, and it is looking at a similar figure for this year’s leavers. More recently, it has also welcomed a number of apprentices, four of whom are in business administration and IT, and one of these is actually completing his Level 7 studies –the equivalent of a Masters.

By offering such a broad set of opportunities to young people, Pricecheck attracts a wide range of applicants, which has a positive impact on the company. Harrison explains: “We look forward to our graduate intake every year; they bring a new perspective and plenty of enthusiasm. Through education, they’re learning the newest techniques and platforms which are important for any business to be aware of. They don’t always accept the way something is done as being the best way. How they challenge processes and the way things work can really help to improve and develop a business.”

She continues: “Our graduate programme also allows our experienced members of the team to offer training and mentorship, which in turn develops their skills too. If you’re willing and have the capacity to invest in the next generation, then you’ll reap the rewards as that individual grows alongside you.”

This is evidenced by the fact that of the 40 students since 2014 that have completed placements at Pricecheck, 12 are now in full-time roles. In addition, 11 of its 13 international account managers joined the company through its graduate scheme, and five of its buyers joined fresh from university. What’s more, the entire IT team –including the IT director Richard Thompson –started on a graduate or placement scheme.

Brakes also actively encourages young people to work for the business, including through new government initiatives. It has roles in most of its key departments, including apprenticeships for school leavers within product supply and facilities, as well as graduate schemes within finance and operations.

These programmes have been established for many years, with the number of places varying from year to year, depending on business requirements. In some of its schemes, Brakes takes around 10 people annually.

HR director Margaret Gooch explained why young people are a fundamental part of Brakes’ talent strategy: “One of the reasons that we’ve championed the role of graduate trainees and apprentices so strongly is because we can see how much value they can bring to our business, with new and different perspectives, experiences and needs.

“Their fresh and innovative ideas are contributing to the modernisation of our business, challenging the status quo and making Brakes a better place to work, for new and existing colleagues alike.”

The pandemic’s restrictions meant that Brakes, like all companies, had to quickly adapt. However, even though it was forced to switch its assessment centres to virtual ones, it continued to run its programmes for young people.

Like other businesses, it experienced some challenges of running the programmes online: “Ensuring that new employees feel engaged and valued from day one is much more complicated in a virtual environment, so we have significantly enhanced our onboarding process to ensure our new colleagues recognise that they are a really important part of the business from their very first day,” Gooch explains.

Brakes’ approach to nurturing its employees continues well beyond the initial months; indeed, it lasts throughout their time with the business, with a policy to promote home-grown talent whenever it can.

“We are delighted with the long-term success that we’ve had in retaining graduates and school leavers beyond the scheme, as these are offered with a role in mind on completion,” says Gooch. “Additionally we have a number of graduates and school leavers who have moved into middle and senior management positions in our business.

“We are really clear about the fact we need to grow, develop and build our talent pipelines to sustain our future.”

The fresh faces, fresh ideas and fresh perspectives that young people bring to the table can help keep companies modern and ultimately drive businesses forward. By continuing to invest in young people, companies are investing in their own future too.

Abigail Brierley is in her second year at Durham University, studying for a BA in International Relations.

“It’s very important to invest in young people’s careers, both on an individual business level and a wider industry and economic level. “Young people fresh out of school or university still have that learning mindset and can often soak up knowledge and new skills quickly, as well as offering a fresh perspective.

“Investing in young people’s careers can also help to ensure that the next generation of management is competent and able to carry a business in the right direction.”

“Young people can bring a variety of talent to an organisation. They tend to have fresh, creative ideas and are eager to make an impact, hence investing the time to help them flourish can ensure that the business is thriving and flowing with new and innovative concepts.”

“Young people always bring a new way of thinking to a business. It is important to get the best and brightest young talent in the business for future development.”

“It is imperative that you believe in young people and invest in their future. Young people have been hit extremely hard by the pandemic and job losses, so it is especially important this year that companies continue to employ graduates and students.”