warehouse worker

production operator

machine operator

operator

service administrator

Coba-Group

COBA has gone down-hill rapidly over recent years and has haemorrhaged a lot of decent, hard-working and skilled people. Why?

Firstly the rate of pay is appalling low at COBA and is well below industry averages for almost all positions. With no payrises for several years, not even inline with inflation, no appraisal system or salary reviews, people are leaving quicker than ever before and these positions are not replaced, leaving those who dimly cling to any idea of hope to do the extra work with no increase in pay. There is no recognition for all employees who have 'pulled together' during the pandemic and the difficult economic times at present.

You can work here for many years doing the same job and will never progress nor have any clearly defined routes of progression within the company. 

Bullying from senior management is common and seems to be part of the culture, even encouraged in some instances.

Unless you enjoy going to the gym there are no additional benefits.

During the pandemic, virtually no meaningful safety measures were implemented to keep people safe which really beggars belief. Those half-measures that were put in place were not enforced or adhered to at all and were quickly abandoned. 

Employees are not valued and are seen as expendable and easily replaced, which as always, means the decent people at the bottom are the ones who continually suffer. 

Overall, you can do better looking elsewhere as you will likely be looking for new employment anyway not long after starting here. 


Working at COBA doesn’t feel particularly fulfilling or engaging most of the time and can be very frustrating, particularly as a longer-serving employee.

Pay-rises/promotions are tremendously rare for the vast majority of people, while members who do get promoted find themselves getting several significant promotions in rapid succession, often without clear justification.

Morale is immensely low, particularly in recent times with a huge number of employees leaving and internal vacancies being sky-high as a result.

When employees leave, positions are often left un-filled with other members of the team being expected to pick up the pieces, but without any additional incentives or salary increases to go with that expectation.

Employees feel hugely dispensable and don’t feel valued in most areas, which generates a rather unpleasant atmosphere around the business. Also combined with a massively distanced relationship between Senior management and production operatives that doesn’t make it feel like the company has its employees best interests at heart.

Other than a gym and a cafe, no other benefits/incentives are given to employees.



In overall I can give a solid one star for them as what is on their website is the opposite of the reality.

The wages are the bare minimum for the productive workers, and ridiculously high for those who have no skills, but friends in management and sit in the office doing nothing useful.

Management treats people unfairly, plenty of arguments on shop floor and sky high turnover rate...People get promoted through friends with zero skills.

Work life balance is not something they care about. Holiday requests get lost, you`re not always paid in time and you have to run after them to sort things out...

Advancement is possible because of the extremely high turnover rate but only to do i.e. the dirty jobs in warehouse or to be a tool setter but you`ll be treated as a second class employee compared to the old and not very competent co-workers.

Job culture is just below average in the offices and non existing on shop floor. People with 20 or 30 years of service get a badge and an a4 thank you letter with a few words....no birthdays celebrations or that sort... you`re just a number. people are kind but can`t wait to get out. 

Starting with the pros, COBA have great facilities including a gym and cafe. There are benefits such as free flu jabs, Christmas Parties and summer BBQs. COBA have supported my training needs and I have learnt many skills during my time here. 

COBA used to be an enjoyable, fun and supportive company to work for over the years I have been here, with support and development opportunities offered, however this has gone very downhill within the last year or so, since the company have decided to take on a more corporate structure. The focus has been more on recruiting external managers/staff rather than utilising / developing current staff who are willing to progress.

The staff morale across the group is at the lowest I have ever seen it. Management are expecting their staff to take on extra workload and responsibilities, for no recognition, reward or salary increase. HR and Management no longer seem to check on staff wellbeing and needs.

The company invested in new machines and tools but they completely forgot about the people which led to a toxic culture.

Once it was a family business with long-serving employees. Despite the low wages people got on with their job and helped each other out. There were Christmas parties, raffles, BBQ days, and camaraderie among those who were working on the shop floor. Just what you`d expect in an average factory.

However, the management and HR doesn`t care about the wellbeing of the staff. They listened to countless, serious complains during my time there and did nothing to improve things.

The company started to employ friends with zero spoken or written English, without relevant qualifications, and the place turned into the most hostile and toxic place I`ve ever seen...

This then led to a high turnover rate, first on the shop floor, then warehouse and when things got out of gear even the office staff started to walk out. 

I`ve just met an old mate who still works for them and said things have become worse...

COBA have always supported me and is generally a good company to work for. There are a number of perks of working here including, bonus structure, progression and training opportunities, social events. Pay is average within this area. There is free on-site parking and use of the gym and they offer a cycle to work scheme. There are also nice facilities such as the cafe area, which sells amazing and cheap food. Normally there are a lot more social events such as BBQs, Christmas parties, etc but overall I believe the company has done all they can in the current circumstances (COVID, etc), which has been hard for everyone. However, the company is always looking to improve the company by planning and investing in improvements for the future. This helps with the sense of job security. The supervisors are approachable and have supported me on both a personal and professional level. 

I used to work for Coba as a machine operator. The typical day at work is either too boring or very demanding. Hard jobs were always given to the same two or three operators who received not a single extra penny for it.

I have learnt that there you need friends or relatives in the management to step forward. You can only get promoted to jobs like warehouse operator, material handler or tool setter if one of them stresses out and resigns. Well paid or less demanding jobs were given straight to the friends and relatives. Sadly some of those people didnt speak English at all and did a very poor job without making much process after a year. It lead to a toxic atmosphere.

Shame because most people were nice and friendly but nobody seemed to be happy to work there and after all a dozen of people resigned every year.

HR only serves the big bosses and the nice website saying Care, Optimism, Belief and Adaptability are not the values of Coba but the beautiful packaging of a disgusting product. 

Throughout my time working at Coba I have met some lovely people  and with the right team mates felt appreciated for the work and effort I put in. Unfortunately not all sections of the company are like this and after being moved around multiple times I was landed doing a job that I didn’t enjoy, with people in charge that didn’t know what they are doing or care, feeling very deflated, unappreciated and not listened to. After having many good and hard working people leave the team that remained was uncooperative and in a team based environment became a selfish workforce

Management are very disconnected from what happens in production and this makes for a very unhealthy workplace

Family owned and ran company in South Leicestershire, Fleckney is the head office for the whole group so they have variety of roles available and therefore progression is possible. 

Nice people and managers, generally a good place to work. 

Lots of benefits: onsite gym, nice onsite cafe, social events and family days. 

Mostly shift work for shop floor, although there are some roles which are day shifts. 

Happy with the salary, holiday and benefits I receive, there is also a bonus for shop floor based on attendance.

COBA has been very supportive over the last 2 years through covid with the furlough scheme and kept me up to date with regular updates whilst I was off. I like my role, I find it challenging and not too stressful. The only downside is that we haven't had a pay rise for 2 years, but most companies have been hit hard with covid etc. I would say COBA is a good place to work, I get on well with all my colleagues and my supervisor, who is very understanding and supportive. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Warehouse worker 1 salary reported	£12.71 per hour
Production operator 3 salaries reported	£20,083 per year
Machine operator 7 salaries reported	£20,222 per year
Operator 6 salaries reported	£21,460 per year
Service administrator 4 salaries reported	£20,998 per year

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