truck driver

food technologist

technologist

engineer

production operator

ARLA FOODS


Weekend working.
 
On call after hours.

Calls from hot milk on farms working to guidelines, tanker rejections at factories, Additional testing of farmers and hauliers involved.
Investigation of factors that may have caused issues with liaison between haulier’s farmers and nation milk laboratories.
 
Working with hauliers and farmers ref antibiotics failures and hot milk to all issues that may arise.

Non collection of milk due to whether or transport malfunction.

Reorganisation of logistics ref route changes, tankers movements and working with hauliers to organise pre-sampling of milk, sample taking, re-training of drivers.

Working within guide lines or using initiative to solve problems ensuring that issues are resolved and followed to completion.

On call 24hrs when on duty.

Dealing with all county councils, dairy hygiene, DEFRA, Farm assurance and AHVLA.

In control of all TB inspections and heat treatment orders imposed on farms, leading to informing hauliers and customers where milk may go into customer that do not heat treat or pasteurise.

Fully responsible for keeping ongoing records of TB tests/results and imposing HTO and stopping stock movement from infected farms and also removing HTO once vets have cleared herds of TB.

Working with agricultural managers and hauliers alike to ensure that farm collections and charges are correct.

Ensuring that farmer’s who are collected daily but due to either haulier requirement or contractual agreement are charged correctly and monthly running reports which show discrepancies between charges and collections.

Liaising between farmers, haulier’s and Milk Link finance to ensure that hauliers are paid correctly and members are charged for extra collections and budgeting for bonuses paid to members who are collected on an every other day basis due to our flexible collection contract.







Recently we had a complete new computer system update with not only new systems but removal of services from our own servers and all system going through a cloud or over the net.

I completed all the necessary testing to make sure that all the bugs and errors which occurred were fixed or reported, suggested changes for smoother running of new system and implemented training of all staff in the use of the new systems with induction and training groups organised.

With ongoing analysis of new systems after running live and monitoring performance and continuing reporting of issues that did arise.

Acceptance testing between old system and new, running all reports and interrogation of data making sure all results mirrored each other.


I worked for arla for 6 years in production and left when I got forced out by Management. People who started years after I did got training before me. The people who got trained were the ones the team leaders and technicians were friends with. I got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and from that moment the team leader would look for any excuse to bring me into a disciplinary meeting. Because of my illness my doctor said I was not well enough to do rotating 12 hour day and night shifts so had to stay on permanent day shifts which management didn't want, even though they had other people on permanent days. In the end after months of lying from management and the union they dismissed me on medical grounds when I thought it was a return to work meeting. They said they had no proof I can stand on my feet for a full shift, which was lies and I had doctors notes to prove it. They also said I was absent too many times, which was also lies. I booked a holiday with the holiday forms, I did one wrong so I threw it in the bin and wrote it out again with the correct dates on. When I got back from holiday they tried to say I was absent and pulled out the incorrect  form id thrown in the bin and tried to say that was my holiday form. I'd signed it before throwing it in the bin so they waited until I went then changed dates on the form to make it look like I was absent On days I had booked off. In the disciplinary I tried to explain this in front of the team leader, two technicians and a union rep who wasn't on my side. It was 4 vs 1 and my union rep did nothing as the team leader slammed his hands on the table and shouted in my face when I asked if I could take the forms home and read them before I signed them as it was the end of the shift. I kept a diary the whole time I was there because I got mistreated even before I got diagnosed. They saw me as an easy target because I was young so I wrote a diary, took photos and kept evidence. I could write a whole book on my time at arla but I work so don't have the time. I was working alongside alcoholics, racists and liars in the production area so I'm glad to be out of it. There's definitely no equal opportunities at arla. The management need to be stopped from making sure only their friends have a chance to progress and learn something new

On first impressions it seems like a great place to work but you soon learn that there is a toxic work environment hidden under the surface.

First off, favouritism is absolutely abysmal. It's not even on purpose. Bad management are terrified of their own staff and will avoid confrontation at all costs. The drivers that make a fuss will just get left alone but if you're pleasant and amicable, then you'll be doing the work that no one else wants to do and you'll be doing 12+ hour days whilst other drivers are only doing 8.

Good luck getting holidays approved. If you're not prepared to give 6+ months notice then don't bother. 

The trucks they use are now well past their shelf life. We just had a heatwave and not a single truck had working AC and "Temporary" repairs using cable ties are common and you'll be breaking down on a monthly basis.

You will be criticised and disciplined for genuine errors and mistakes. You'll be told to increase your MPG but at the same time the company will waste thousands due to bad route planning. Management is never held accountable, it is always the drivers fault. It is the only workplace I've worked where you are punished for using your initiative and getting the job done.

The good thing is that it's only a 4 day week apart from that it's just a geuinly horrible place to work.



This company set unrealistic goals to get your yearly payrise which is minimal. They expect you to cover multiple roles with no further renumeration. Departments and shifts are constantly belittling and putting each other down. 

Assest management tools are used to monitor engineers hours and they are the only department that have to justify their time at work. No real benefits, except for the odd salary sacrifice and a poor excuse for a Christmas hamper filled with items that are a week away from expiring. Get shouted at and belittled for not doing something you feel is unsafe or haven't been trained to do.

Expects employees to complete work outside of their normal working hours (Even though they say they promote a good home/work life balance).

This place is full of people with slopey shoulders that are willing to stab you in the back. They then glorify these same people who steal the ideas of others. 

They only care for their farmers. The staff on the shop who help them earn their millions are nothing and are treated as such. Only work here if you want a reason not to live anymore.

Working environment.
If you can handle working in a chilled environment - between 1-5 degrees it is a great place to work.

Job/workload
Picking/loading milk onto a trailer, you will work in a team of 2, working from a picklist, picking milk for major supermarkets then loading onto trailers. You'd be expected to pick and load between 4/6 trailers a shift. Very physical work.

Pay rate approx per annum
Grade 3 
£27k Days £31k Nights
There are 3 grades where you can build up to 1 being the highest, each grade comes with more responsibility 

Holidays 
You don't actually get Holidays, these are already built into your roster and included within you pay. If there are specific Holidays you need, then you can either purchase upto 8 days per year or just swap your working days with another colleague, mutually agreeable.

Management/Team Leaders/Grade 1s
Any issues your first port of call would be Grade 1s then team leaders. Management are predominantly in the background. Unless working days you very rarely would see Management. 
As long as you are doing your job correctly and safely it is fairly easy going.




This company absolutely beggars belief, from the massive divide between departments who all fight each other and make your job downright difficult and almost impossible sometimes, to the blame everyone else management culture constantly rolling the Blame downhill,
You will be asked your thoughts and opinions, you will be asked to contribute your ideas but they will only be ignored , it’s all futile and for show,
Westbury a new jewel in the Arla crown ..... a polished dump, in all honesty!, a reload area with poor drainage, no power , no water and a locked toilet because it was plumbed into the vehicle wash.  Yet another joke it has to be said, don’t for god sakes press that green button unless you want to stink to high heaven with contaminated wash water .
Don’t worry about your route it changes hourly, routes are run blind, poorly planned and always chaotic, pay is poor way behind the local area and your just a number .
Your a second rate employee, not allowed in staff canteens and expected to work for the love of the job with unreliable poor equipment in terrible conditions.

I worked at the site where Arla is based before they took over.  When I joined it was a family company and a nice place to work.  Arla took over and immediately started restructuring the workforce in a way that they could cut wages, and as a result of this, morale.  People who had been there for years were made to reapply for their own jobs and were suddenly deemed unable to fill the position so were forced out.  I was being singled out and bullied in an attempt to get rid of me but due to me having a life changing accident due to their negligence they had to rethink their strategy.  It still only took them 7 months to do away with my job role which I had held for just under 11 years.  Thankfully due to the accident they made me redundant but even then they managed to over tax me on my redundancy pay.

I have met a lot of people through my new job who have since worked at Arla as agency staff and none of them would ever go back there due to the awful way the business is run.

AVOID ARLA LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT.

I gave this 4 stars because the company overall is fantastic! Great people place to work, always thinking about employees , benefits,  engaging with staff across the business network, fun activities, really innovative company! I gained some great qualifications with the business and was able to travel and I did have great career satisfaction. Also is very interesting how different departments link, I was lucky enough to work with several departments in various locations throughout the UK. I really enjoyed my role, I was always busy, I wanted to succeed, do a fantastic job and learn more and more about the business. 

I left in the end ( after 4 years service) because the management I worked with did not offer any progression, despite fantastic reviews feedback externally from customers on my work, their were alot of personal relations which went on in Arla which made things slightly difficult if you wanted to progress... Hurtful when you have worked for a company and put so much love and passion into your career.

Every day would be different.  You had to plan your week and be flexible to change if the need arose.  Telephone contact if possible and also visiting farms within my area. ( Cheshire. Derbyshire, North Wales, and Shropshire.)
Sometimes one of the team would ask you to do a farm visit with them as a backup or if needed to go instead of them.

  I didn't have a hardest part except that I could have done with more hours some days.  Inspections of the farms was sometimes hard going(nobody likes to be criticised and this applies to farmers as well,  they work very hard as it is so you have to take extra care and be thoughtful when doing this side of the job.

I enjoyed every aspect of the job except maybe the money side as farmers got very upset at price drops or new aspects that caused them (and me) more work.

Appauling place to work, only upside is the salary and even that isn't great considering the hours you work. In one week you end up working 72 hours Friday to Friday. Medievil continental shift pattern. 12 hour shifts on xmas day and that's just the start. Management completely clueless stating there is enough work for 25 years and now face the prospect of loosing jobs. Huge bullying/blame culture and the managers all appear to be buddies from their "clarks days".....they get away with swearing and intimidating staff regularly. 

DO NOT WORK HERE!

people promised to be moved up the pay scaled with skills learned which NEVER HAPPENED!! 

they employ animals. Someone actually soiled themselves on the factory floor and he still kept his job. (this is a place that makes food)

AVOID AT ALL COSTS! foreign workers steadily out numbering local staff.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Truck driver 1 salary reported	£17.96 per hour
Food technologist 6 salaries reported	£19,000 per year
Technologist 2 salaries reported	£20,000 per year
Engineer 6 salaries reported	£24,250 per year
Production operator 1 salary reported	£25,500 per year

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