Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) has announced it will increase the number of apprentices across its operations in Great Britain by more than 50%, investing over £1m into the business’ apprentice scheme this year.
Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) currently has more than 60 apprentices working across its supply chain, cold drinks operations and commercial operations. A further 37 will be recruited this year in the business’ largest apprenticeship recruitment drive to date, as part of an ongoing commitment to support the development of young talent and encourage a diverse workforce in Great Britain.
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Seventeen apprentices will join CCEP’s supply chain and cold drinks operations teams at manufacturing sites in East Kilbride, Sidcup, Edmonton and Wakefield, as well as its Milton Keynes Technical Operations Centre and Distribution Centre in Northampton.
Further to this, the field sales apprentice intake will double to 20 this year, with outside sales reps being recruited for the Leeds, Manchester and London regions, as well as those working from CCEP’s Customer Hub in Peterborough.
CCEP is reprising its field sales apprentice recruitment scheme following the success of a pilot in 2016 which saw 10 students offered year-long placements.
For the specialist field sales recruitment programme, CCEP is again working in partnership with MyKindaFuture to run a series of workshops in schools across the UK, offering skills-based exercises such as presentation and interview techniques.
Successful candidates will then be invited to several Youth Event assessment days, where these core skills will be developed further with the help of specialist tutors including professional actors. At the end of the process, the stand-out applicants are selected to begin apprenticeships at CCEP.
In 2016, 97% of all student attendees stated they felt more confident about their future careers after the events. Following this success, CCEP has now extended its work with MyKindaFuture to also support its supply chain apprenticeship programme.
The first Youth Event day for the business’ Field Sales Apprenticeship Scheme took place in Leeds this week, with others in London, Peterborough and Manchester happening across March. Students aged 17+ can still apply online until Friday 10 March.
Steve Adams, group director, Supply Chain Operations at CCEP, added: “We have many talented apprentices already working across our business, and it has been very rewarding to see them develop into top professionals. We look forward to welcoming our latest recruits, who will be working closely with the existing apprentices and others across the business to mentor and guide them in their new roles.”
