A tasty slice of business growth for the UK’s number one pork pie brand means it is recruiting 65 staff to help produce 80 million pies every year.

Mark Gatenby, managing director at Vale of Mowbray based at Leeming Bar near  Northallerton, told The Northern Echo: “We’ve seen significant growth over the last 12 months, and this has necessitated growing our team, but more than that we’ve made changes to the way we work to ensure that all of our people have the best possible work life balance.

The Northern Echo: Mark GatenbyMark Gatenby

"A move to a four-day working week enables the team to enjoy more leisure time, but also provides an opportunity to increase their income if they opt to work overtime.”

Sheree Walker, head of HR, added: "This growth is brilliant for the business but also puts us in a position to make this an even better place to work. We want our people to be happy, to enjoy their work and also have time to pursue their personal interests and activities. We understand the importance of work life balance, and the need for people to feel valued and engaged.”

Vale of Mowbray, which was established in 1795, has made the move to a four-day week to give its staff more time to spend with their families and enjoying leisure time.

The move comes as the company announced an enhanced rate of pay across the board, taking it to £10 per hour which is above both National Minimum and National Living Wage, while also moving to a four-day 12-hour shift pattern with the opportunity to work overtime at time and a quarter.

The Northern Echo: The Vale of Mowbray teamThe Vale of Mowbray team

Sheree added: “Increasing our shifts to being 12-hour has enabled efficiencies that mean we can maintain or even increase output without the need for night shifts, giving our people a more family-friendly working pattern as well as a three-day break each week.”

The new shift pattern is Monday to Thursday or Tuesday to Friday inclusive, with four 12-hour shifts. The company is also looking into creating part-time roles within this to offer additional flexibility.

Job details can be found at https://uk.indeed.com/cmp/Vale-of-Mowbray/jobs

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