Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships offer you the best of both worlds:

• You’ll enjoy great training and study towards a nationally recognised Apprenticeship Standard
• You’ll learn on-the-job as part of one of our store teams and get
  paid a market leading salary

Our apprenticeships will grow your confidence, develop your skills, give you real responsibilities and provide you with the hands-on work experience you need to kick-start a successful career in retail management.

Joining us on a permanent contract from day one, you’ll have a guaranteed job here when you successfully complete your apprenticeship.

We’re proud to offer one of the best apprenticeship programmes around. And it won’t cost you a penny. We’ll pay you! Every year we take on around 300 apprentices who join the team at an Iceland store or Food Warehouse in their area.

We offer a choice of apprenticeships:

• Level 3 Retail Team Leader Apprenticeship – learning to become a Store Supervisor, you’ll gain a nationally recognised qualification equivalent to 2 A Levels.
• Level 4 Retail Management Apprenticeship – join our specialist programme for future Store Managers and you could find yourself managing your own store in just 12 months. You’ll also gain a Diploma, so it’s a great alternative to uni. And you won’t have any student debt!

Meeting ‘Apprenticeship Standards’ our apprenticeships last for 12 months and lead to a guaranteed job at the end if it all. Just before you finish your apprenticeship, an Independent Assessor will carry out an End Point Assessment to assess your learning and may give you a pass, merit or distinction.

Our apprenticeships are open to anybody over the age of 16. Age isn’t a barrier. You could be a graduate or school or college leaver. Or you could be looking to change career or come out of retirement.

Don’t worry if you haven’t got GSCEs/O Levels in English or Maths. You will study these Functional Skills as part of your apprenticeship.

If you’re under the age of 18, you legally need to stay in some form of education or training. So, an apprenticeship could be the ideal next step. Especially, as we’ll help you make the transition to work if it’s all new to you. We’ll look after you, so you soon feel at home and know what to do.

You’ll work around 38 hours a week, just like all of our full-time store colleagues. This will involve working some early mornings, evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays to meet the needs of our customers. At busier times like Christmas, you’ll also be expected to pitch in and work more hours.

We’ve 940 Iceland and Food Warehouse stores, so we offer lots of apprenticeships up and down the UK. You’ll join the friendly team at a store in your local area.

We offer an attractive salary (not the Apprenticeship Minimum Wage) in line with our normal pay rates. You’ll also enjoy lots of great perks, including a pension, discount cards and good holidays. We expect a lot and give a lot back in return.

You’ll get a nationally recognised industry Apprenticeship Standard and, if successful, we’ll update your permanent contract to reflect your new role. Then all kinds of opportunities across our business will open up to you in our stores, area team and Head Office in Wales. We’ll continually invest in you and help you become a future leader.

You’ll develop your practical skills and unlock your potential working side-by-side with your store team. You’ll learn quickly on-the-job and take on day to day supervisory or management responsibilities. Every step of the way, you’ll be supported by your manager, store team, a mentor and a dedicated Trainer from Lifetime who knows our industry inside and out.

Your Trainer from Lifetime will regularly visit you and provide training in store. They will help you grow your skills and stay on track with your learning. Your Trainer from Lifetime will also provide advice, give you feedback and help you prepare for your final assessments, so you can complete your qualification. You’ll be given time out every week to study and lots of academic support.

Taking control of your own learning, you’ll need to study at home too. We’ve lots of development tools and a brilliant online learning system that will help you pick up new skills through videos, quizzes and all kinds of activities that suit your learning style. You can learn anytime, anywhere on your mobile, tablet or laptop. You can also connect with all of our other apprentices, so you can ask questions and share ideas.

If you haven’t got GSCEs/O Levels in English or Maths don’t worry. We’ll help you develop your Functional Skills through virtual classrooms and face-to-face learning in store.

Our apprenticeships are delivered in partnership with the award-winning Lifetime Training team, the UK’s largest national training provider. Your Trainer from Lifetime will help you learn and develop industry standard skills. While our managers and store teams will help you to gain practical skills and learn on-the-job.

You can apply anytime. We’ve regular intakes of apprentices who join us throughout the year.

You bet you can! It’s one of the best things about working here. If you’re successful on your Apprenticeship, you’ll join us on a permanent contract and get a guaranteed promotion at the end of 12 months.

We love to grow our own talent and develop people throughout our business. So, all kinds of opportunities will open up to you in our stores, area teams and Head Office. We’ll invest in your development and help you become one of our future leaders. Most of our business leaders started off working in one of our stores. And if you put your mind to it, there’s nothing stopping you from joining them.

The team spirit is unbelievable. Your store team will feel like family. Depending on the size of the store you join, you could be part of a close team of between 15 to 100 people. Here, you’ll roll your sleeves up, work hard and make a big impact from keeping our shelves full and serving customers at the checkout to delegating responsibilities and keeping your store running smoothly.

The pace here is fast. There’s never a dull moment. Things are constantly changing. And you’ll enjoy taking on real responsibility and pitching in to make our customers happy.

We’ve over 940 stores across Iceland and Food Warehouse in the UK. And we’re planning to continue growing. So, we’re certainly no small fry. But we’re also all naturally approachable, supportive and respectful people. It feels like being part of a family. Here, you won’t get lost in the crowd. We’ll listen to and invest in your good ideas. We’re the perfect size for you to make an impact.

Our people make the difference. So, we’ll give you real responsibility and the freedom to drive positive change, meet the needs of your customers and make a big impact. Once we’ve shown you the ropes and you’re up-to-speed with everything, you’ll be able to think for yourself and trusted to get on with things and make the right decisions. We listen to and act on our people’s ideas and encourage our Store Managers and Supervisors to manage their stores – their way.

We look for talented apprentices with the drive to learn and go above and beyond for our customers. If you’ve got the right attitude, we’ll provide you with all the training and support you need to unlock your potential. We’ll stretch you. We’ll support you. We’ll help you be your best every day.

Everything! We’re definitely not dull or a big faceless corporation. Here, you’ll be a name not a number and join the team at one of the UK’s best places to work. The Sunday Times has named us one of the top 25 ‘Best Big Companies to Work for’ 13 years running! As we believe in growing our own talent, you’ll receive lots of training, support and opportunities to enjoy an exciting future.

Join one of our store teams and you’ll work hard, have fun and deliver an unbeatable customer experience every day. You’ll also be proud to be part of a team that challenges the norm and believes in doing the right thing for our customers, colleagues and the planet. We led the way globally, banning GM ingredients. We removed artificial colours and preservatives from our own-brand products while others dithered. And now we’re reducing plastic and eliminating palm oil from our own-brand products to protect the planet and the habitats of orangutans who are facing extinction.

Here, you’ll enjoy making a difference to your career, Iceland and the planet by doing the right thing for our customers and colleagues. We’re a successful and responsible business, you’ll be proud to work for.

Apprenticeships offer the best of both worlds:

• Great training and the chance to gain a nationally recognised industry qualification
• The opportunity to learn on-the-job and get paid a market leading salary

They are a great way for your son or daughter to develop their leadership skills, grow in confidence, take on real responsibilities and get the hands-on work experience they need to kick-start a successful career. And it won’t cost them a penny!

Your son or daughter will join us on a permanent contract from day one and have a guaranteed job here when they successfully complete their apprenticeship.

We strongly believe that we’ve one of the UK’s best apprenticeship programmes. We offer a choice of 12-month apprenticeships that lead to a guaranteed job at the end if it all:

• Level 3 Retail Team Leader Apprenticeship – designed for future Store Supervisors, this apprenticeship leads to a diploma equivalent to 2 A Levels.
• Level 4 Retail Management Apprenticeship – this is our specialist programme for future Store Managers. Apprentices gain a Higher Education Diploma, so it’s a great alternative to university. And there’s no student debt.

All of our apprenticeships meet ‘Apprenticeship Standards’. At the end of our apprenticeships, an Independent Assessor carries out an End Point Assessment to assess the learning of apprentices who may gain a pass, merit or distinction.

They are open to anybody over the age of 16. Age isn’t a barrier. We look for attitude more than qualifications. So, it’s not a problem if your son or daughter doesn’t have GSCEs/O Levels in English or Maths. They will study these Functional Skills as part of their apprenticeship.

All young people must stay in some form of education or training, such as an apprenticeship, until their 18th birthday. We help all of our apprentices under the age of 18 to make the transition to work.

Every one of our apprentices is supported by a dedicated Trainer from Lifetime. They will meet regularly with your son or daughter to answer their questions, see how they are progressing and provide support, advice and training every step of the way. Your son or daughter’s Trainer from Lifetime will help them stay on track with their learning and grow their skills.

Most of our training is delivered in our stores, although we do expect our apprentices to take the initiative in their development. They can do this anytime on a mobile, tablet or laptop thanks to our brilliant online learning system with videos, quizzes and activities to suit different learning styles. It’s also a social media platform, so our apprentices can connect with each other and share ideas and ask questions.

Our apprenticeships are delivered in partnership with the award-winning Lifetime Training team, the UK’s largest national training provider. Your son or daughter will be supported by a dedicated Trainer from Lifetime who will meet with them every few weeks and be on hand to provide training, advice and support. While our managers and store teams will help your son or daughter gain practical skills and learn on-the-job.

Upon successful completion of the Apprentice programme, your son or daughter will gain a permanent contract and their salary will be updated to reflect their new role. Then all kinds of opportunities across our business will open up to them in our stores, area team and Head Office in Cheshire. We’ll continually invest in their development and help them become a future leader.

Typically, your son or daughter will work on a full-time basis, just like all of our full-time store colleagues. They will need to be prepared to work early mornings, evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays to meet the needs of our customers. At busier times like Christmas, they will also be expected to work more hours than usual.

We offer an attractive salary (not the Apprenticeship Minimum Wage) in line with our normal pay rates. You’ll also enjoy lots of great perks, including a pension, discount cards and good holidays. We expect a lot and give a lot back in return.

There will be plenty of opportunities for your son or daughter to progress their career across all areas of our business. In our stores. In our area teams. And at our Head Office in Cheshire. Most of our business leaders started out in one of our stores. And as we believe in growing our own talent, your son or daughter could soon go places with one of the UK’s leading food retailers.

All of our apprentices have a 12-week probationary period. They start on a permanent contract and are signed on as an apprentice within 3 or 4 weeks of starting.