Everyone in the UK will know the Co-op. Whether it’s your local convenience store where you can pop for a pint of milk and a loaf of bread or a larger mid-sized store for your weekly shop, a Co-op can be found in most towns across the country. With such wide-spread reach and as the UK’s fifth biggest food retailer, warehouse jobs with Co-op are a good choice for pursuing warehouse careers.
Co-op has been a part of British culture for over 175 years, developing over the decades into a nationwide network of distribution centres and local stores. Co-op is a different kind of business owned by its millions of members, who are ordinary UK consumers just like you.
Co-op has also been something of a pioneer in many global causes such as Fairtrade, the outlaw of animal testing on household products and they were one of the first to ban the use of common pesticides on fresh produce.
Read our Featured Employer page to learn more about the Co-op culture.
Why is Co-op a good choice for warehouse careers?
The recent COVID-19 pandemic saw a rise in demand for warehouse space and warehouse staff to keep up the supply of essential food and home products to stores across the UK. The availability of warehouse jobs is expected to continue increasing, especially for those with experience in Warehouse Operative jobs.
Committed to a good work ethic, Co-op is an ideal place to begin in warehouse work. There is often a community feel among Co-op employees and many people who start out in temporary warehouse jobs move into permanent roles to continue in their warehouse careers. Being community orientated, Co-op continues with this same principle for their employees. They have a diverse and inclusive work environment, employing people of all ages and from all backgrounds. The result is a mix of people encompassing a range of skills and abilities representative of the local communities they work and live in.
The working conditions at Co-op mean flexible shifts that can work around your other commitments and the competitive pay rates and other benefits make Co-op an enticing choice for many.
At Co-op, warehouse staff have opportunities to learn and grow. While some experience in Warehouse Operative jobs may be preferred, if you lack specific skills, such as using necessary equipment like a LLOP (Low Level Order Picker), you will receive full training so you are fully prepared for the role.
Find out more about whether Co-op might be a good fit for you and, likewise, if you are a good fit for Co-op by reading our working with Co-op page.
What do warehouse jobs at Co-op involve?
For any food retailer, warehouses are an extremely important part of the supply chain to ensure the distribution of products to the stores across the country. Even if you are new to working in this environment, Warehouse Operative jobs can utilise skills you have acquired from other work settings. If you are self-motivated and a good team player, well organised and willing to learn, then a warehouse job could be a good fit for you.
Working in a warehouse will require a degree of physical labour so you will need to be fit to work in a fast-paced environment where some stacking, lifting and packing is all part of the job.
At Co-op you also get to use some of the most recent innovations in technology. Headsets are used by Warehouse Operatives to receive their instructions and update their daily tasks through voice recognition software. This helps increase productivity, still requiring humans to do the job, but keeping their hands free to pick, pack and meet their targets.
For more details on what Warehouse Operative jobs involve at Co-op, read our warehouse job description.
Safety & wellbeing for warehouse jobs at Co-op
Over the past few months we have all had to make changes in our day-to-day lives to comply with government advice regarding COVID-19. The pandemic has also been responsible for increased health and safety measures in the warehouse work environment.
At Co-op many new measures have been put in place to meet requirements and to ensure their warehouses are as safe as possible for their employees. This includes things such as one-way systems, use of screens and extra provision of hand sanitiser. Our blog What does the new normal look like for warehouse jobs? includes more about how working practices have changed at the Newhouse Co-op depot.
Locations for warehouse jobs with Co-op
Blue Arrow has placed many candidates seeking warehouse careers in temporary roles with Co-op. Each year there is an increased availability of warehouse jobs during the peak volume periods of summer and Christmas, but there are also other times of the year when more staff are needed. This was seen during the COVID-19 lockdown when temporary warehouse jobs became available to cover permanent staff unable to work due to either illness, self-isolating or shielding.
Warehouse Operative jobs with Co-op will be in one of their 12 distribution centres. These are spread out across the UK and act as hubs for the storing and distribution of products to their more than 2,600 stores. There is a Co-op depot as far south as Plymouth and as far north as Inverness, as well as one in Northern Ireland.
Our Co-op locations page gives more information about the various depots or you can look at the list below to find a Co-op distribution centre near you:
- Andover
- Avonmouth
- Birtley
- Cardinal
- Carrickfergus
- Castlewood
- Coventry
- Dalcross
- Lea Green
- Newhouse
- Plymouth
- Thurrock
Warehouse careers with Co-op
Over the years Blue Arrow has worked hard to successfully place temporary staff into roles within Co-op’s 11 regional distribution centres and its national distribution centre and we often have opportunities for temporary Warehouse Operative jobs at Co-op. Although starting out as a temporary position, if you put in the work and commitment, these roles can often turn into long-term warehouse jobs. In some cases there is the possibility of a permanent role, so starting out in Co-op is ideal for anyone looking to advance in warehouse careers.
Visit our Working with Co-op page for the latest Co-op jobs.
If working at Co-op sounds like a job you would enjoy, this testimonial from one of our candidates is a great read to find out what working as a Warehouse Operative is really like.
