The Ilchester Cheese Company
The Ilchester Cheese Company
The Ilchester Cheese Company

Our commitments
to the planet

At The Ilchester Cheese Co. we are committed to being a more sustainable manufacturer and responsible employer by working hard on improvements across our three pillars of Planet, Packaging and People.

Planet

Renewable Energy

We are on a path to be self-sufficient in electricity by 2030.

We only buy electricity from green energy suppliers already, and in 2024, we were more than 22% self-sufficient for our electricity needs.

We have an ambitious phased solar plan, starting with our solar factory roof installation in 2024, followed by building solar into our car park, storage containers and on the ground. This will take us to 100% self-sufficiency in electrical energy within the next five years.

Waste

We send zero waste to landfill. All of our food waste (that cannot be repurposed safely) is anaerobically digested and turned into biogas. Packaging and general waste is incinerated to produce electricity.

Site Impact

We are reducing energy use and environmental impact on-site through a number of initiatives such as internal and external LED lighting, low water flush toilets, and RDM temperature monitoring control system (using outside air to cool inside in winter, which means we use less electrical energy on our refrigeration systems).

Biodiversity

We planted a fruit orchard 17 years ago, and now have around 90 established apple, pear and plum trees supporting wildlife and biodiversity on-site. We continue to build our biodiversity plans, making the site greener and more attractive to wildlife.

Packaging

Recyclability

Our ambition: All our packaging will be 100% recyclable at home by 2027. 100% of the rigid plastics used for our slices and wedges sold in the UK are already recyclable at home, and our next priority is to replace all our films and flexible plastics with recyclable material.

As a cheese company, we need to balance our sustainability goals with safety. So over the next couple of years, we will be hard at work conducting trials to ensure that recyclable solutions are as reliable as our existing film. Bear with us whilst we get there.

Our Employees

Our ambition: We hope soon to be a certified a Living Wage Foundation employer (watch this space) and we also hope to be recognised as a Great Place To Work in 2025.

Our people are our priority, and we pride ourselves on our industry-leading benefits programme, ranging from excellent pension contributions, money-off schemes, financial services support, Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) and healthcare for every employee. Our average length of service is 6.8 years, which is well above industry average.

People

Community

The majority of our factory and office colleagues live in and around South Somerset, so it’s important to us that we play an active role in the community.

We donate cheese to the wonderful Help for Homeless for their soup kitchens and provide hampers regularly to local charities, as well as for local community events. We are also proud sponsors of the Ilchester U16s football team.

If you are based locally and would like to speak to us about getting support with volunteering initiatives, charity support or sponsorship, please get in touch via the contact form.

Interested in
working with us?

Discover Our Vacancies
HR Manager
Apply for this job

We need a new HR person!

Apply for this job

Night Hygiene Operative

Apply for this job

We are looking for flexible, proactive and confident Hygiene Operative who is looking to secure a career in food manufacturing.

Working for a global specialty cheese business with innovation at its heart, Norseland brings together Norwegian and British expertise in cheese production and manufacturing. The Norseland “house of brands” includes a variety of increasingly popular cheeses. Taking center stage from Norway is Jarlsberg®, admired by leading chefs worldwide, whilst brands from the UK include the ever-popular Applewood® Cheese, Mexicana® and Ilchester®

We offer an comprehensive benefits package that includes: Time and a half Overtime, free health care cash plan, free retailer discount portal, free parking, company pension, life insurance, free teas and coffees.

Hourly rate including 25% of Night Shift Premium is £15.06 per hour.

Summary and purpose of Role:

  • To participate in the high standard of hygiene as is required for a food producing factory and carry out the hygiene tasks assigned to you
  • To develop competence in all areas of basic skills described below

Entry Level hygiene operatives will effectively carry out a cleaning process for the following areas and pieces of equipment:

  • Wash stations and changing rooms
  • Offices
  • W/Cs
  • Canteen
  • All low risk and High care areas and equipment across both sites
  • Carrying out Laundry procedures
  • Removing waste to the compactors and operating the compactors
  • Supporting production lines washout
  • Replenishing overalls, toilets paper, soap, sanitiser, etc.

Interpersonal skills:

  • Clear communication skills
  • Positive Team work skills
  • Self-Motivated
  • Prepared to develop skills through the company’s training programme as required

Outputs and Deliverables:

  • Ensure quality standards are achieved at all times and ensure appropriate action is taken when necessary
  • Adhere to all the company’s policies procedures and plans.
  • Thorough knowledge of the department and its interaction with related departments
  • Ensure the Health and Safety of yourself and others
  • Work to achieve Good Manufacturing Practice at all time
  • Be proactive in achieving training requirements
  • Contribute toward the effective cleaning of all machinery in your working environment
  • Comply with any reasonable requests that you have been trained to do.

Training/Skills development:

Upon employment, Entry Level operatives should successfully complete training in the following areas:

Quality Assurance skills

  • Foreign Body training
  • HACCP
  • Food Safety for manufacturing level 2
  • Holchem essential cic system
  • Allergen training

Health & Safety Skills

  • Manual handling training
  • COSHH training
  • Emergency procedures training

Background & profile:

  • Present yourself and a professional and courteous manner at all times
  • Achieve required pass mark in English language aptitude test
  • Willing to work overtime including weekends when required
  • Ensure you meet the standards of personal hygiene required by the business at all times

Working Pattern:

  • 10pm-6am Monday-Friday

Requirements:

  • Previous hygiene experience within manufacturing required
  • Previous experience within food manufacturing desired

Apply for this job