Our People
We employ over 300 employees from 20 different nationalities at our site in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire. The site encompasses our factory and Head Office and we’ve been at this site for over 60 years.
At Whitworths our five values guide how we behave and each quarter we reward employees who have best lived each value.
Featured below are the winners from our latest quarterly awards.
Award winners (Top row): Jo Rixson & Dave Alford, The Lab Team - Yvonne Wood, Tina Young, Jay Parmer, Monika Jodkowska, Maria Smart, Jean Beeby & Karen Ward (missing - Ewa Szcepaniec & Chris Darnell). Second Row : Bryan Harper and Trevor Garrett.
As part of developing ‘our people’ there is a commitment to the personal and professional development of our entire workforce.
A range of professional qualifications and courses are on offer, including:
• Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
• Chartered Institute of Personnel Development
• NVQ in Food and Drink
• Food Hygiene
Featured employee of the month
Dave Alford - Commercial Controller, Retail
My name is Dave and I'm one of two Retail Controllers at Whitworths. I joined Whitworths nearly a year ago to manage the Tesco Business Unit. This involves leading a cross-functional team to drive our sales with Tesco, our biggest customer, and deliver the many extra requirements that come with working with Tesco. Those that have worked with Tesco before know they expect real commitment!
What's surprised me most about working at Whitworths is how complex a business like this can actually be. I used to work in developing airbags and seatbelts, and before that graduated in Aeronautical Engineering, so when people say "well it's not exactly rocket science", for me it actually used to be! I thought selling dried fruit and nuts would be easier - how wrong could I be! With the sheer number of commodities that we have to buy on a daily basis, and the dependence on currency exchange rates, some days it feels more like Wall Street than Whitworths!
I'm aware of Whitworths strong history, even if I'm not all that familiar with it myself! I think the Whitworths of today though is quite a different place to what it was even a few years ago. In the last twelve months, I've been involved in numerous projects that are creating a much more dynamic, responsive company that is excellently placed to meet the challenges of an ever more demanding retail industry. With all these changes, the volatility of the commodity markets and what seems to be endless customer requests, no two days at Whitworths are the same.
Outside of work I'm trying my best to improve my golf. This is a pretty painful exercise in truth but I think I'm getting better, even if my scores don't necessarily show it! I also enjoy concerts and festivals, and have spent two enjoyable weeks this summer camped in a field listening to some of the best bands around.
NVQ Achievers
This photograph was recently taken at our site in Irthlingborough showing Vince Andrew(Operations Director) presenting NVQ Level 2 awards to a selection of successful employees. Whitworths have been one of the leading 
companies in Northamptonshire providing training at NVQ level 1 and 2. Workforce training & Development Ltd have contributed significantly to the success which has seen over 538 employees gain these awards over 5 years.
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