Careers

Our previous placement student and now Account Manager for ABN pig team.
“Gaining a pig industry scholarship was a fantastic opportunity to get involved in a progressive and highly integrated sector. I chose the ABN placement as it complemented several aspects of my Agriculture and Farm Business Management degree. I was able to develop my understanding of on-farm practices as well as the ancillary side to the livestock industry.
“Having previously worked with pigs, I enjoyed working on customer farms, developing my stockmanship skills with plenty of on-the-job training. Working with the commercial and customer support teams and liaising with both customers and colleagues benefitted my communication skills along with improving my ability to strategize under pressure.
During my placement, I researched farm feeding techniques to support the launch of a new sow range. I also used data collected by our technical team in my dissertation which focussed on the economics of using in-feed organic acids in the context of changing zinc oxide legislation and antibiotic reduction.
Since graduating, I have returned to ABN as an account manager. One year in, I have taken on a range of responsibilities and accounts, from dealing with independent creep feed customers to one of our largest national accounts. I love the variety in my role and spend my time working from home as well as visiting customers on farm and going to our mill and office sites nationwide.”

Each element of compound feed production requires expert knowledge and specific skills to ensure our feed is manufactured to exacting quality and safety standards. ABN employee over 30 engineers across our mill sites, who are instrumental to keeping our mills and our business running smoothly.

We caught up with Alex, our maintenance engineer based at our Fridaythorpe site, to take us through a day in the life of an ABN engineer.

Joining ABN back in April 2021, Alex has been in engineering now for over 15 years.
“My background is in fabrication and welding, starting out at college and leading on to completing my apprenticeship. Over the years I have worked for multiple fabrication companies in both the UK and Australia”.

Joining ABN
“When I returned from Australia, I was working for a company that did a lot of work with ABN and consequently was approached by ABN about a permeant vacancy on the engineering team. I had no experience of working through a business that was a mill, only the odd bit of contracting.

“With the promise to upskill me to an electrical engineer via an apprenticeship scheme, I jumped at the chance and have been here ever since.

“Other attractions were that the money was good, and the shifts were shorter. I was used to working 12-hour days, but at ABN shifts are 8 hours, with the opportunity for overtime and on call work. So, there are lots of opportunities to make your wages up, but it isn’t expected of you to have to work long shifts which I liked. The training has been great and as well as my electrical apprenticeship I have also had boiler training and completed ISOH courses and have enjoyed learning a lot of new things.

“When I arrived, they had pre-ordered my boots, overalls, work phone and laptop – everything was ready for me. The onboarding process was really good, and everyone was friendly, I was treated very well so can’t complain”.

My Role
“I love that fact that my role is so varied, you aren’t just stuck doing the same things day in, day out. Mechanical and electrical breakdowns happen, and although breakdowns aren’t great for the company, I do enjoy the challenge of finding problems and fixing them. Coupled with different mechanical and electrical projects for when things aren’t working correctly or need improving, as engineers we are also involved in fabrication projects where we are given free rein to design and come up with ideas. These projects are checked before we go ahead, but I enjoy the chance to think, apply my skills, and problem solve.

“The biggest challenge in this role is the environment, it’s a bit dusty and dirty, which can be a bit of a shock if you come from a clean environment. Some of the kit is old and it can be a bit of a task to keep on top of it, but there is nothing that I hate about my role.

Sourcing stock parts can be frustrating, but I know it’s not possible to stock everything. On the flipside, you are given the right PPE, there are showers and good facilities, so you are looked after. ABN do their best to manage the dust and we are given spaces where you can eat lunch and get away from the dust and dirt which makes a big difference.

Interested in becoming an engineer
“If I could give anyone thinking about a career as an engineer one tip it would be to build good relationships with your manager and the other people in your team. They will all have tips and tricks about how to do each job as they have been there a long time. So always ask for advice as in my experience everyone is really good and always happy to help. ABN has a great training programme and offers the support for you to develop and do things that interest you if you show willing and apply yourself.”

Sharon is ABN’s national lead account manager for poultry and is particularly passionate about building partnerships between producers and the wider supply chain. Celebrating 30 years with the company this year, Sharon works alongside commercial support team leader Debbie Spooner and account manager Will Reckitt, supporting clients to deliver best practice and efficient feed performance.

“My role is all about daily customer service, talking to farmers and on occasion their nutritionists and technical teams, in order to fully understand their specific needs and circumstances”.
“My day generally starts early, checking e-mails and the latest raw material prices, sending quotes to the farmers on forward feed prices, planning farm visits to discuss their crop results to see how the birds have performed, looking at cash flows and dealing with any concerns customers may have flagged up.”
“Over my 30 years with the business, the birds have changed and so has their performance. Now more than ever, the importance of good relationships with nutritionists are crucial.”
“We are constantly working with our nutritional and technical teams, looking at new ingredients or what can be done differently on-farm to bring improved performance. Our trial work is essential for introducing new technologies and ways of thinking and have enabled us to offer significant improvements to our customers over the years”.
“We have some customers that have been with us for 30 years which is fantastic, but I am always keen to meet new customers so that they can benefit from the expertise we have across our teams”.
“Having good relationships with our customers means that they feel comfortable to share honest feedback with me. This in turn strengthens the partnership, allowing us to develop as a team and focus on improving efficiencies and bird performance.”