Food manufacturing salaries: how does yours compare?

In the second of two articles on managers’ pay and incentives, Colin Monk the firm’s md, told FoodManufacture.co.uk that the food and drink sector remained “the star performer”​ in its demand for engineering and manufacturing professionals.

Demand was particularly high for roles “designed to improve productivity including continuous improvement, process engineering and senior level production personnel”.​

The report also noted “considerable demand”​ for quality specialists within the automotive and industrial manufacturing sectors.

Lowest and highest​

The range between the lowest and the highest salaries was £125,000, revealed the firm’s 2012 Salary and Market Insight Report. (See salary table below).

In operations, the basic salary of £25,000 was typically earned by a shift supervisor working in a small- to medium-sized business (with a turnover of less than £50M), located in a role anywhere except the South East of England.

The highest paid role reported in the survey was an operations/manufacturing director role which attracted a salary of between £65,000–£150,000. This range was paid for positions within large firms (with turnover of more than £50M) located in the south east.

In engineering, the entry level salary was £30,000 paid to managers working in process engineering, quality and project roles within small businesses.

The top salaries of £100,000 were earned by engineering managers and lean specialists working in large firms in the south east, the Midlands and the north west.

Salaries varied according to the size of the firm, its location, the individual’s background, experience and responsibility.

About half the firms included in the survey were food and beverage businesses.

Raise managers’ pay​

More than three-quarters (77%) of food and drink firms plan to raise their managers’ pay and bonuses this year, according to the salary survey. To read why, click here​.

Only 7% of firms said they had no plans to raise managers’ pay and bonuses, while 16% said they were unsure what action to take.

If you have a comment about mangers’ pay and conditions, why not email the author? Send your comments to Michael.stones@wrbm.com.

Meanwhile, want to improve your salary? Then, view more than 1,000 top food industry jobs by visiting Foodmanjobs. Click here.​

Across all our jobsites, William Reed Business Media showcases more than 2,600 jobs in sales, retail, manufacturing and hospitality making us the biggest jobs network for the food and drink industry – both in print and online.

Coming soon will be FoodNavigator Jobs USA featuring nearly 1,800 food jobs across the US.

Manufacturing/Industrial salaries ​​

(Salaries in thousands of pounds –k )

Engineering​

Processing engineering manager​

North West £30–40k Small/medium firms (SMF)

                   £35–55k Large firms (LF)

South East £40–50k SMF

                  £45–60k LF

Quality manager​  

Midlands £25–40k SMF

               £40–95k LF

South East £30–45k SMF

                  £40–95k LF

Operations​

Production manager​

Yorkshire £30–45k SMF

               £30–50k LF

South East £35–50k SMF

                  £50–65k LF

Shift supervisor​

South West £25–35k SMF

                    £25–40k LF

South East £30–38k SMF

                   £32–45k LF

Operations/Manufacturing director​

North East £50–80k SMF

                  £60–100k LF

South East  £55–80k SMF

                   £65–150k LF

Source: Michael Page

Salaries exclusive of bonus and incentive schemes

SMF = £50M turnover or less

LF = +£50M turnover

For more information about Michael Page's survey manufacturing salaries, click here.