It is very cold as working in fridge so dress appropriately. Hours are long 12 hour shifts so can be quite tiring and repetitive as you will be picking the whole time.

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Easy job

Class 1 Driver (Current Employee) - Portsmouth - 7 December 2022

Easy job with reasonable wages if you put the hours in. Not much communication between the office staff. All in all, a good place to work and left to get on with it

Pros

New kit and reasonable wages

Cons

Hours

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Insights into Fowler Welch

Based on 48 survey responses

Areas for improvement

Support from manager
Sense of belonging
Trust in colleagues

Not a fun place to work

Loader/Unloader (Current Employee) - Spalding, Lincolnshire - 15 November 2022

Wairhouse has gone down the drain last couple of years.No training at all. Supervisors don't supervise half the staff change every few months cannot hold onto them .Just badly run sad use to have a good rep

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All work no play

HGV Class 1 Driver/Driver trainer (Former Employee) - Nuneaton - 7 November 2022

Push push push till you break they max out your hours and when you think you're finished for the day and are going home the cab phone goes " can you do a collection " . no work life balance at all. Not a good employer

Pros

Free uniform

Cons

long hours, treated like very poorly. Not listened to when you ask for a 9 hour day .

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Great company. Left alone to do your job.

HGV Class 1 Driver (Current Employee) - Washington, Tyne and Wear - 7 October 2022

Great place to work with a variety of shift patterns. Get left alone to do the job and is very easy work. Came here after tramping away in Europe for a long time and found a great day job with no nights away

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Drivers underpaid

Class 1 HGV Driver (Current Employee) - Portsmouth - 6 September 2022

The work is alright and straight forward. The drivers are pushed to do regular 12-15 hour shifts. The work and home life balance should be something management need to have a sit and think to help boost driver morale. Office staff need to be trained properly and know their geographical knowledge.

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Do not work here if you value your health

Warehouse Worker (Former Employee) - Portsmouth, Hampshire - 30 August 2022

New manager started around 4 years ago and the Portsmouth depot has been taking a nose dive ever since. No support at all, never sets foot in the warehouse. Some members of staff had been there 3 years and didn’t know who the manager was. Massive staff turnover due to no training or support, people realise very quickly it is not a good place to work. Under the new manager, all staff who had been there for a number of years have been pushed out. Only one still there is incapable of doing their job but is an accomplished brown noser and liar. Constantly fools management into believing they do a good job and often cons them out of lots of overtime hours that they don’t actually do and are not even on site.The new manager seemed to adopt an ‘out with the old, in with the new’ policy. Regular 15 or 16 hour days with no support or even a thank you. Fowler Welch in Portsmouth is an absolute joke and will continue to get worse until they change the management.

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Hilsea depot

Driver (Current Employee) - Hilsea, Hampshire - 13 August 2022

I've had a good time of it can't complain, easy work, friendly staff, modern fleet, Hilsea is only a small yard but working there is pretty straightforward

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Not difficult

HGV Class 1 Driver (Current Employee) - Paddock Wood, Kent - 2 August 2022

12 hours shifts, reasonable money, easy work. Palletised goods mostly offloaded for you. Delivering to Supemarket RDCs and farm collections. Easy day or night..

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Bad management

HGV Class 1 Driver (Current Employee) - Portsmouth - 7 July 2022

Manager doesn't value the drivers and he s arrogant.Many people changing constantly in the office and need training.Long hours in general.weak pay during days.

Pros

Cheap coffee

Cons

Long hours

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Jobs at Fowler Welch

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LGV/HGV C+E Class 1 Driver

Apprentice LGV/HGV C+E Class 1 Driver

No management, people left to do anything or nothing

Warehouse Operative (Former Employee) - Hilsea - 1 May 2022

Bad turnover off staff . Bad training .if they don't like you within a week your gone or they expect someone else to cover your Bad work and keep you .

Pros

Casual work

Cons

No communication. Bad management, worker turnover very high, bad canteen, bad toilet amenities, no were warm in winter for warehouse staff to warm up. Very low standards all over the place .

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Official response from Fowler Welch

27 June 2022

Hi We are sorry to hear that your experience with us wasn't positive.If possible could you email us some further details to reviews@culinagroup.com so that we can look into this further?Many Thanks,Culina Group

Apprenticeship

apprentice LGV (Former Employee) - Hilsea - 22 April 2022

Can't complain too much got a class 2 license via them. However found class 1 hard to pass so was let go. In 9 months I spent 6+ months at home doing nothing. A few days training if you pass you have a job fail your tests your out. I was the latter. Luckily passed my last tests privately. Easy work, but low pay. Depends what your after. Low tramping availablity. And big time changes in shifts. Very unconnected management style no one seems to know what the other is doing. Good if your new passed and local, or towards then end of working life as easy work. But be prepared for low wages (can earn more at supermarkets!)

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Good place of work

HGV Class 1 Driver (Current Employee) - Nuneaton - 31 March 2022

It is one of the best companies I ever worked for very good management team friendly people at the office, clean facilities for the drivers , free coffee and very well organised yard!.

Pros

Free coffee, driver bonus scheme, friendly and easy hours, new fleet

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Official response from Fowler Welch

27 June 2022

Hi Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us a review - it's much appreciated!Many Thanks,Culina Group

No support

Night shift Manager (Former Employee) - Hilsea, Hampshire - 23 March 2022

Wouldn't recommendNo managerial support what so ever and big blame culture.No support from days for night shiftLazy staff who were hard to motivate

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Official response from Fowler Welch

27 June 2022

Good job, FMCG.

Transport Operator (Current Employee) - Washington, Tyne and Wear - 12 March 2022

As with any FMCG logistics company, you have to be adaptable. Drivers can be difficult to work with, that being said, so can office staff! Relatively well paid for what the job encompasses.

Pros

4 on 4 off, good Salary.

Cons

Can be stressful

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Official response from Fowler Welch

27 June 2022

Hi Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us a review - it's much appreciated!Many Thanks,Culina Group

Good company, modern fleet.

Driver (Current Employee) - Hilsea - 5 March 2022

Good company to work for, clean easy job. Treated with respect (it goes both ways of course) , if you’re running out of hours or cannot get the job done a contingency plan will always be put in place as long as you inform the office/planners in good time. If you do what’s asked of you to the best of your ability then there’s no problem. Work/home life balance is good, get the job done and go home. Good rates of pay into the bargain.

Pros

New kit, Friendly atmosphere, Company benefits

Cons

None

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Official response from Fowler Welch

27 June 2022

Hi Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us a review - it's much appreciated!Many Thanks,Culina Group

Great place to work.

HGV Class 2 Driver (Current Employee) - Maidstone - 10 February 2022

Great place to work. Good management and good work life balance. Pay is very good.Lots of overtime if you want it. Easy work .Most of the work is in London.

Pros

Free food

Cons

Can he long hour

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Official response from Fowler Welch

27 June 2022

Hi Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us a review - it's much appreciated!Many Thanks,Culina Group

Avoid avoid avoid

Hgv class 1 driver (Former Employee) - Washington, Tyne and Wear - 31 December 2021

A good company being dragged down by shambolic management and planners. These people have no idea how to run a transport company plan 15 hour shifts regularly expect you to bend over backwards to help them but will do nothing for you. If you want to be treated like you are a worthless piece of fecal matter then this is the job for you

Pros

Absolutely none

Cons

Poor management clueless rude foul mouthed planners

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Warehouses

WAREHOUSE TEAM LEADER (Former Employee) - Newton Abbot - 10 November 2021

Bad management. Bad environment. Poor work continues. Disorganised. Transport supervisor has to many dirty way's. Smells. Disorganised. All ways needs help to do is job

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All mouth no action

LGV 1 Driver (Former Employee) - Nuneaton - 6 November 2021

They promise the earth, claiming to be a caring company they just drop you like a hot stone if you fall ill. A colleague of mine had cancer and after working at Fowler Welch for 5 years and not a day off sick, statutory sick pay only, nearly lost his house, no compassion whatsoever. Long hours maxed out at every opportunity and a poor driving bonus £250 quarterly which you can lose very easily. Drivers get the blame for everything and pay is poor. Avoid like the plague.

Pros

None

Cons

Long hours

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Was a good company

HGV Driver class 1 (Former Employee) - Kingston upon Hull - 4 November 2021

Worked out of hull depot. Then transferred to heywood depot. Culture of bullying from management and driver trainer. Terrible atmosphere low wage. Ridiculous long days. 15 hours every day if they could get away with it. Not able to park over night at own sites