Not chased for work it will get done when it gets done relaxed place to work could be more money but who don’t want that 60 hours a week is about minimum

Pros

10 pounds meal allowance each day worked

Cons

Long hours 60 ish a week

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Lovely atmosphere

Administration Assistant (Former Employee) - Astley, Greater Manchester - 16 April 2021

I really enjoyed my time at the company. It wasn’t like anywhere I’d worked before. Everyone was a big family, always laughing and joking, and aslong as you got your work done, it was a very relaxed atmosphere which is the perfect way to work. I wasn’t there very long as I started 2 months before the pandemic hit, so I was made redundant after 6 short months and was absolutely gutted as the hours where perfect, I got on with everyone and it was close to my home so was easy to get to. I would definitely apply for any future jobs they had :)

Pros

Lovely meals out paid by the company

Cons

None

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Insights into Swain Group

Based on 9 survey responses

Areas for improvement

Energising work tasks
Time and location flexibility
Sense of belonging

broken promises, avoid workshop

Mechanical Fitter (Former Employee) - Woodville, Derbyshire - 10 March 2021

run by incompitance and underhandedness. you will be valued less than an employee number. if consider yourself to expendable as an escape goat and or physicaly, your get on great until your no longer required.

Pros

looks ok from afar

Cons

let the back stabing commence

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Work Hard, play Hard!

Manager (Current Employee) - Welham Green - 5 February 2021

Fast paced, sometimes stressful job but wouldn't have it any other way. There's potential for good pay if you put the hours in and a decent team to work with. Some of the equipment is older than you'd like but consistently having new vehicles and trailers come through Work is varied given the industry and potential for some longs runs around the country. Not for a 9-5'er!

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Gatwick Group

multi skilled operative (Former Employee) - Horley, Surrey - 29 May 2020

Great place to work doing some really interesting jobs that require a special skill set , just a pity the wages never reflected the stress , hours or ability . I understand they have improved since I left but still poor for what is expected of the drivers

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Productive and forward looking company

HGV Driver Class (Former Employee) - Manchester, Greater Manchester - 6 February 2020

Family orientated company that treat you like family. I was there 2 years and enjoyed the variety of the work. Modern fleet and well looked after by own fitters

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Good earnings if you're in the clique

HGV Driver (Former Employee) - Welham Green - 25 January 2020

Pros:Interesting and varied work good earning potential if you're willing to work all hours, construction work mainly, wide loads cabins and piling equipment dirty work but comes in this line. Cons: Inept management and outraged equipment, some new but you gotta sick up or be related to corrupt managers, chosen few get the cream

Pros

Good bonus scheme / earnings

Cons

Nepotism and poor management

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vey much a face fitting exersize

HGV Class 1 Driver (Former Employee) - Woodville - 17 November 2019

you was only as good as your last good turn you did for them they were very quick to hold a grudge and hold it for a long time planners worse than useless

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A great place to work

Manager (Current Employee) - Rochester, Kent - 31 October 2019

Easy to apply, I was offered the job the next day and started 2 weeks later. A great team and place to work. There is lots to do and we all work hard, but the job is rewarding and since in joined in 2018 we have made some really positive changes.

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Great place to work!

IT Technician (Current Employee) - Strood, Kent - 31 October 2019

Great place to work, friendly staff & excellent pay Worked within the Swain Group for several years and loved every one of them. Looking forward to my future within the company.

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Productive and Fun place to work

Administrator (Current Employee) - Rochester, Kent - 31 October 2019

I enjoy working at Swains because you feel part of a team, you feel as though you are all working together for the overall goal, you feel appreciated for your contributions and that motivates you to give more to the cause. They have a senior management team who are constantly looking for ways to innovate and improve practices and brand image and that makes it a very attractive place to work.

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Management was poor, very unorganised and unstructured.

Management Consultant (Former Employee) - Rochester, Kent - 27 September 2019

A very top heavy management structure, failure to notice or collaborate with the work force or consider appropriate training. People honestly queuing up to resign from director level, senior managers and drivers.

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Fun workplace

HGV technician (Former Employee) - Woodville - 27 August 2019

The companly is fun to work for but it can be a lot of waiting around and a lot tends to go wrong with the trucks, which shouldnt be the case. Nobody seems to know what goes wrong, which is suspicious. A lot of trailers also fail an MOT for seemingly no reason.

Pros

Fun, friendly

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Long days and hours

HGV Class 1 Driver (Former Employee) - Meday - 4 August 2019

Management doesn't understand the working time directive and driving hours u start at 6am and then at 4pm try and send you into London. And then don't answer the phone when u call u them to say u can't do it. No social life outside of work due to the late finishes and early starts Pay structure is made from bonuses and delivers and miles traveled

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Stressful, long hours

Distribution driver (Former Employee) - Rochester, Kent - 9 July 2019

I left over a year ago after only suffering a few months before feeling so low i handed my notice. Although maintained well the lorries could have been better, very poor planning from some of the planners. A very highly strung / short tempered staff but given what they had to put up with i would be too... If your face fits and you like to nod and agree you will be just fine and get the creamy work. If you raise concerns then you get the not so creamy work. The warehouse is a shambles, you are expected to plan your own route each day then get your lorry loaded by the loaders (if the trunk has turned up) Unrealistic time scales to abide too and aggressive planners when they don't get there own way. I am very grateful for the experience I gained and the FORS training and this is the only positive I can take from my experience. If you are new to the game then start of here on distribution! It's certainly a different experience on other departments after speaking to the drivers so maybe i was just unlucky. Most of the job I did was on a bonus incentive which could be taken away in a heart beat... bonuses for checking wheel nuts / cleaning the truck and drop bonus scheme plus KMs allowance. It's a shame it had to end this way for me as I wanted to work my way up to Special projects but just could not hack the hours, the way I was spoken to or the fact you would have to work to an impossible schedule.

Pros

They will help ypu obtain your license and provide training

Cons

Long hours, planners have little time for you, your just a driver attitude.

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Good place to work

HGV Class 1 Driver (Former Employee) - Manchester, Greater Manchester - 25 March 2019

Good company, lots of work great set of lads working there you can be home every night or the option to stay out all week , different everday,great if you want more in your job,

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family orientated...

class 1 driver (Former Employee) - Manchester, Greater Manchester - 31 January 2019

Dont make me laugh. After training with the company and leaving due to a change in circumstances (my daughter moved in) which couldn't be avoided I agreed to repay the training cost as soon as I was working again. swains withheld my last wage with no pre-warning nothing. Absolute joke.

Pros

christmas bonus n a free turkey

Cons

long hours. deceptive wage structure.

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Nice workplace

Traffic Manager (Former Employee) - Rochester - 21 November 2018

Hours 7-5 Some Saturdays , always on call Learned how to manage my days efficiently Hold cpc National and Cpc international Great interaction with the drivers

Pros

Friendly

Cons

Long hours

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High pressured but rewarding environment

General Manager (Former Employee) - Gatwick - 6 October 2018

Working in the construction and project management areas of the Airport and Rail industries is high pressured but the culture and team working there are excellent. Part of a larger group which did cause a lack of integration issues as we were different business models

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long hours

HGV Class 2 Driver (Current Employee) - Rochester - 5 September 2018

Long hours, pay does not accommodate the hours you put in. Old Vehicles. Pay not hourly Good amount of training provided CPC Kept up to date in house

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Was a good company to work for

LGV 1 Driver (Current Employee) - Strood, Kent - 22 May 2018

The company had gone down hill since the top man was not a swain .more interested in number crunching than being fair with long standing drivers but it does give youngsters a step in to the industry