Warburtons is recruiting its next generation of engineering apprentices for its Tuscany Park bakery in Wakefield, with applications closing in December 2026.

The four-year engineering apprenticeship trains apprentices to become multi-skilled maintenance engineers while they earn a salary from day one. The starting salary is £21,500 a year, increasing in each year of the programme, and Warburtons pays tuition fees and first-year accommodation costs.

The first year is spent on a full-time residential programme with the company's national training provider, Midland Group Training Services (MGTS), in Coventry, with apprentices staying in student accommodation close to the training facility. After that, apprentices return to Warburtons, combining hands-on work with further training and support from a dedicated mentor.

Over the four years, apprentices work on electrical, mechanical and control engineering, maintaining highly automated equipment and production systems, fault-finding and diagnosing problems, and repairing and replacing mechanical and electrical components. They also learn the food and safety standards that keep the bakeries running safely.

On completing the programme, apprentices achieve a BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering and can begin work as qualified multi-skilled engineers, with routes onward into areas such as engineering management, project engineering and continuous improvement.

The package includes 25 days of paid holiday, a structured four-year development programme, an award-winning contributory pension scheme, discounted gym membership and retail vouchers, including discounts on Warburtons products.

Applicants must be 18 or over by 1 September 2027, because of the residential requirement in the first year, and must have five GCSEs or equivalent, including level 5 or above in maths, level 4 or above in English and level 4 or above in either science or ICT. They must also be comfortable working flexibly, including shifts, weekends and evenings from the third year onwards, and committed to completing the full four-year programme.

Warburtons' Tuscany Park site, which opened in 2005 on the outskirts of Normanton at Wakefield Europort, has three high-speed, highly automated manufacturing plants producing lines including Toastie, Farmhouse, Danish and wholemeal loaves and sliced bread rolls. Around 500 colleagues are based at the site, with a further 70 at the company's Howden depot.

Shortlisted candidates will be contacted in January 2027, with an assessment day in March 2027, offers in March or April 2027, and successful apprentices starting in mid to late August 2027. The company says applicants should get their applications in early. Applications are made through Warburtons' own careers website, and no payment is requested from applicants.