Lailas Fine Foods — Restaurant in Great Britain

I joined Lailas in a professional procurement position - i resigned from post after 1 week. Their operations look impressive but firsthand they are unorganised and do not invest in relationships of any kind (suppliers, staff etc). The Directors are rude and at times embarrassing - i feared that if i stayed with the company i would lose my membership with a professional body as their management of suppliers, and the manner in which they discuss issues is frightening. A few things i noted in my short time:

On interview i was told by David that they have great CPD opportunities and that my predecessor had been studying for some time which they had supported. I was later told when in post that my predecessor was not supported and had funded the learning herself, and had moved on to better things.

On interview David made passing comment that my degree in business administration must mean i was very good at filing paperwork... I should have seen the signs but the post was a mid level role. In post it wasn't as advertised and was entry level!!

I was told that they conduct regular meetings with suppliers and hold events (i.e. meet the buyer). In post i quickly realised the majority of suppliers had never been met (supplier and staff feedback).

Directors shouting and arguing between offices (at each other, other staff and suppliers)

Director arguing with supplier over discounting a stationery product less than £1 in value (quantity 1!)

Director had asked if i had no work to do - after leaving 20 minutes past finishing time. Another employer told me that if i wanted to be successful i had to work at least 1 hour extra a day.

This is by far the worst employer i have had and would plead anyone to avoid them! I found them to be demoralising and dis-functional! If you're going to work for them then be prepared! They are very short term focused and...

If you order ready meals from Iceland or Lidl and on the back of the ready meal it says made by Lailas fine foods bispham AVOID!! I have seen them use out of date mince beef for spaghetti bolognese,cottage pie and other products they have been using out date by a month cooked pulled beef because its frozen they say its ok to use.They have been freezing fresh onions,yogurt butter,margarine on day of expiry then using it up to a month later by defrosting it even though they can be a month out of date apparently its ok to use because its frozen. They have using out date milk and its getting approved by owner to use.Watering down beer and wine to make it last longer and save money also using cheap wine instead of Chianti wine when on the label it says Chianti ragu or made using Chianti wine.They also been using GMO oil instead of olive oil, rapeseed sunflower or sesame oil and on the label it doesn't say its got GMO product into it and on the label it can say on the ingredients olive oil sunflower rapeseed or sesame oil but they have been using GMO oil.They put more water on products to get more portions. They hire lots of staff who cant speak English so they wont report the stuff thats going on and most people and management and supervisors know whats going on but are to scared to report anything because they will be sacked. Also staff cant take phones in apart from trusted people management supervisors or QC so staff can't take pictures. The management supervisors and Qc have picture off all the wrongdoing but are scared to say anything as they...

I am currently employed by Laila's and work in the factory, I thoroughly enjoy working there. The work is challenging but also rewarding, there is a huge emphasis on safety which controls the way things are done, as you can imagine safety needs to be at the forefront of everything we do and controls are strict for obvious reasons when in the food industry. This workplace rewards people who are willing to work and who use their initiative, which is the same for all the places I have worked. If you are looking for an exciting ever changing job or career this is the place for you, but be warned there isn't anywhere to hide. If you are a slouch or work shy don't bother. I think most of the negative reviews about Laila's are from disgruntled employees who have been found out for not doing what they had been paid to do. Great place to work, fast moving...