Animal Care Assistant - Retail (Apprenticeship 18-24)

The apprenticeship is only eligible for people aged 16-24 not in fulltime education.

This role is hands on in caring for the animals in our store and helping keep the store and environment clean and tidy. The animals in store are Aquatics, Reptiles, Arachnids, insects and small animals, rabbits, hamsters, etc. The role will be assisting our team with in-store duties including animal care and retail work.

What will the apprentice be doing?

• Store duties including animal care and retail work (cleaning / putting out stock etc)
• Helping keep the store and environment clean and tidy
• Cleaning of animals
• Animal handling
• Customer service duties
• Liaising with customers regarding animal care and welfare needs

What training will the apprentice take and what qualification will the apprentice get at the end?

• Level 2 Animal Care and Welfare
• Level 2 Functional Skills in Maths and English if required
• Day release at Rodbaston College

What is the expected career progression after this apprenticeship?

Potential to join our team on a permanent basis, working in-store and serving customers.

Apprenticeship standard

Animal care and welfare assistant
Level 2 (GCSE)

About the employer

With humble origins in Wolverhampton but with dreams bigger than a Great Dane, we at HugglePets are proud to say that we’re a family-owned business with a large reach all over the UK and an equally large part in the local community. We got into the business as pet lovers, but it’s the people who have kept us going. Our retail store is home to a wide range of live animals, but we also stock almost any pet accessory you can think of. Here we have our very own fulfilment centre, which helps to reduce packing time and get out orders at lightning speed. When you buy from us, your product is handled, packaged and delivered right here in the UK. An advantage of visiting us in person is our in-store animal experts who can personally assist you with any pet problem you might have – trust us, we’re not just shelf stackers. It’s also home to our unique Community Aquarium & Sensory Activity Centre, which plays a big part in the work HugglePets in the Community do, and our brand-new Reptile Room. What’s HugglePets in the Community, you might be thinking? Well, it’s our affiliated charity that helps people with mental health, behavioural issues and psychological wellbeing with the aid of animal therapy. We’re enormously proud of the positive social change that this work has had on the lives of many young people, and by buying from us, you’ll be supporting this community work and helping it thrive for years to come. For several years now, we’ve been developing our own branded pet care products, which are made with one ethos in mind – everything we create is of good value. This stems from our own position as consumers, as we only believe in making products that we ourselves would want to buy. Everything we develop comes straight from the factory to our location in Wolverhampton, meaning that we’ve cut out the middleman entirely. Ever since then, our brand has continuously risen to new heights – we’re like a dog chasing a car, we just won’t stop! One of our branded products, the HugglePets Fabric Crate Foldable Pet Carrier, has sold over 100,000 units and was even featured in Crufts 2020. That’s just one of the milestones we take pride in, and we’re working hard at developing our next bestseller. From tails to scales, your pet matters to us.

Job Type: Full-time

Salary: £5.28 per hour

Benefits:

• Company pension
• Employee discount
• On-site parking

Schedule:

• Day shift

Shift availability:

• Day shift (preferred)

Work Location: In person