Sales Higher Apprenticeship

KEPAK KIRKHAM LIMITED

Preston (PR4 2DZ)

Closes on Friday 27 February 2026

Posted on 23 January 2026

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Contents

Summary

Our Sales Apprenticeships are designed to give our apprentices a great start to their careers by teaching them the essential skills, knowledge, and behaviours, as well as real job experience, needed to succeed, specifically within our sales and commercial teams.

Wage

£20,000 a year

Check minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)

Salary will increase to £22,000 at the start of Year 2

Training course
Sales executive (level 4)
Hours
Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm

37 hours 30 minutes a week

Start date

Monday 7 September 2026

Duration

2 years

Positions available

2

Work

Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.

What you'll do at work

Our Sales Apprenticeships are designed to give our apprentices a great start to their careers by teaching them the essential skills, knowledge, and behaviours, as well as real job experience, needed to succeed, specifically within our sales and commercial teams. 

The aim is to develop well-rounded apprentices who understand the full product lifecycle. 

Duties: from production to customer delivery and support the drive of sales while ensuring product and price alignment. 

Where you'll work

The Snackhouse St. Georges Park
Kirkham
Preston
PR4 2DZ

Training

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

Training provider

APPRENTIFY LIMITED

Training course

Sales executive (level 4)

Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)

What you'll learn

Course contents
  • Sales planning and preparation: Set effective targets using sales forecasts. Prioritise customers and activities to grow account value and maximise return-on-investment in line with your organisation’s strategy. Formulate or refine customer plans and objectives. Create efficient territory plans where appropriate.
  • Customer engagement: Effectively communicate and interpret customer information exchanged through written, verbal and non-verbal communication. Develop a customer engagement style that effectively opens sales conversations, builds rapport, enhances customer relationships, and adapts to different customer’s social preferences.
  • Customer needs analysis: Be highly skilled at effective questioning and active listening techniques to understand the customer’s needs, guide the sales conversation appropriately, create mutual understanding, and build trust and affinity with customers.
  • Propose and present solutions: Develop sales proposals and deliver them using a presentation style and technique appropriate for your customer. Present relevant products and/or services, explain features and their advantages, and clearly articulate the value and benefit of the solution for the specific customer. Use and adapt a range of techniques to draw-out and overcome common sales objections.
  • Negotiate: Research the customer’s likely desired outcomes and negotiating stance. Develop responses to likely objections. Identify your own organisation’s needs, such as minimum price and acceptable terms. Negotiate or trade variables effectively.
  • Closing Sales: Be attuned to verbal and non-verbal buying-signals andmove to close at an appropriate point in sales conversations. Develop ethical techniques to close sales and confirm customers’ purchase agreement.
  • Gathering Intelligence: Collect, analyse and interpret market intelligence and share it appropriately and effectively within your organisation.
  • Time Management: Use and adapt appropriate tools and techniques to prioritise and manage your time effectively.
  • Collaboration and team work: Contribute effectively within a team environment. Work collaboratively with both internal and external stakeholders. Manage communications with the cross-functional team in relation to the effective delivery of your sales, such as finance and service delivery. Support continual business improvement by sharing best practice with sales team colleagues and assist the marketing team to develop new marketing collateral.
  • Customer experience management: Deliver a positive customer experience. Manage customer enquiries and issues effectively. Take proactive action to prevent and minimise customer concerns and complaints. Handle all customer interactions professionally to the customer’s satisfaction.
  • Digital skills: Effectively use digital tools to conduct research and target customers in line with the overall sales strategy. Able to deliver presentations and meetings using digital communication. Complete accurate records and process sales in accordance with your organisation’s policies, procedures and digital CRM systems.

Training schedule

This training schedule has not been finalised. Check with this employer if you’ll need to travel to a college or training location for this apprenticeship.

Requirements

Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.

Skills

  • Communication skills
  • IT skills
  • Attention to detail
  • Organisation skills
  • Customer care skills
  • Problem solving skills
  • Presentation skills
  • Number skills
  • Analytical skills
  • Logical
  • Team working
  • Creative
  • Initiative
  • Patience

Other requirements

Our Sales roles are externally facing, so will involve regular travel

About this employer

Kepak is one of Europe’s leading food companies with manufacturing sites across Ireland and the UK. Kepak’s vision is to be a successful, sustainable, future ready Food Business with differentiation at its core, that is a great place to work. This vision is underpinned by our values of Responsibility, Ambition, Passion for Food & Teamwork.

http://www.kepak.com (opens in new tab)

Company benefits

Employee Discount Scheme. Service-Related Annual Leave. Discounted Health Insurance. Educational Assistance/ L&D. Discounted Meat Products. Cycle to work scheme. Employee assistance programme.

After this apprenticeship

Progress into Sales Executive roles as a first step, before progressing to Sales Management positions dependent on desire and performance.

Ask a question

The contact for this apprenticeship is:

APPRENTIFY LIMITED

The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000010394.

Apply now

Closes on Friday 27 February 2026

After signing in, you’ll apply for this apprenticeship on the company's website.