Grocer Gold Awards 2026: Pilgrim's wins employer award for people strategy

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Pilgrim's Europe

Winner: Pilgrim’s Europe

With over 17,000 staff at more than 40 sites in the UK, Ireland, France and the Netherlands, the consolidation of Pilgrim’s Europe to create a single entity presented a huge people challenge.

The aim of Accelerate 2025 was to integrate culture, safety, capability, wellbeing, recognition and engagement to create an inclusive, high-performing and safe workplace, where colleagues could grow, contribute and feel proud of their impact.

From a new Uxbridge HQ, the strategy – informed by its annual staff survey, peer forums and one to ones – was split into key pillars.

Supporting staff growth and performance was one of the key aims. Pilgrim’s set out to provide an upgraded learning management system, targeted leadership workshops and clearer career pathways. The company expanded access to over 3,000 online courses, professional qualifications and mentoring and coaching.

At the same time, Pilgrim’s looked to encourage future leaders by aligning its apprenticeships, graduate programme and rotational placements – giving all new staff the chance to build their skills through structured internal programmes.

Communication was another important focus. Pilgrims launched a new intranet to showcase stories from staff, a colleague smartphone app and self-service kiosks. It also established a predictable rhythm of updates from leadership. Pilgrim’s set up monthly calls led by the president with a live Q&A, a monthly leadership blog, quarterly workshops and bi-annual, cross-site cultural events.

Wellbeing was the final crucial pillar. Pilgrim’s invested in initiatives to improve staff wellbeing such as a dedicated Help@Hand app to provide assistance, health consultations and support. Recognition was also encouraged through its in-house Stars programme, which celebrates achievements based on peer nominations, and seasonal tokens such as Christmas vouchers.

The results speak have been “excellent” said the judges, including reduced turnovers. (Average service length at Pilgrim’s now stands at 7.6 years.) Employee growth initiatives helped secure 840 internal promotions last year. The colleague engagement survey – completed by 97% of staff – achieved net promoter scores in the high seventies in areas such as trust, role fit and safety.

Active efforts to recruit more women into the business have paid off. The most recent graduate intake was 52% female, meaning women now make up 38.5% of the Pilgrim’s workforce. And the gender pay gap fell from 6.1% in 2023 to just 2.2% in 2025.

The “comprehensive” action plan, with “clear leadership from the top” and “insightful use of graduates and apprentices”, “has helped unify the business to attract, develop and retain talent at all levels,” said the judges, “and is a real step on after a few years of restructuring. It’s an excellent story and a worthy winner.”