Great place to start - lot to learn - Trainee Buyer Primark Employee Review

4.0
8 July 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Salary: the best across the UK for an entry level buying position (most companies pay 17-19K), here it's well above. Sick pay: they only introduced sick pay for entry level office staff at the end of 2015, before it was deducted from your salary. Holiday: 20 days of paid holiday + 1 flexi day each month, which is their way of compensating for overtime. The company offers excellent learning opportunities, personal and professional development training. If you are looking for a Buyer's Admin job to get started, this is the perfect place. Unlike other entry level buying jobs, here you get to do a lot more than just admin (getting involved in the creative process, eventually developing a range of your own with the supervision of your Buyer).

Cons

Workload: this varies by team, but members of smaller teams have bigger workload, and if someone is on holiday or sick, it significantly increases the other team members tasks, as the deadlines are often very tight, waiting for their return is not an option. Office environment: definitely not a neat, tidy office, sample racks are everywhere, and trainees are fighting for space to where to keep their samples. (There is an office renovation happening at the moment, so according to the plans, there will be more space, until then, this remains a CON) Average overtime you need to calculate on top of your weekly 40h, is at least 15-30 hours/month.

Explore other reviews about Primark

5.0
5 Mar 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

reasonable, low stress, good PTO practices, consistent schedule

Cons

leadership was not the best

2.0
5 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You get lots of PTO up front as a part timer and can gain flex hours overtime. Get a 50 cent raise every six months.

Cons

Was told during onboarding that if a Christian comes into the store spreading the gospel, I have to kick them out. This includes the mention of the Jesus without the church invite. Managers claim its rude and if a customer does it, they get booted. Faced harassment from a customer and management didn't let me switch too a different department. Extremely high turnover rate and managers don't replace them, making your job more stressful during peak hours. Hard to use PTO. Little to no training. Too many bachelor and master holding part timers who get lucked out of moving up in the company. Managers give some people no task while pilling on multiple tasks on one person. Too many managers to deal with (and usually never find) and the full timers make you do the dirty work while they "unpack boxes". Its a pro-LGBT anti christian company. If they want to be pro-LGBT, than more power to them. But anti-Christian is discriminatory and unnecessary.

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