When did you join Samworth Brothers?
I joined in July 2006, my first job after graduating.
Why did you choose Samworth Brothers and Ginsters?
I had done a lot of research into graduate training schemes whilst I was making my move back home to the South West when I finished Uni. Having spent a short time at Ginsters as part of my degree, Samworth Brothers seemed like an obvious choice. Being part of a family business appealed to me.
How has your career progressed?
In my first role, I was part of a technical team at a smaller satellite business so I got to experience all aspects of the department including quality assurance, spec writing, raw materials, process and product development. I then moved to Ginsters where I had more exposure to the technical function, including doing a diploma in packaging technology.
For the last three years I have been managing the hygiene department which is an area of technical that I had not been involved in before. I have recently accepted a new role in Technical as Site Compliance Manager, I would like to progress to the senior management team over the next few years.
What do you enjoy about the role?
I have always liked the variety of my roles; I’ve been able to go on site visits to suppliers ranging from dairy, vegetable processing and raw meat, to a paper mill, packaging manufacturers and printers, an equipment manufacturer in Spain and a pepperoni factory in Germany. In hygiene I got involved across all departments within the bakery so I was able to get a good overview of what was going on in operations, engineering, planning and technical. I led a team of around 60 people so there was always a different challenge involved in that, whether it’s dealing with an issue, or coming up with a solution for an improvement idea. You also get to see a lot of areas on site that a lot of people don’t like voids, plant rooms, and up on the roof.
For more information on the Samworth Brothers graduate programme go to here