My Food Technology Industrial Placement with Marks & Spencer
“I’ve developed both technically and personally in ways I couldn’t have imagined.” - Sienna Johnston, food science and nutrition student, shares her placement experience with M&S.
As I wrap up the first half of my Food Technology Industrial Placement, I wanted to reflect on what an incredible experience it has been at Marks & Spencer.
Over the past 6 months, I’ve had the opportunity to work within the MDF team, working across Traditional Meals and Prepared Vegetables, focusing on raw material consistency. From understanding supplier processes to ensuring product quality meets the highest standards, it’s been a truly hands-on learning experience.
Some key highlights from my time at M&S:
- Visiting 26 different suppliers, gaining invaluable insight into primary production and manufacturing environments
- Completing 8 training courses, building both my technical knowledge and professional skills
- Shadowing colleagues across the wider Food Group to understand the end-to-end product lifecycle
- Being Percy Pig for the day – a definite career highlight!
- And of course… plenty of product tasting along the way!
I’m incredibly grateful for the exposure, responsibility and structured training I’ve received in just six months which have allowed me to dive deeper into the magic of M&S. The support from the entire food technology team has been outstanding, and I’ve developed both technically and personally in ways I couldn’t have imagined at the start of the placement.
I’m sad to be leaving M&S as a company, but I’m excited to take everything I’ve learned into the next six months of my placement with Finnebrogue, where I hope to continue building on this strong foundation within my role in technical!