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Hutchinson Jonas Group award 2009: Food science student wins industry award

Laura Coyle

Laura Coyle (aged 21), food science student at the University of Reading, has been announced as the winner of the annual Hutchinson Jonas award. The award is in recognition of her achievements during her placement at Tesco.

The Hutchinson Jonas Group, the food industry’s recruiter, launched the £500 award last year. Scott Hutchinson, Managing Director, said:

“There are fantastic career opportunities in the food industry but it has a reputation of long hours and low pay. We wanted to show today’s students that good work gets well rewarded, so we launched our own industry award.”

The UK food and drink industry is one of the most competitive manufacturing sectors in the world, with an annual turnover of £77.4 billion and employing over 500,000 people. Yet it has suffered from falling numbers of top graduates coming into the market.

The course at Reading is a leading example of a vocational course that is succeeding in filling the skills gap in the food industry. The students gain valuable experience that often leads directly to a job. The Hutchinson Jonas award is an incentive to excel while on placement.

Professor Michael Gordon, Director of Teaching & Learning at the University, said: “The opportunity to undertake an industrial placement is an important component of the BSc degrees. The students benefit strongly from an understanding of the challenges facing the food industry, and the problem-solving that they are faced with allows them to develop skills that complement their academic studies in the University.”

Laura was chosen out of 30 applicants to join the technical team at Tesco, where her responsibilities included quality and competitor analysis, improving the shelf life of products, and meeting suppliers to see how they managed production of products and followed up on complaints.

She said: “The placement was probably the best choice I’ve ever made. It cleared all my preconceived ideas of the food industry and changed my mind about which areas I’d like to work in. I’ve been offered a job in the technical department when I graduate and am expecting the contract to be sent through in the next few weeks.

“It was a big step for me to take a placement, I originally was going to do a three year course, and for me to have excelled and be recognised for my work with the Hutchinson Jonas award makes me feel like I have truly achieved something by my own merits.”

 

Hutchinson Jonas raises £2,000 for local charity

In March, Scott, Owen, Kyp and Kerrie ran the Bath Half Marathon  to raise money for local charity  PROPS. Not only did they speed round the course but they raised over £2,000.

PROPS is one of the only charities in the Bristol area to offer support to children and young adults with severe special needs. It is run by a team of volunteers who organise a range of educational and sporting activities for the children and young adults.

Students from PROPS with one of their vinyl prints

One of the most successful initiatives has been a business enterprise after school club where industry professionals come and help the students to made products they can display and sell. The money raised by Scott and the team means they can buy a Roland Cutter, a new piece of equipment that will enable the

students to produce quality canvas prints, vinyl prints, posters, printed t shirts and fridge magnets.