my placement experience

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to secure a week placement at British Bakels Ltd. I was so excited by this opportunity as I was keen to gain any sort of insight into the industry and gain some experience along the way! British Bakels manufacture a wide range of bakery ingredients and distribute them for their customers which range from large-scale industries to craft bakeries located all over the country! Their site in Bicester is only one of many across the world, with 38 subsidiaries spanning all five continents! 

After university I would like to work in the industry itself, expanding my knowledge across all departments and this placement was the perfect opportunity for me to do so. Bakels very kindly organised me to have a day in each section of their site which proved to be very insightful as I got to grasp how the company functions and not just in one sector. 

On Monday it was general introductions to Bakels and British Bakels as an enterprise, Tuesday I was able to visit their labs and see how they test their products against quality specifications using equipment I was already familiar with from university. Tuesday also provided me an opportunity to have a go in Bakels test bakery and baking a few of their most popular products. Wednesday provided me with an opportunity to have some time out of the site on some customer visits which saw me travelling and observing what the sales team to do present their clients with new products British Bakels might be coming out with or solutions to an issue a customer has with an existing product b replacing it with one of Bakels’. Thursday presented me with a product development challenge in which I was tasked with playing with flavours and quantities within a specification and this was continued on Friday where I was in the test bakery again playing with some of their most popular products and seeing how I could put a twist on them. 
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Overall, I was very grateful to Bakels for giving me this opportunity as it is not advertised or a part of a student program. I gained valuable experience I will carry through onto my future career. I would advise any student to gain some experience in the industry as it looks excellent on your CV whilst giving you valuable experience.

Izzy :)​

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