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The reason I chose Harper was because of the placement year. This was a real big factor as I knew how valuable the year in industry was – and my experience proved it!

I was at Branston Ltd for my 12-month placement and what a year it was!

I was surrounded by some amazing people who guided me and helped me throughout the year and the experience I had was significantly improved by the generosity and kindness of those who surrounded me.

The skills I gained are invaluable and there are many which I will carry with me into the future. Before starting at Branston, I would never have thought I would have come away with half the experience that I have gained.

Standout experiences include going to Tesco Heart for submissions, running taste panels, going into the factories, working on protein bakes just to name a few. I was starting with very little and basic knowledge of the food industry and what it took to launch products onto the market. Now, I have seen (and worked on!) several products which have launched to supermarket shelves and had the pleasure of working on products yet to launch.

I will forever be grateful for what I learned on placement and I cannot express my thanks to the NPD team and others enough. It was an incredible year and confirmed that I want to work in new product development.

Other highlights of my time at Harper Adams have been field trips. In second year we went to Bakkavor, near Crewe, for a tour of the factory and we got to participate in making some products. It was really interesting and informative.

Another trip was to Halfpenny Vineyard, which was a trip to help our assignment. Again, seeing the process was really interesting and it was a fun day out.


Holly Champion