As the world’s largest food and beverage company, manufacturing and supplying a broad range of food and drink products within the UK, you would find it difficult to find someone that didn’t know of the Nestlé brand. With a vision to “Unlock the power of food to enhance the quality of life for everyone, today and for generations to come”, they take on the mantle of industry leaders, encouraging such passion across all areas of the brand and are unquestionable trailblazers within the apprenticeship sector.
With dog friendly office spaces, on site gyms, competitive apprentice salaries and numerous development opportunities at sites across the UK, manufacturing confectionary, coffee and so much more, it’s easy to see why individuals, internally and externally, are drawn to the opportunities presented by Nestlé.
One such individual was Demand and Supply Planner, Phoebe Learoyd. Phoebe started her placement of her apprenticeship at Nespresso in September 2022 after working in the customer service and procurement department. However Phoebe had a desire to continuously develop her knowledge and skills in the supply chain of a multinational organisation.
Phoebe immediately justified Nestlés choice, correcting forecasts and rationalising the departmental portfolio within her area all as part of her programme project. As Albany Ward, Senior Lecturer at the University of Lincoln, Phoebes training provider puts it “With little guidance Phoebe is able to achieve great results, she has great initiative and is always looking for efficiencies”. Phoebes eagerness to develop would go beyond what was expected in her role, her incredible organisational skills and communication allow her to develop her proficiency in IT, including excel, developing formulated databases to track supply. Phoebes Managers and Trainers were repeatedly assured Phoebe would not only deliver but go the extra mile.
During her time in Procurement, Phoebe drove improvements in supplier performance, holding performance reviews with key suppliers, Smurfitt, Kappa and Sonoco to improve supply performance. Phoebe facilitated the Supplier Performance Reviews with the Procurement Leadership Team to share issues and drive escalation actions, playing a significant role in driving the Procurement Operational Master Plan (OMP).
“During her placement with us Phoebe has been exceptional at all times. She approaches every challenge with passion and determination and is always looking for ways to improve processes and relationships. She has grown in little time to become an asset achieving exceptional results in challenging projects such as age stock, saving the business over £30k by collaborating in sustainability, one of our key pillars as a B-corp certified corporation, where she managed to avoid critical breaches of compliance withing the OOH business.” – Albany Ward
Phoebes outstanding achievements would soon receive recognition, first internally winning the Nespresso B2B award for Q1 2023 in the pillar of Act for, always taking swift decisions to ensure both customers and salesforce are well informed and up to date with necessary information, mastering the arts of “internal coms” and stakeholder satisfaction. Secondly, following the completion of her End-Point Assessment (EPA) with Occupational Awards Limited (OAL) for the Level 3 Supply Chain Practitioner Standard, Phoebe would win the Apprentice of the Year level 3 category at the inaugural OAL Awards at York Racecourse in October 2023.
“Phoebe impressed the judges with the huge amount of energy and engagement she had brought to her team whilst working on her apprenticeship. She demonstrated that she was strong on results and always delivered everything she did to a high standard. Her application had great examples of impact on others and building excellent relationships with her network and her key stakeholders” Jan Richardson-Wilde, CEO of OAL
Following her success at the OAL Awards Phoebe would also be listed as a finalist for Apprentice of the Year at the Federation of Awarding Bodies Awards in November 2023, although she did not win, she did receive highly commended recognition for all her achievements. The ambition and work ethic Phoebe has shown throughout her journey to date show no signs of waning and the external recognition she has received have only added fuel to the fire as Phoebe intends to progress further at Nespresso via a level 4 or 5 apprenticeship.
“The OAL Awards was an extra special event, filled with amazingly talented people from all over the fast-moving goods industry, I felt honoured to be amongst the other finalists. Winning Level 3 Apprentice of the Year has been an amazing achievement in my career so far, being honoured externally has continued to fuel my excitement about what I hope to achieve in the rest of my supply chain career.” – Phoebe Learoyd