We were lucky enough to get the opportunity to have a week’s work experience with The Billington Group. Head Office in the Cunard Building looked like it had a fantastic working environment and at the start of the week Lloyd Whiteley said “listen, learn and have fun” and that’s exactly what we did.
During the week we were taken on tours of EPC Chester, CBAL, TSC and the new Billington Barn in Birmingham. On each visit we were really grateful that everybody we met put the time and energy into explaining how the factory was run, including the two Marks at EPC Chester who took us around; they were both so passionate about what they were doing.
At CBAL in Lancaster we were really impressed by Wayne’s understanding of the product and the processes. We also enjoyed visiting a Carrs Billington store to see the other side of the business and the roles of the retail workers. At TSC Mark Traynor guided us through the maze-like Red Building. He was obviously very committed to making a great work environment and improving efficiency with Project Evolution. At home, my family is always looking to try the latest Glorious Soups and so it was amazing to see their production and the care that goes into making such delicious products. In Birmingham, we ate at a Village Inn and all enjoyed something in our meal made by Billington’s. It really brought home to me the diverse range of products the company makes. We went to The Barn which I could instantly see was an imaginative, innovative place and how it plays an important role in helping Billington’s work together with customers. David Wilkinson and Chris gave us their time to explain what
The Barn is about and give us the opportunity to experiment ourselves with new food ideas. It was fascinating to see how each factory was managed in order to complete the orders in the most efficient way for that individual factory but it was also good to see how each of these strategies worked together to link a larger business. We had an amazing week, I always felt welcome and enjoyed every minute of it. We’d like to say a big thank you to all of those who helped to make it so great and would definitely recommend it to other family members.