Connor Hutchins, University of Huddersfield, graduate of 2019

During college, I was convinced that university wasn’t for me – I knew a number of people who had graduated and struggled to find work without prior experience. It was when looking at higher apprenticeships that I stumbled across the NOVUS scheme and didn’t think twice about enrolling – it was definitely the course for me. The mixture of classroom learning and real-world experience seemed a no-brainer, especially when I saw the range of sponsors that supported the scheme. I always had a keen interest in management and so the Business with Supply Chain Management course seemed the perfect fit.

Although I had no prior knowledge of the logistics profession, I met with a careers counsellor, who spoke about the wide-ranging roles and opportunities that fall under the logistics umbrella, which reinforced my interest in the scheme.

Now, four years on from that meeting, I feel it was absolutely the right decision. Not only have I developed my business and management knowledge, I have been provided with several opportunities to implement these through the placements I have undertaken. The first of these was a summer placement after Year 1, where I spent six weeks at Muller Milk & Ingredients in Trafford Park. During my time at Muller, I saw the whole supply chain from ‘cow to customer’, spending time within the inbound team, the manufacturing team and finishing with the store delivery team. My placement finished with a presentation to the site management team, in which I presented my learnings from the placement and even offered some suggestions to develop the site, which they were more than happy to take on board. To have my opinions heard and respected by senior management as a 19 year old was such a privilege for me, and it was during my time at Muller that I knew logistics would be the sector for me.

Fast forward 12 months and I was starting my third year placement within Sainsbury’s Logistics. I spent the first six months at Waltham Point depot in North London, where I held the role of Depot Team Manager. Being responsible for my own team of warehouse colleagues, and for delivering Christmas for one of the UK’s largest retailers, made it the most difficult, yet rewarding, experience of my life and I felt I came out the placement a more confident and capable individual. During my final six months, I joined the central transport planning team in Daventry. This gave my an appreciation of the scale of operation that is involved with keeping the shelves stocked in over 1,000 supermarkets and convenience stores (and for the unpredictability of logistics!).

Upon graduation, I aim to go into a management role within a sponsor organisation that can give me the best opportunity to develop and continue on the exciting career I have built so far. Despite my time in logistics, I feel I have only scratched the surface of what the profession offers and I am eager to widen my knowledge and experience.