Name: Ed Farrell
Job title: NPD Manager
Company: Gressingham Foods
Sales: £92m
HQ: Loomswood Farm, Woodbridge, Suffolk
Number of employees: 560
What's it like to work for your company? Busy, which is great! The company has grown rapidly since I joined in September 2008. We supply all the major retailers as well as wholesalers and independents, so it is a fun challenge to split your time equally between customers. There is never a dull day.
Why is it a good employer? Gressingham is a family-owned business. William and Geoffrey Buchanan run the business now and they are good employers because they put a lot of faith in your ability. If they can see you're good at something or you put your hand up and say "I can do this", they will trust you to get on with it.
What's the best thing about working there? The product! I probably eat duck most days in taste panels and various development sessions and I am yet to get bored of it. That is purely down to the quality of the meat.
Does the company offer any unusual benefits? We are working with Galton Blackiston at the moment, a Michelin-starred chef from North Norfolk, and he is developing some fantastic duck recipes for us. We have to test these recipes out so the company gives us goody bags with all the ingredients in to trial the recipes on our friends and family. Not a bad perk in my opinion.
How does the company differ from its rivals? We are the only company in the world licensed to breed the Gressingham Duck. That gives us a huge point of difference over our rivals.
Is there a definable company culture? It's an 'all hands to the deck', friendly, family culture. There are no definite department responsibility splits, we all muck in to get the job done.
What's the training like and what qualifications can I earn? All of our factory staff and technical team have regular scheduled training to keep them up to date. There is also regular NVQ training for factory and farms staff.
Has the company won any awards? Last year we won the Farm Business of the Year award at the Food & Farming Industry Awards, which is a tremendous accolade and one we are justly proud of.
What has been your proudest achievement of the past 12 months? That would probably have to be developing a multibird roast for the Sainsbury's Christmas range. The product really took off and our orders trebled. We even heard a rumour that the CEO of Sainsbury's had it for his Christmas dinner!
What tips would you offer jobseekers? I always look for a bit of charisma, someone who will fit in well in the office and be able to build good relationships with our many customers. How do I find out more about the company? Come and visit us at one of the food festivals we are attending this summer; see full details on our website.
Are you working on anything exciting right now? Duck sausages... watch this space!
Job title: NPD Manager
Company: Gressingham Foods
Sales: £92m
HQ: Loomswood Farm, Woodbridge, Suffolk
Number of employees: 560
What's it like to work for your company? Busy, which is great! The company has grown rapidly since I joined in September 2008. We supply all the major retailers as well as wholesalers and independents, so it is a fun challenge to split your time equally between customers. There is never a dull day.
Why is it a good employer? Gressingham is a family-owned business. William and Geoffrey Buchanan run the business now and they are good employers because they put a lot of faith in your ability. If they can see you're good at something or you put your hand up and say "I can do this", they will trust you to get on with it.
What's the best thing about working there? The product! I probably eat duck most days in taste panels and various development sessions and I am yet to get bored of it. That is purely down to the quality of the meat.
Does the company offer any unusual benefits? We are working with Galton Blackiston at the moment, a Michelin-starred chef from North Norfolk, and he is developing some fantastic duck recipes for us. We have to test these recipes out so the company gives us goody bags with all the ingredients in to trial the recipes on our friends and family. Not a bad perk in my opinion.
How does the company differ from its rivals? We are the only company in the world licensed to breed the Gressingham Duck. That gives us a huge point of difference over our rivals.
Is there a definable company culture? It's an 'all hands to the deck', friendly, family culture. There are no definite department responsibility splits, we all muck in to get the job done.
What's the training like and what qualifications can I earn? All of our factory staff and technical team have regular scheduled training to keep them up to date. There is also regular NVQ training for factory and farms staff.
Has the company won any awards? Last year we won the Farm Business of the Year award at the Food & Farming Industry Awards, which is a tremendous accolade and one we are justly proud of.
What has been your proudest achievement of the past 12 months? That would probably have to be developing a multibird roast for the Sainsbury's Christmas range. The product really took off and our orders trebled. We even heard a rumour that the CEO of Sainsbury's had it for his Christmas dinner!
What tips would you offer jobseekers? I always look for a bit of charisma, someone who will fit in well in the office and be able to build good relationships with our many customers. How do I find out more about the company? Come and visit us at one of the food festivals we are attending this summer; see full details on our website.
Are you working on anything exciting right now? Duck sausages... watch this space!
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