Sam Thompson

BSc (Hons) Food and Consumer Management

Sam’s enthusiasm for marketing and the food industry is infectious. He has just returned from a fantastic year long placement at Long Clawson Dairy in Leicestershire and literally has an endless list off experiences to recount about his time there.

“In my role as a Marketing Assistant I worked with a great team. Alongside other products, Long Clawson Dairy is the biggest producer of Stilton cheese in the world and one of my first jobs was to refresh the company’s online marketing strategy. This included redeveloping their website, establishing Long Clawson Dairy on social media platforms and tracking web traffic and media coverage.

I also got involved in the businesses’ export growth and we started shipping Stilton to China! Plus I worked with the Marketing Manager on the new marketing strategy which brought me into contact with other senior members of the business.

I really enjoyed working at trade fairs including the International Food Expo in London and I even did a demo at the Leicester Winter Food Festival. That was in a marquee in December and was freezing but I loved the challenge!

For the company’s Centenary celebrations I helped a food stylist with a photoshoot for their new recipe book, working with chef Tom Aikens and then attending the press launch. This gave me good experience for dealing with the media.”

Sam gained lots of other experience on his placement including taking part in a charity 100 mile bike ride with fellow colleagues and working with Long Clawson’s national account managers on product range reviews.   He strongly feels that his course prepared him well to make the most of his placement:

“The modules on marketing management, human resources, consumer behaviour and applied food communication were invaluable in helping me understand all sides of a business. It meant that I could talk confidently to colleagues in different sections whilst on placement and understand how the management structures worked. The course is tailored so well to industry and I can’t sing its praises enough!”.

Now in his final year, Sam also finds time to enjoy playing Gaelic football and cricket and has started to apply for jobs.

“ I would like to work on consumer brand management, maybe for a company like Nestle, analysing more closely what customers want and developing products to grow a business.”

Good luck Sam!