Food Business Graduate Programme

📣 Tobi’s Take: Who doesn’t love food and the chance to work in marketing, commercial and product? You could be working on the next iconic TV Ad and PR plans one minute and developing products the next.

✅ You need to show you’re excited by the idea of working on food and innovating. They want curiosity so what food products are catching your eye at the moment? They want people interested in customer trends so what have you noticed about how you and your friends are changing what you buy?

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❓About the programme

A fast-paced programme for those who are passionate about food. Discover how to deliver quality and innovative products for one of the UK’s most-loved Food businesses.

💥 What you’ll be doing

You’ll start with a 4-month placement in one of our stores. Here, you’ll start to understand our customers and colleagues first-hand and gain valuable experience to take into your rotations. Then you’ll go into your chosen track:

• In Commercial, you’ll spend time in Supply Chain, in Space, Range and Display and in Buying. You’ll analyse customer data to help forecast demand, get the right products on the shelves, work with suppliers and plan exciting new product ranges.
• In Marketing and Product, you’ll join the teams that get our Food in front of the nation. One minute, you could be working on PR plans or our next iconic TV ad, the next you’ll see first-hand how we develop products from start to finish.

🌟 What it takes to succeed

High standards and a shared passion. That’s what you’ll need. It’s not about having a specific degree. This is about real enthusiasm for M&S and the quality Food products we create. For the Commercial track, you’ll need to be comfortable with numbers and data with an analytic mind. For the Marketing and Product track, you’ll have an eye for detail and enjoy innovation and creative thinking. In addition, these skills will set you up for success across both tracks:

• Showing the ambition to lead and responding confidently to resolve situations
• Learning quickly and striving for high standards
• A genuine interest in customer needs and ability to innovate to meet them
• Building strong relationships and clearly communicating across teams

🛣️ Where it could lead

With this programme, you’ll gain a strong commercial awareness, a deep understanding of how our Food business works and a clear sense of where you’re headed. You’ll finish with a permanent role within the M&S Food business and be on track for a long-term career with leadership potential.

• With the Commercial track, that could mean roles involving buying, planning ranges, managing supply and demand or shaping strategies
• With Marketing and Product, your future could involve leading PR and media campaigns, shaping brand communications or developing new food ranges

🍋 Why choose M&S Food?

Our food is not just any food. We’ve got a reputation for quality, value and innovation. And it shows, with over 32 million customers and stores nationwide. We’re continually looking for new ways to improve and stay ahead in a fast-changing market. Our five-year vision is to reshape retail for the future and our graduates sit at the heart of this transformation as the future leaders of M&S.