Purchasing

"My first few weeks with Mitchells & Butlers provided a bit of a whistle-stop tour, with a one-week induction along with all of the other graduates in my year, followed by four weeks in one of our businesses. This provided the training needed to gain nationally recognised qualifications, and a great grounding in what our business actually does.

After this, I received my induction into the Purchasing Department and very swiftly was asked to manage the procurement of our Soft Drinks and Snacks categories. It wasn't clear at this stage how long this would be for but it was indicated 6-9 months.

My experience in terms of placements was a relatively short one. I spent 9 months in the Drinks Purchasing Team where my responsibilities included: developing a strategic direction for my categories (encompassing market and business evolutions); increasing my category knowledge with the aim of becoming the 'category expert'; renegotiating contracts; day to day contract management; building supplier relationships and investigating new sources of supply, as well as working very closely with supply chain to ensure continuity of supply from the supplier to our houses.

After my first 9 months I then moved into the Food Purchasing Team where I was given similar responsibilities but for a different Category (Seafood and Fish). I spent 6 months looking after this category before a job opportunity came up within Food Purchasing as a Category Procurement Manager, which I successfully applied for.

Since joining the Food Purchasing Team I've also looked after Grocery and Frozen Vegetables and currently having been promoted to Purchasing Manager I now look after Fresh Produce and Desserts.

One of the good things about the Purchasing Graduate Scheme at Mitchells & Butlers is that there isn't a pre-determined path that you have to follow, your schedule for the next 2 years isn't mapped out prior to starting and is allowed to evolve with your needs and the business's and therefore no one purchasing Grad has ever had exactly the same experience. I exited the graduate scheme after 15 months by choice as I felt I'd found the purchasing area (Food) in which I wanted to further develop my skills. The option was however there, to take another placement if I had wanted it.

In terms of the work itself, the purchasing environment is very fast paced as Mitchells & Butlers strives to stay one step ahead of the market and it's competitors. Even within Mitchells & Butlers there are lots of different concepts and brands, which almost become completely separate businesses when you're purchasing for them all!

I guess the key competencies I feel I have developed since joining Mitchells & Butlers are my abilities to multi-task (absolutely essential when you're buying for as many brands as Mitchells and Butlers has), how proactive I am in terms of always having to plan ahead, and most importantly my communication skills (being able to communicate cross-functionally as well as up and down the company hierarchy, which is in my opinion, is a critical success factor for anyone involved in Purchasing)

Good bits about my job - It's an exciting industry and extremely sociable. The teams in the Commercial Department are very diverse and each team can offer you very different purchasing experiences. I have now completed my MCIPS throughout which Mitchells & Butlers has offered 100% support. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the job itself is constantly evolving and no one day is the same.

Challenging bits - the workload is rarely steady and there are many peaks and troughs in this respect. There is also the difficulty in remembering that each Mitchells & Butlers brand and guest is different and therefore one solution can't fit all and you have to be as amenable and as flexible as you can when trying to find solutions to purchasing challenges, whilst still trying to achieve your end goal.

"If you have a passion for this industry and for making a real impact within it, then the Mitchells & Butlers Purchasing Graduate Programme might well be the right one for you."

 

|