Anca-Sabina Gropeneanu

I initially joined Branston when I was working for a temping agency. I was working on the lines in the Prepared factory at the beginning, doing lots of days and quickly picking up the skills I needed. After three months there was a vacancy in the Fresh factory, so I moved over there and was soon promoted to a Key Operative role, initially on Days, but then moving onto the Night Shift.

This was a great learning opportunity, but I missed the buzz of Prep so when a job came up for an Area Leader in the Ingredients section of Prep I moved back across, initially covering the Night shift but then moving on to Days. I was trained up as a Key Operative, covering all the lines, until a vacancy for a daytime Area Leader came up and I moved into that.

There’s a lot to learn in Prep. It’s very dynamic and there are a lot of product changeovers with short runs and complex processes. I got a good grounding in all of this so after a couple of years I felt confident in applying for a role in the Process team. I think all the experience I have of the way everything fits together in the Prep factory has been really useful for that.

I was a Process Technologist for one and a half years, involved in introducing new products to our ranges. I did lots of testing and trials in the factory to make sure that we could make the products the way they should be and they would meet the technical specifications.

After this I spent six months as a Continuous Improvement Manager, which is all about trying new ways of doing things and working out solutions.

I’ve since been promoted to Production Manager in Prepared. Every day is different, and you have to understand the pressures as the teams focus on meeting the day’s orders. I thrive on a challenge and enjoy leading the team to make sure we work together to achieve our targets.