2019 Agrovista Award, The Axworthy Cup and Robin Faccenda Prize winner: Will Nixon

Double prize winner, Will, Agriculture with Farm Business Management, spent his placement working in the egg industry with Stonegate Free Range & Organic Egg Specialists and Producers. Across the year his project work was under the highest level of scrutiny but Will rose to the challenge with style and passed with flying colours achieving 100% for employability.

Stonegate supply most of the UK’s leading retailers and, as such, they have national coverage with their fleet of over 150 lorries. Will’s placement saw him do an enormous amount around the business, travelling over 26,000 miles in the process of visiting their sites, learning about the business and getting involved in everything from quail egg trials to spending 8 weeks running a packaging department, which included leading a team of four people.

Will said: “I really fell on my feet with my placement and I’m hoping to go back to Stonegate to take up a graduate role with them. I glad I took on the egg placement and, although I’m not from an egg based background, taking up an egg based role gave me really valuable experience. Stonegate took me through everything from farm based roles right through to commercial roles so I was actively involved in the food supply chain. It’s really expanded my knowledge of a lot of jobs I wasn’t familiar with.”

Find out more about the Placement Awards 2019 here.