Jenna Allen – CAFRE Alumni
Jenna Allen, graduated with a Master’s in Business for Agri-food and Rural Enterprise in 2019.
What course did you study at CAFRE and how has it influenced your career?
I completed the Master’s in Business for Agri-Food and Rural Enterprise course which is delivered by CAFRE in collaboration with Queen’s University Belfast. The course helped develop my critical thinking, and allowed me to apply my working knowledge at an academic level.
Why did you decide to study at CAFRE?
I was attracted to CAFRE due to the flexible study options that are offered. I completed the course via the part time study route which allowed for flexibility around working full time. I couldn’t have undertaken this course of study otherwise.
What is your current job and responsibilities?
I am employed as Group Continuous Improvement Manager at Finnebrogue Artisan, Downpatrick, Co Down. The business has progressed rapidly in recent years and is the UK’s leading artisan food producer. Its restless drive for innovation has been the cornerstone of its success, with turnover growing £50M business to £180M business in the past five years.
Do you have a typical working day?
My typical working day is very busy. Continuous improvement impacts all areas of the business, focusing on lean and Kaizen projects. A typical day for me involves reviewing performance metrics, digging into the raw data for a particular problem that has been identified, working with different project teams at all levels then tracking and reporting out on the performance of all your projects you’ve been working on to see if you really fixed root causes and had the expected impact.
What is the best thing about your job?
I love all aspects of my job but if I have to choose one thing I would say that the high level of variety in my job is what I love best, no two days or two projects are the same and obviously continuous Improvement can be implemented in any area of a business so this combined is the best thing about my job.
What is the greatest challenge of your job?
Communication is crucial in every aspect of my job and due to the dynamic nature of everyday work events I have to say that maintaining effective communication is a continuous challenge.
What is your fondest memory of your time at CAFRE?
Dr Kevin Henry’s statistics classes. He has such a nice way with his students and he made the class for statistics so much more enjoyable.
Have you undertaken further training since leaving CAFRE?
My study at CAFRE has given me a thirst for learning and advancement. Since graduation I have studied CMI Level 7 Strategic Leadership and Management and the Level 3 Award in Effective Auditing and Inspection.
Do you keep in touch with fellow students who were in your class?
Absolutely yes, the class had a broad range of students from different industries and I have kept connected both in a personal capacity and a professional capacity.
What advice would you give a new graduate?
The best advice I could give is to realise that ‘Your career is a journey, enjoy it’. The agri-food industry is the largest of Northern Ireland’s private sectors and has some many different opportunities. Whilst it is can be a very challenging career path it is also very rewarding.