Inspiring young people in Newham through work experience placements

Our business sits at the heart of our local community in Newham and has done for over 140 years. Today, we are committed to building economic and social wealth in our community, with a particular interest in young people and employability.

We’re committed to empowering and inspiring the young minds of Newham, while equipping them with the essential skills needed to thrive in the workplace. We believe that all young people have great potential, but can lack access and exposure to careers that inspire them. Our work experience placements aim to expose young people from Newham to careers at an employer on their doorstep, while also giving us as an employer access to a future talent pool which is reflective of the community in which we operate.

We have hosted a number of work experience placements for local young people from five secondary schools in Newham this summer across various departments including Corporate Affairs, Legal, Marketing, Quality, Finance and Human Resources.

Masaad Saleh from Langdon Academy recently joined us for a week’s work experience in our Human Resources department. Reflecting on her time with us, Masaad said “I found my work experience at Tate and Lyle Sugars very enjoyable, informative and overall, a great experience.”

I’ve learned transferrable skills including how to advertise job vacancies. By being given a project to work on throughout my placement, I was able to learn how to research and present my thoughts and ideas on a topic. I also really enjoyed participating in an employee volunteering activity with 30 Tate & Lyle Sugars employees to beautify a green space near their factory.

Masaad Saleh, work experience placement

We are grateful for the support of Inspire ebp (previously 15billionebp) who help us organise work experience placements. We support their World of Work programme which aims to inspire and raise the aspirations of local Newham primary school children through workplace visits.