Wing Yip, the UK’s largest oriental grocer, has announced that it will continue to run its annual Industrial Placement programme in partnership with Loughborough University, despite of the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic

The business has committed to the growth and development of three students this year, who are all conducting a work placement at the company.

Liv Oxer, 20 from Cheshire, Jack Shillinglaw, 21, from New Brighton and Heather Swindlehurst, are all in their third year at Loughborough University, studying for International Business, BSc Economics and Management and Management Sciences.

Placements at Wing Yip will give them the opportunity to delve into a variety of projects ranging from marketing, to e-commerce and general management.

Wing Yip director, Ennevor Yap, comments: “We have offered work placements to students at Loughborough University for the past two years and did not want this year to be any different – this is the first year where we’ve recruited Loughborough students.

“We understand that Covid-19 has made it more challenging for young people to secure placements, so it was especially important that we continued our work to support local students and help them progress their chosen career paths.

As much as we do to support everyone involved in the programme, we are very grateful for all the hard work and dedication shown by each student and we would encourage them to keep up the good work!”

Wing Yip has four superstores located in Birmingham, Manchester, Cricklewood and Croydon and an online shop at www.wingyip.com.

Liv Oxer, who is currently based at Wing Yip Birmingham in the marketing department, added: “I feel very lucky that I have been able to work at Wing Yip this year, in spite of everything that is happening in the world currently.

“Many of my friends have lost their spots on placements due to Covid-19 and finding a new one can be really tricky. It’s great that I am still able to gain valuable work experience which will be really beneficial once I graduate. Thank you to Wing Yip for giving me the opportunity!

Wing Yip has confirmed bringing on another two students onto the team towards the end of this year.

The business also runs a year one retail module in partnership with Loughborough University’s business school which has been running since 2018