Musgrave, Ireland’s leading food retail, wholesale, and foodservice company, celebrated outstanding talent and innovation at its annual Early Careers Summit, highlighting the achievements of its young professionals through a series of prestigious awards.
This landmark event provided a platform for early careers professionals from the Musgrave Graduate Programme, Intern programme and other roles across the business to connect with senior leaders, share their insights on their careers to date, in addition to showcasing a range of research projects undertaken as part of the Graduate Programme.
The summit culminated in an awards ceremony that honoured the exceptional contributions of early careers colleagues across five categories. The winners include:
- Graduate of the Year: Mary Nealon – Retail Operations Graduate
- Best Business Impact: Seán Cassidy – Supply Chain Team Leader
- Best Team Impact: Sam Kane – Data Scientist
- Rising Star: Kate McCarthy – Product Manager
- Early Careers Manager of the Year: Jamie Caffrey – Store Manager, SuperValu Blanchardstown
The Early Careers Summit is part of Musgrave's ongoing commitment to nurturing early career talent and providing career development opportunities. Anchoring the summit were presentations from four project teams participating in the Musgrave Graduate Programme. The teams worked on business projects over several months, culminating in recommendations presented to senior leaders. Each project was sponsored by a member of the executive team, offering graduates valuable mentorship opportunities.
Speaking about the Early Careers Summit, Siobháin Scanlon, Early Careers Manager, Musgrave, said: "The objective of the Early Careers Summit is to create a moment that matters for early careers colleagues, supporting them in learning about various careers within Musgrave, networking with peers and senior leaders, and highlighting the wealth of development opportunities in our business.”
She added: "We’re proud of all the nominees and winners of our first-ever Early Careers Awards. Their dedication, innovation, and commitment to our values exemplify the high standards we strive for at Musgrave. Congratulations to Mary Nealon, Seán Cassidy, Sam Kane, Kate McCarthy, and Jamie Caffrey on their well-deserved awards."
Speaking about winning the “Rising Star” Award, Kate McCarthy, Product Manager, said: “Winning the Rising Star award is an incredible honour. I am grateful for the support and opportunities provided by Musgrave, which have driven my professional growth. This recognition motivates me to continue striving for excellence and contributing to the success of the Musgrave. I work with an incredible team and I am honoured they nominated me for this award.”
The format of the summit was designed to foster interaction and learning, ensuring that early career professionals, managers, and senior leaders could network and engage with individuals outside their immediate teams.
Looking ahead, Musgrave plans to expand the summit to include an even broader range of early careers professionals, ensuring the event continues to be engaging and interactive into the future.
The Early Careers Summit is an important part of the Musgrave Graduate Programme, an award-winning and market-leading programme that offers graduates a structured transition programme from college to the workplace. It is one of the country’s leading Graduate programmes and has been operating for over 30 years.
Ms Scanlon added: “Today is an important milestone and a key part of our Graduates’ development journey; those finishing the Programme this summer will progress their careers, following in the footsteps of previous Graduates, a number of whom are working in Executive and Director-level positions across the business. We look forward to their continued success in their careers and future endeavours in Musgrave”.
The Musgrave 2025 Graduate Programme opens in September 2024, interested applicants can register their interest now via www.musgraveearlycareers.com
