{"id":9589,"date":"2025-08-21T11:36:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T10:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/?p=9589"},"modified":"2025-08-21T11:36:40","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T10:36:40","slug":"from-bath-to-blackfriars-my-big-leap-into-london-life-and-unilever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/2025\/08\/21\/from-bath-to-blackfriars-my-big-leap-into-london-life-and-unilever\/","title":{"rendered":"From Bath to Blackfriars: My big leap into London life and Unilever"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi everyone, I\u2019m Ben \u2013 a Politics and International Relations student currently undertaking my industrial placement with Unilever.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>Having completed the first month and a half of my placement, I have been able to reflect on a period of remarkable new experiences from both a personal and professional standpoint. You can see the view from my new office on the right!<\/p>\n

This began with a big transition: moving to London after a busy few weeks away on an annual deployment exercise with my University Officer Training Corps.<\/p>\n

Having grown up in rural Herefordshire and studied in the beautiful city of Bath, London marks two firsts for me \u2013 my first corporate 9\u20135 and my first time living in a global capital. It\u2019s been a big change, but one I\u2019ve embraced fully. London\u2019s atmosphere and energy is unmatched, and the city has a unique charm that I\u2019ve really come to enjoy.<\/p>\n

I arrived with just one free day before starting, which I spent doing a bucket-list run across the city \u2013 ticking off sights from Buckingham Palace to the Tower of London and ending up with a very satisfying Strava map!<\/p>\n

Day one at Unilever was a mix of excitement and nerves. The onboarding process \u2013 from offer to induction \u2013 was seamless. You can see below my flatmates and I about to head in! The two-day induction event in Kingston brought together placement students from across the country, and the blend of icebreakers, activities, and training sessions made for a fun and informative start. It was also great socially, with events like mini-golf and darts on the first \"Four<\/a>evening helping everyone settle in.<\/p>\n

My first real day in the office followed, and it didn\u2019t disappoint. Unilever\u2019s Blackfriars HQ is nothing short of spectacular, with sweeping views of London landmarks such as St Paul\u2019s Cathedral, Tower Bridge, and The Shard. The historic exterior contrasts beautifully with the modern interior \u2013 and yes, the free ice cream is a definite bonus! While flexible working is an option, I\u2019ve chosen to come in everyday to soak up the energy and enjoy the commute through central London.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know my team and settling into my role. I work in OLAF (yes, like the snowman!) \u2013 our Operations, Legal and Finance communications team. It\u2019s a small but passionate team, and they\u2019ve made me feel welcome from day one. The learning curve has been steep, but the \u201clearn by doing\u201d culture means I\u2019ve already been trusted with real, meaningful work.<\/p>\n

From refining my writing skills to eventually managing my own projects, I\u2019ve set myself clear goals. One major lesson so far? The importance of IT skills. Whatever your placement, get comfortable with the tools and systems early \u2013 it makes a huge difference.<\/p>\n

It was great to round off my first month with a brilliant 3-day trip to Port Sunlight, the historical home of Unilever, for our half-year team meeting. A great agenda of devising strategy and team bonding was topped off by an incredibly exciting tour of the Personal Care factory and the Research and Development facilities!\"An<\/a> The historical village of Port Sunlight, built by Lord Lever for factory workers in the late 19th century, was also a great privilege to see. From picturesque homes to high-speed packaging lines, this trip is one I\u2019ll always remember!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a fantastic start, and I\u2019m excited to keep learning, growing, and sharing the journey ahead!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi everyone, I\u2019m Ben \u2013 a Politics and International Relations student currently undertaking my industrial placement with Unilever. Having completed the first month and a half of my placement, I have been able to reflect on a period of remarkable...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[24,310],"tags":[724,208,930],"class_list":["post-9589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faculty-of-humanities-social-sciences","category-placements","tag-facultyofhss","tag-placementlife","tag-living-in-london"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2021"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9589\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}