My Time at QEF as a Project Intern

Name :Adam Ormston

Role : Project Intern

I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience as an intern at QE Facilities, and I am sad to say it’s come to an end. From the moment I stepped through the door, I was made to feel welcome and comfortable. I was given a tour of the office and grounds to make sure I knew where I was going. I was also introduced to every member of the team and had a couple minutes chat to introduce myself and learn about everyone’s roles. I found every person very friendly and it enabled me to know what jobs people could help me with throughout my internship.

After the tour was concluded, I was shown to my very own desk along with my own office supplies which instantaneously made me feel like a valued member of the team. I was able to get help setting up my desk to ensure I was comfortable and sitting in a healthy position for my posture and the rest of my body. I didn’t find myself having to request for resources as they had already set everything up.

My day-to-day roles mainly included market research aspects and other areas of marketing, but no two days were the same. I would spend most my time researching various products for the company, which allowed me to meet people from all areas of the company. I spent time learning about stock takes in procurement, tours of medical equipment with radiology, sitting in on PCAS appointments and many more. I enjoyed being asked to get involved with other projects too, like helping with social media posts and filming content and even designing posters. I also spent my time preparing and presenting presentations to managers and board meetings, which was quite nerve-racking, however I appreciate these experiences as I learned a lot about myself and the skills I have grown whilst being here. I became more confident as a person and gained a lot of key industry knowledge and improved skills in my field of Marketing.

There were many highlights over the internship with a lot of standout moments. Near the start of the internship, we went to Marsden Bay to do a littler pick on the beach. It was a lovely day out in the sun where I got to meet various people from the company who I wouldn’t normally see. This instilled the friendly company culture as everyone was very chatty and friendly even if this was the only day, I was going to see them. I also learned a lot about the damage of littering on our beaches and for climate change in general as we had a talk from a volunteer at Durham Wildlife Trust. It was a very eye-opening experience and felt amazing knowing I had contributed something to the local community. It's amazing that the company do these things to improve the environment and their commitment to sustainability and their local community. I also got to see the inner workings of warehouses and machinery that I personally would never have seen before, which I found incredibly interesting and further grew my industry knowledge. The listening space opening was another nice experience and further added the feeling of being valued as staff. You could come here to have a talk for mental health and other reasons when you needed which is very important in this current economy. Free ice cream was also provided to add the cherry on top.

I would most definitely recommend QE Facilities as an internship and as a job in general due to the friendly team, exciting day to day tasks, events opportunities, provided resources and tools and many more. I think another great factor is the fact QE Facilities is so varied in the services it carries out and there are hundreds of different types of jobs. For example, you could change from working in Pharmacy to becoming involved in the marketing of the company based on your background and your interests. If you wanted to try a different area of the business, they were happy to accommodate to that and give you endless opportunities to explore what you want to do and help you grow as a person and in your career. You are also helping the NHS as 100% of the company’s profits go back into the NHS which is an amazing feeling that can’t be explained but you just must experience yourself. It has been the best place I have ever worked.