In 2009 I sat down with the Product Design department at Ravensbourne and asked who they wanted to work with: M&S was the first on the list, also Sainsbury’s and Tesco

We pitched to M&S and ended up working with the Packaging Technology team for nine years on redesigning packaging for everything from flowers, bacon, Easter eggs, salads, pizzas, beer and shirts. We never needed to approach the other retailers in the end as the partnership was so strong. I developed a relationship with the Packaging Technology Team acting as the liaison between the team and the academics. I organised the yearly trips behind the scenes to a local M&S to see how packaging runs through the retail system to shelf, to the Closed Loop Recycling plant, Dairy Crest and Veolia, and made sure everyone turned up to the pitch at M&S Head Office.

Each winning student went on to a paid summer placement at M&S. My proudest moment was Jack Raison winning a UK Packaging Award for his stunning Easter Egg design.