Diageo's Jodie Cunningham is an apprentice at its Leven facility

For Scottish Apprenticeship Week, Prime Employer Diageo spotlighted some talented members of its apprenticeship community in Scotland.

Meet Jodie Cunningham, a second-year operator apprentice at Diageo's Leven facility in Fife, Scotland. Leven is a distillery like no other. As Diageo’s experimental facility situated within the Leven bottling plant, the distillery's purpose is to future-proof Diageo’s Scotch whisky business by finding new flavours and tweaking processes to improve efficiencies.

Jodie knew she wanted a role where she would be challenged, and a Diageo apprenticeship has prooved to be an exceptional option for her.

"My favourite thing about the apprenticeship is the opportunity to learn and develop in multiple areas and skills. The support has been amazing. I chose this career path as I'd heard so many great things about Diageo. I wanted to have the opportunity to learn as much whilst being part of this amazing company," explains Jodie.

Working in Diageo's experimental distillery

With over 30 Diageo-owned distilleries in Scotland, the region offers many exciting opportunities for apprentices to gain hands-on industry experience.

Jodie works in Diageo’s experimental distillery, designed to create any style of spirit Diageo desires. As well as being the only distillery in Scotland to reside within a bottling facility, the Leven facility is one of the only licensed distilleries in Scotland without a spirit safe, having received special dispensation for being an experimental site.

The distillery's purpose is to future-proof Diageo’s Scotch whisky business, by finding new flavours and tweaking processes to improve efficiencies. Leven’s distilling team work closely with Diageo’s blenders to experiment with flavours throughout the process, from milling at different settings, playing with different barley varieties, yeasts and heavily roasted malts, and moving cut points. By running its experiments here, Diageo avoids the break in normal production output it would otherwise experience at one of its other distilleries.

Working with iconic Diageo brands

Diageo apprentices contribute to the work that goes into making, bottling and distributing much-loved premium brands - like Johnnie Walker, Captain Morgan, Baileys, and Guinness - around the globe. Apprentices earn as they learn, enjoying an attractive reward and benefits package as they develop their knowledge and skills.

Apprentices are also part of an inclusive culture, where they are celebrated for their achievements and empowered to be the best you can be. Together with talented people from all corners of the world, apprentices do work that's absolutely crucial for building Diageo's iconic brands.