Park View students partner with Zoom by Ocado

Three of our WorkStart programme students from Park View Centre have started an exciting new work experience placement with Zoom by Ocado in Acton.

The students have begun an 80-hour programme running over three months, getting hands-on experience in a different working environments. They spent their first sessions learning the essentials: health and safety, manual handling, and how the operation works behind the scenes.

Once trained, they moved straight onto the picking stations, where they were responsible for selecting and packing customer orders that come through the Ocado app. The process included scanning items, following on-screen instructions, packing bags, sealing them, and sending them off for delivery.

Zoom by Ocado has an impressive 40-minute turnaround from order to doorstep, which means the team works under real pressure to pack each order within 10–20 minutes. After just three weeks, our students have already found their stride and are working independently – a huge achievement in such a fast-moving environment.

We’re hopeful that, if this placement continues to go well, students may be able to apply for permanent roles in the future should they wish to. Even better, if the partnership proves successful, we plan to open up placements to learners from other centres too.