John Cummins, Intern at Applegreen

Why did you choose Applegreen for your internship?

I chose Applegreen for my internship as it offered me a great opportunity in different finance roles within a growing Irish business. Applegreen has extensive experience in the provision of food, fuel and convenience store operations and is spread across the US, UK and Ireland.

It operates over 600 stores and is currently expanding it footprint in the US. Applegreen offered me the opportunity to gain experience in the Mergers & Acquisitions, Tax and Audit departments which will help me along my finance career path.

What have been your favourite moments during your internship?

There have been many highlights to date, Applegreen’s Annual General Meeting, Christmas Party, Corporate Finance Conference and many sport and social events. There is a great corporate culture in the head office that makes work very enjoyable.

What has been your favourite projects you’ve worked on since joining the company?

My favourite project I’ve worked on so far was assisting with the Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) team on portfolio assessments. To date the business has engaged in several corporate M&A transactions and extensive capital investment programmes in the US.

The M&A team analyse and consider implementing capital expenditure programmes that entail developing existing sites and constructing new builds along highways, boosting infrastructure quality, employment and communities’ economies on potential projects.

How do you measure success from this internship?

I measure my success from this internship by my relationships with my mangers, the level of responsibility I’m given and my end of rotation review. So far, I’ve had great working relationships with my co-workers and received excellent feedback from my managers. I am very happy with my progress in Applegreen to date.