Learner Spotlight with Sean Burlinson
Sean Burlinson is the Food Programme Director at Sodexo, where he plays a central role in driving sustainable food practices and operational excellence across the organisation. Sodexo is a global services company providing integrated food services, facilities management and employee experience solutions, serving around 100 million consumers each day in workplaces, schools, hospitals and public-sector environments.
The interview below explores his experience of the LDN Sustainability Professional apprenticeship and the impact it has had on his role.
How has the Level 4 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Practitioner apprenticeship changed or deepened your understanding of sustainability and responsible business within a large organisation like Sodexo?
The apprenticeship has significantly deepened and formalised my understanding of sustainability within a large, complex organisation like Sodexo. With many years of operational experience, from my early career as a chef to broader senior roles, I instinctively applied sustainable practices in my approach to food and recipe development, whether through local sourcing or minimising food waste, long before I had the formal framework or language to explain it.
The programme has given me the foundational knowledge I felt I was missing, particularly around how Sodexo’s Better Tomorrow 2025 and Better Tomorrow 2028 strategies were developed and why certain targets exist. The ability to understand the “why” behind decisions, KPIs, LTIs and even how sustainability links to global reporting structures such as CSRD.
I now have greater confidence to engage as an equal with global and regional CSR teams, understanding their terminology, frameworks and references.
I describe it as ‘putting in the foundations for a house I had already started to build’.
Can you give examples of how you have applied knowledge or skills from the programme in your role, and what difference this has made to your work or decision-making?
I have applied learnings about negotiation tactics, stakeholder management and horizon scanning to help guide and challenge Sodexo’s global waste measurement partnership. This helped me to structure conversations, identify key issues and maintain focus.
I now also have a broader understanding of external frameworks. Learning about UNSDGs, CSRD and sustainability reporting has helped me to connect day-to-day project work to wider organisational objectives, understand how my work feeds into global CSR reporting and participate meaningfully in conversations with CSR leads.
Interestingly, there is a module in the apprenticeship about charity and community engagement; this provided insight into Sodexo’s Stop Hunger Foundation. By supporting the carbon scoring of the gala dinner menu and connecting our carbon SME partner with the regional culinary team, it provided me with an opportunity to research and get a clearer view of the foundation’s governance, purpose and link to Sodexo’s wider sustainability identity.
Overall, the programme has helped me connect previously disjointed areas, giving greater clarity, strategic awareness and confidence in decision making.
How do you feel your role, combined with your apprenticeship, contributes to Sodexo’s long‑term sustainability commitments?
The combination of my apprenticeship and my global role in carbon scoring and waste reduction positions me as a key contributor to Sodexo’s long-term ambitions. I directly support the Better Tomorrow 2025, providing insight and feedback during the programme review, and Better Tomorrow 2028, by helping refine KPIs, long-term indicators and measurement frameworks by drawing on accurate data from carbon scoring and waste tracking and measurement systems.
I feel I can provide a unique operational lens, grounding global ambitions in practical reality and insight for the CSR team on how global strategies can be operationalised across sites. I enjoy providing support to regional teams in using data to accelerate targeted sustainability programs.
Put simply, my apprenticeship strengthens my strategic literacy, while my role ensures Sodexo’s sustainability ambitions are implemented in ways that work for Sodexo teams and aligns to client requirements.
How effectively does LDN Apprenticeships link learning content to real‑world scenarios that you can apply within Sodexo?
I feel the programme links theory to practice very effectively. I often experienced “eureka moments” at times when something taught on the programme explained work I was already doing, which helped me understand its purpose or wider context.
The content reinforced existing experience, which aligned strongly with real sustainability challenges, giving me frameworks that helped me connect my work to global strategies. Even modules that seemed challenging, such as the one focused on charity and community, ended up providing unexpected value by helping me deepen my understanding of Sodexo initiatives like Stop Hunger.
Now that you’ve completed the apprenticeship, how do you see it shaping your future career goals or development plans?
“It has encouraged me to explore further development opportunities in the future, possibly including a degree apprenticeship. I want to continue my study in sustainability, it is something I am really interested in, and I would like to broaden my knowledge and experience.”
What have you enjoyed most about the programme so far?
The opportunity to learn, grow and expand my knowledge.
Meeting people from other organisations and hearing how sustainability applies in other sectors.
Having structured time to reflect, something my role doesn’t naturally offer.
Gaining confidence through understanding, vocabulary, context and the value of stepping outside my “carbon and waste bubble” and broadening my understanding of sustainability.
Thank you to Sean for telling us more about his experience of the programme. To find out more about LDN Sustainability Professional (formerly the Level 4 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Practitioner apprenticeship), click below.