Burnley student's sauce saver invention is pure mustard for McDonald's

Talented Devon Preston (18), who is approaching the end of his A-Level mechanical engineering studies at Burnley College, sprang into action after he saw problems with the sauce dispensers at the Burnley drive-through restaurant in Trafalgar Street where he has worked for almost three years.

The former Shuttleworth College student had realised that mustard guns parts were often lost during the washing-up process, and took to his computer to find a solution.

He said: "Parts for the mustard guns were always being lost during the washing up process and I realised that we really needed to find a solution to the issue rather than just replace the parts.

"I looked at several ways to solve the problem and came up with some designs which I printed at home on a 3D printer. It took a few attempts and some fine-tuning of my design to get it just right, but the finished product works and is about the size of a Polo mint.

"It’s really made a big difference to the way we work at the Burnley drive-through and my leadership team at McDonalds are really pleased with the way it works.”

Devon started work as a crew member at McDonald's almost three years ago and has been promoted to the role of floor manager, taking shifts that fit in with his studies.

He is planning a career in engineering locally and has already been offered an advanced apprenticeship at Hope Technology, Barnoldswick, through Themis, the business training and apprenticeship arm of Burnley College.

Neil Burrows, head of advanced manufacturing and engineering at Burnley College Sixth Form Centre and Themis, said: "We encourage our students to put the knowledge and skills they learn in the classroom to good use in real-life scenarios - and Devon has done just that.

Devon will be a huge asset to Hope Technology and we're sure we'll be hearing his name in future when he reaches the top of his profession."