|
 |
|
|
Food and Dairy Industry Section
|
|
|
 |
| |
Reaseheath’s services to the food and dairy industry
As one of the ONLY national food and dairy academy’s’, Reaseheath provides a significant and outstanding focus for education and training in Food and Dairy processing and primary Dairy production (Dairy farming). In our objectives we intend to address the acute skills and employee shortages in the Food and Dairy industries across the North West region and the UK. We are now part of the National Skills Academy for IMPROVE Sector Skills Council and act as the Primary UK focal point for Dairy technology.
The principal aim has been in educating and training both new and existing employees in the Food and Dairy processing industries by:
-
Increasing the number of people from all age ranges and backgrounds being trained for employment through nationally recognised programmes, apprenticeships and bespoke courses.
-
Increasing skills levels of existing employees including the provision of short, customised courses.
-
Strengthening the influence of employers on curriculum design and delivery and training processes.
-
Linking key trade organisations with businesses in order to raise the quality of product.
-
Widening participation into schools in order to provide a transition into further and higher education, training and employment.
-
Sharing good practice and collaborating with other providers where appropriate.
-
Developing existing facilities to provide a high quality resource that is widely recognised as the focus for excellence.
Support to Industry – more information
The Food and drink manufacturing industry is the largest manufacturing sector in the UK and contributes in excess of £68 billion to the UK’s annual GDP. The Dairy industry contributes £6.8 Billion which is about 10% of GB GDP. The contribution has been steadily rising over many years. The industry contains many different specialist sub-sectors and, increasingly, changes in technology have led to changes in the nature of jobs within the industry. The trend towards fewer, more skilled and better-paid employees, necessitates a significant further investment in education and training.
The Workforce Development Plan for the Food and Drink National Training Organization highlights a significant shortage of skilled workers on a national scale but particularly in regions where the employment opportunities are greatest - such as the North West and Midlands. Furthermore the LSC commissioned ECOTEC report cites the skills levels in the North West as the lowest in the country.
Nearly 15% of Food and drink sector employees are based in the North West (over 69 000). Of the total GB Dairy workplaces, the top 3 regions are: South West 18%, North West 14% and Scotland 13%. In the North West area alone there are over 9500 employees in the Food and Drink manufacturing sector working for 3,500 Food and drink companies. Evidence from the Food and Drink Manufacturing Sector Skills Dialogue working paper shows that over 25% of manufacturing sites have hard to fill vacancies owing to lack of applicants with the required skills and qualifications.
The most recent Skills Task Force Employer Skills Survey shows that 60% of vacancies are hard-to-fill, 71% of these vacancies being for production and process personnel. There is firm evidence of a serious and growing shortage of applicants for employment in the occupational areas of the proposed CoVE obtained from the college’s close links with individual employers in the North West.
The College is heavily involved with key employers in identifying training needs and early evidence shows conclusively that, in line with the recommendations in the Sector Workforce Development Plan, there is a high demand for both additional skilled labour and up-skilling of the existing workforce which Reaseheath College is beginning to supply. Indeed this over-riding aim links clearly with the recommendations of the recent Policy Commission report on the Future of Farming and Food (The Curry Report) as follows:
-
The increased development of on-farm processing and marketing.
-
The provision of quality advice, information and training.
-
Increasing the role of the Dairy chain in encouraging good nutrition.
Couple this with the Leitch Review of Skills, “Prosperity for all in the global economy - world class skills” we have a compelling argument to further develop the capacity at Reaseheath College to encourage nationally and regionally both Skills and productivity.
The further development and delivery, post CoVE, of the provision relies currently on the College’s excellent links with industry and this association will be strengthened with particular reference to new technology, shared resources and employer-based work experience and training. The operation of programmes will include enhanced key employer representation through steering groups and consultation processes to ensure up-to-date relevance, so that employer needs are met and that suitable employment opportunities are available to learners. The Food and Drink NTO Sector Workforce Development Plan 2001 to 2005 identified skills shortages in:
-
Production Operations.
-
Supervisory & Team Leader
-
Engineering Operations
Particular needs have been identified as:
-
Science and Dairy technologists
-
Multi-skilled technicians
-
Technologists with product development skills
-
Managers for production and factory
-
High calibre engineers
-
Operators with sufficient basic education to be further trained and developed.
In addition to skills development, the obvious need to increase competitiveness and productivity has never been so great from competition from the New world economies.
Reaseheath would seek to capitalise on this need and introduce further world class facilities to help the whole Food and Dairy chain reach their potential. Primary Producers with ‘a good idea’ but no-one to make their dreams reality. Major processors to help them develop new or existing products to keep their industry vibrant but importantly within the UK.
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|