Helping employers to drive up profits through skills
23rd Apr 2010
Letter to the editor of Food Manufacture
I could not agree more with regards to some of the points raised in last month’s Editor’s View (April 2010) about the image problems faced by the food manufacturing sector.
Attracting young people into the industry is a long-standing problem. It is the image of the industry as 
low-paid and offering poor prospects that has led to the reliance on overseas workers in recent years.
low-paid and offering poor prospects that has led to the reliance on overseas workers in recent years.Improve and other stakeholders in the industry are working hard to tackle this issue. The first battle is to establish the UK’s food and drink sector as a key priority for government investment in creating jobs and skills. That investment can be used to create a lean, green, high-tech industry which can meet demand, ensuring we have a secure and sustainable food supply for years to come. That will require a highly skilled and productive workforce which will deserve the rewards of establishing our industry as a world-leader.
We are working closely with employers who are determined to ensure they are ready to implement the required changes in technology and working practices.
A second issue is to demonstrate that the food and drink industry already has many opportunities for young people at a time when recruitment in certain other industries is slow. Since Improve took on responsibility for the reform of Apprenticeships, numbers have risen steadily and we recently announced that in Scotland, the numbers of people taking the Modern Apprenticeship in Food Manufacture rose from less than 25 in 2008/9 to more than 600 in 2009/10.
Apprenticeships and Modern Apprenticeships offer flexible, quality training relevant to all types of job role in all sectors of the industry. Employers are putting their trust in them, which is creating job opportunities, and the training offered is geared as preparation for long-term employment.
Apprenticeships and Modern Apprenticeships are therefore a positive step in changing the image of the sector among young people and bringing new talent into it. These people are our future employees who will be responsible for implementing and using advanced technologies in industry. It is imperative that we nurture that talent and have the resources available to invest in their skills.
From Jack Matthews, chief executive of Improve, the food and drink sector skills council.
Ends
Note to editors
Improve is part of the network of sector skills councils established by the government to take the lead in driving up skills in the workplace in order to promote higher productivity and stronger competitiveness for UK businesses in the global market. Funded primarily by the government, sector skills councils are also supported by employers whose needs they represent when stimulating change among the providers of education and skills. Sector skills councils work closely with employers to promote greater commitment to improving skills in their workforces, and with schools, colleges, universities, and private training organisations to improve the provision of basic skills training and to make vocational and occupational training more relevant to the modern commercial climate.
Issued on behalf of Improve, the food and drink sector skills council, www.improveltd.co.uk, by Nexnet PR, Leeds, www.nexnet.co.uk. For further information call Nexnet on 0113 247 0029 or email paul.newham@nexnet.co.uk or joanne.mead@nexnet.co.uk.
