Helping employers to drive up profits through skills Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:59:35 GMT en-gb http://www.nexnet.co.uk/ will.swales@nexnet.co.uk (Will Swales) PHP 5.2.8 Louise Codling has been appointed operations manager for Improve, the food and drink sector skills council, with responsibilities for the south of England.  Working to identify the skills needs of food and drink manufacturers in the region, Louise will represent their needs to key stakeholders including the regional development agencies, skills partnerships, and learning and skills councils. She will also be responsible for strengthening relations between employers, and training and educat... http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/224/new-skills-champion-for-the-south-of-england.html http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/224/new-skills-champion-for-the-south-of-england.html Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT A factory worker from Norfolk has scooped a national prize for excellence in training at an awards ceremony dubbed the Oscars of the food and drink industry. Natalie Scott, who lives in Brandon, won the Apprentice of the Year prize at the Food Manufacture Excellence Awards held at the glitzy Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square, London. Judges for the award, which is sponsored by food and drink sector skills council Improve, were impressed by how Natalie completed her Level 2 Apprenticeship in Fo... http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/226/top-prize-for-norfolk-apprentice.html http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/226/top-prize-for-norfolk-apprentice.html Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT Young people will soon have the chance to get a feel for the food and drink industry at the click of a mouse, through an exciting new online library of careers options. Gibsons Foods, which manufactures fresh sandwiches and chilled foods, is the first food processing company to be featured on icould, a new and unique online portal designed to give school pupils an insight into the experiences of real people working in real jobs.   Gibsons Foods’ involvement in the initiative was fa... http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/211/food-company-boosts-career-opportunities-through-new-online-resource.html http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/211/food-company-boosts-career-opportunities-through-new-online-resource.html Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT A meat factory worker from Morayshire has been celebrating after completing one of the food and drink industry’s top training awards. Ian Cargill, who works as a dispatch supervisor at Highland Country Foods in Forres, is one of the first people in the Highlands region to successfully complete a Modern Apprenticeship in meat processing in the past five years.   “I joined Highland Country Foods straight from leaving school at 16,” he said. “An old boss of mine aske... http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/212/morayshire-worker-celebrates-modern-apprenticeship-success.html http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/212/morayshire-worker-celebrates-modern-apprenticeship-success.html Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT Operatives and frontline supervisors in food and drink manufacturing will soon be able to achieve new, publicly accredited qualifications, which for the first time in 20 years will mean workplace skills can be recognised outside the NVQ structure. Employers in all industries will be able to get involved in the design of new, highly flexible, occupational qualifications, aimed at better meeting the needs of employers and the workforce, but food and drink manufacturers are already in the forefron... http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/228/new-qualifications-for-all.html http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/228/new-qualifications-for-all.html Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT The government has been asked to relax labour market restrictions limiting industry’s access to migrant workers from Romania and Bulgaria in order to help ease “short-term” staff shortages facing the food and drink manufacturing sector. Giving evidence before the government’s Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), Jack Matthews, chief executive of food and drink sector skills council Improve, said the immigration quota placed on Bulgarian and Romanian workers was “inc... http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/227/industry-chief-urges-government-to-relax-immigration-restrictions.html http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/227/industry-chief-urges-government-to-relax-immigration-restrictions.html Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT New Modern Apprenticeships aimed at attracting hundreds more recruits into the food and drink industry have been given the go-ahead by the Scottish Government. Improve, the food and drink sector skills council, is one of the first two industry bodies to win approval for Level 2 Modern Apprenticeships in Scotland, along with Construction Skills, the construction industry’s sector skills council.    Unlike the rest of the UK, Modern Apprenticeships have only been available in Sc... http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/197/food-industry-draws-up-first-plans-for-expanded-modern-apprenticeships.html http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/197/food-industry-draws-up-first-plans-for-expanded-modern-apprenticeships.html Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT One of the UK’s leading shellfish companies has scooped the inaugural training and development prize at this year’s Highland and Island Food & Drink Awards. Orkney Fishermen’s Society, which supplies crab and lobster to the export and retail trade, won the Awards’ first ever People Development Through Skills category, which was sponsored by Improve, the food and drink sector skills council.   The judges singled out the Society, a fishermen’s coopera... http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/198/top-training-prize-for-orkney-seafood-firm.html http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/198/top-training-prize-for-orkney-seafood-firm.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT Employers are being invited to have their say in the development of a new set of industry standards focusing on sustainability in food and drink manufacturing and processing. Improve, the food and drink sector skills council, has secured government funding to launch a far-reaching review of sustainability issues in the food and drink industry and use the results to create a comprehensive, nationally recognised set of workplace standards that all employers can access and use.   These stan... http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/176/new-industry-standards-look-to-a-sustainable-future.html http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/176/new-industry-standards-look-to-a-sustainable-future.html Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT Skills development for food and drink manufacturing is to be boosted by three new appointments at Improve, the sector skills council. Adele Barlow has taken up the new role of national projects manager, striving to exploit skills initiatives at devolved government, UK government, and European government levels to the best advantage of food and drink manufacturers. Her first major project is to represent the sector’s bid in England to establish a new Sector Compact with government, whic... http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/165/three-new-faces-to-boost-sector-skills.html http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/165/three-new-faces-to-boost-sector-skills.html Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT Employers in food and drink manufacturing who want to forge better links with their local secondary schools have a new opportunity to open doors with the gift of a valuable teaching aid. The Food and Drink Schools Challenge is a self-contained teaching aid on interactive CD ROM, which aims to introduce pupils to the world of food and drink manufacturing. It has been produced by Improve, the sector skills council, and is available free on request to any school or food and drink manufacturer... http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/161/new-aid-to-forge-links-with-local-schools.html http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/161/new-aid-to-forge-links-with-local-schools.html Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT A leading industry figure has called for employers and ministers to engage in a “full and wide ranging debate” on the contribution migrant workers make to in the food and drink manufacturing sector after a new report warned that falling numbers could have a disastrous effect on the £77 billion industry. Jack Matthews, chief executive of the food and drink sector skills council Improve, is calling for ministers from the Home Office and the Department for Innovation, Universitie... http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/153/skills-chief-calls-for-action-on-migrant-workers.html http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/153/skills-chief-calls-for-action-on-migrant-workers.html Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT Food safety training in manufacturing and processing is the subject of new guidance that is now available for employers.  Improve, the food and drink sector skills council, has worked in partnership with the Food Standards Agency over the past six months to create guidance for food safety training. It is the first time guidance has been developed that is relevant for the whole food and drink manufacturing industry, offering advice on food safety training that is common to all industries an... http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/146/improve-develops-new-food-safety-training-guidance.html http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/146/improve-develops-new-food-safety-training-guidance.html Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT A summit is being planned for food and drink manufacturers to discuss the crucial issue of the shortage of food scientists and technologists in the sector.   Food and drink sector skills council Improve has joined forces with the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) and Defra, to host an employer event looking at the implications of the shortage, and discussing opportunities for collaborative action.   “It’s vital that as an industry we take a more unifi... http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/147/employers-to-discuss-looming-food-scientist-crisis.html http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/147/employers-to-discuss-looming-food-scientist-crisis.html Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT Small and medium-sized food and drink manufacturers have called on the government to untangle the ‘spaghetti of bureaucracy’ that has ensnared the training system and free them to address the industry’s critical skills issues. Representatives from 13 companies, including the likes of Rachel’s Organics, Bart Spices, Burnt Sugar and Vimto, were invited to Westminster to take part in a Parliamentary debate entitled ‘Building the Next British Food Brand’.  ... http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/152/smes-accuse-government-of-strangling-skills-innovation.html http://www.nexnet.co.uk/news/5/152/smes-accuse-government-of-strangling-skills-innovation.html Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT