Scottish skills strategy backed by Dawnfresh Seafoods
The seafood processor welcomed the Scottish Food & Drink Skills Academy (SFDSA) to its Lanarkshire headquarters to discuss the plan on January 31.
Dawnfresh, whose group hr director Helen Muir sits on the board of the SFDSA, offers young people a Certificate of Work Readiness, which helps guide young people through the early stages of their careers and provide them with the knowledge needed to undertake work in the sector.
“Developing the next generation of skilled staff here at Dawnfresh is a top priority to ensure the continued and future success of our business,” said Muir. “The Certificate of Work Readiness pilot has been an extremely positive experience and we intend to use this model as the way forward to support the company in developing its future talent pipeline.
‘Every aspect of our business’
“Trainees have been given a taster of every aspect of our business, right through from product development and food technology to engineering, marketing and distribution,” Muir added.
The SFDSA is operated by food and drink skills council Improve Scotland in partnership with industry body Scotland Food & Drink and aims to provide accredited training across Scottish universities and colleges. It is funded by the Scottish Government, Skills Development Scotland, the Scottish Funding Council and Zero Waste Scotland
Angela Constance, Scottish minister for youth employment, praised the work of Dawnfresh within the wider initiative of the SFDSA.
“It is particularly pleasing to see the work of the academy in action today and meet the young people here at Dawnfresh, undertaking the Certificate of Work Readiness pilot programme,” she said. “It is great to hear about how they have grown in confidence, developed new skills, and now seeking to pursue careers within the food and drink sector.”
Crucial role
Improve Scotland ceo Justine Fosh said the SFDSA would help deliver a high-quality skilled workforce and play a crucial role in the drive by Scotland Food & Drink to increase the value of the sector to £16.5bn by 2017, with latest Bank of Scotland research predicting 5,500 new jobs by 2018.
“This growth is driving the future development of the SFDSA which aims to work with, and support, up to 3,000 businesses with their skills needs over the next three years,” she added.
“We have a proven track record of constructive engagement with the food and drink industry raising both ambition and investment in training and the SFDSA exists to ensure the food and drink sector throughout Scotland has sustainable access to first-class skills training as a key element in continuing sector growth and vibrancy,” she added.
James Withers, ceo of Scotland Food & Drink, said to maintain momentum and achieve these ambitions investment in skills was crucial.
“When we launched single industry growth strategy five years ago, we put skills at its core and a partnership of the industry and the public sector has united behind that,” Withers said.
“The Academy will be an enormous asset, driving forward a culture of skills investment within food and drink companies and, ultimately, ensuring we have the workforce to grasp the huge domestic and overseas opportunities in front of us.”
Meanwhile, the Food Manufacture Group is staging a Big Video Debate on Plugging the skills gap in food and drink manufacturing. This free-to-attend event will take place at the Foodex trade show at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham at 11am on Tuesday 25 March. For more details email zvpunry.fgbarf@jeoz.pbz.
