Arla Foods
UK dairy employers want the industry to be the most competitive in Europe. In order to achieve this, employers have identified the common vision ‘An industry where learning drives sustainable success’.
The industry needs world-class training provision for all their staff, to ensure that high value products are produced efficiently and to provide a sustainable future.
World-class training means more than just learning the technical aspects of the job or demonstrating competence in a job role. It means developing a workforce for the future who are united by the core values associated with the industry such as pride, passion, excellence and ambition as well as the behavioural, technical and attitudinal capability to drive the industry to become the best in Europe. For geographically dispersed organisations, who compete with one another, having such a vision and making it a reality requires an unusual and groundbreaking approach to skills delivery.
The skills challenge
At the start of this journey, six dairy employers*, representing 80% of the industry’s workforce will work in partnership, led by Arla Foods, to meet their common vision. The project will build on previous sector collaboration, which has developed dedicated training facilities and curriculum at Reaseheath College, Cheshire for its dairy technology needs and Midlands Group Training Services (MGTS), Coventry where the industry has access to a talent pipeline of dedicated dairy engineers. Delivery of the project will be supported by the NSA for Food and Drink and Dairy UK.
The employers will collaborate in developing industry-led, fit for purpose cross sector qualifications and apprenticeship programmes that are specific to the industry’s needs. A range of programmes will be developed either from scratch or from existing programmes that require modification. At the heart of all training and learning, the six employers have set the following principles:
- Giving learners the right time and space to learn
- Providing the best education available in Europe by the most talented providers – all operating under one ‘roof’ and with the best conditions to learn
- Supporting learners in the workplace through specially trained mentors
- Adding value to the UK dairy industry supply chain from Farmer to Consumer
- Ensuring the talent pipeline has sufficient dedicated professionals to meet the advanced skills needs of the future
Impact
The dairy industry is fiercely competitive and to have six major employers working together is hugely innovative. The project supports the industry’s desire to lead and improve the quality and robustness of training provision available. It will lead to better trained employees able to contribute to sustainable business success and growth.
Over 270 apprenticeships at various levels and over 6,000 other qualification based training outcomes will be achieved. It will lead to the creation of new jobs, 300 qualified dairy jobs in Aylesbury alone, around 700 in total as the world’s largest fresh milk site is developed, as well as improved sustainability and productivity savings. Engineering and logistics qualifications will be extended to reflect the specific technical requirements of the sector. Conservative industry estimates are that around £1.2m of savings might be unlocked through the reduction in carbon emissions arising from improved logistics and reductions in water and energy usage across all plants.
* Arla Foods; Dairy Crest; Milk Link Ltd; Robert Wiseman Dairies; Müller Dairy; First Milk
Investment
Employer investment: £2,520,162
Employer Ownership Pilot Funding: £2,291,990
Total: £4,812,152
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