Institute of Grocery Distribution: Food company experts meet Yorkshire pupils for new skills initiative

The initiative started on October 16 and since then 1,800 young people have taken part in virtual workshops.

Fiona Miller, Director of People Programmes at IGD said: ‘We want to inspire young people to explore the range of opportunities open to them at fantastic food companies near their own homes.

"We are particularly interested in introducing them to stimulating careers offered within technical, digital, and engineering roles in our industry, which powers local economies like those in Yorkshire.”

The new scheme is part of a long-term plan for working with educational and industry leaders to address an annual talent shortage of 20,000 technical roles in the UK.

IGD has partnered with the Careers and Enterprise Company and regional education leaders to ensure that young people across the county have the opportunity to participate.

It follows on from the landmark ‘Feeding Britain’s Future’ scheme, which IGD initiated in 2012 and which paved the way for training almost 100,000 young people through a nationwide employability programme.

One pillar of the organisation’s social impact work is sustainability and young people participating in the scheme, have been set the challenge of working on green solutions, across sustainable packaging, sustainable diets, and food waste using IGD’s insights.

Young people worked in teams against the clock as a celebration of National Green Careers Week and the British food industry.

Next year the programme will develop to include in-school employability workshops in 2024 focusing on important skills like interview techniques and CV writing.

A highlight of the experience will be organised visits to manufacturers’ offices and production-lines, where students will glean knowledge of the range of professional skills that make the nation’s favourite products.

Guy Dullage, Chief People Officer at food producer Greencore said: “We are thrilled to be working with so many young people in Yorkshire’s schools and sharing the nature and benefits of skilled roles in our teams.

"So far, they have demonstrated a keen interest in how the food industry is powered by talented individuals like themselves and we can’t wait to see what steps they take next.”

A recent Sheffield Hallam and Savanta poll found that perceptions of manufacturing jobs in fields such as food and drink have improved in recent years.

The study found 93 per cent of people felt that UK manufacturing is important to growing the UK economy, up from just 70 per cent five years ago. It also discovered 40 per cent of parents would be happy for their children to work in the field, compared to just 20 per cent five years ago.

The shift was put down in part to the industry’s response to Covid, where car manufacturers built ventilators, clothing and textile companies created medical gowns and facemasks while food and drink factories made hand sanitisers.

Stephen Phipson, CEO of Make UK said at the time: “The hard work and resilience of manufacturers over the last few years has paid off and this is reflected in the uptick of perceptions among the British public. But there is still work to be done as over half of children surveyed had not even considered a job in manufacturing.”