Grimsby leads new national skills initiative

15 February 2007: Two leading education and training organisations in Grimsby are at the forefront of a new national initiative to drive up skills in the UK workforce.

Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education and training company Peter Rowley Ltd are among the first six accredited Academy Training Centres within the new £4.4 million National Skills Academy for Food & Drink Manufacturing.

Set to open in April and forecast to deliver new skills to at least 28,000 people during its first four years, it is only the fourth of a new network of sector-based National Skills Academies to be established. It is the culmination of more than two years of research, planning and development by leading employers, including Grimsby-based Young’s Seafood, and co-ordinated by Improve, the food and drink sector skills council.

The academy will be administered from Improve’s head offices at York, while the majority of training programmes will be delivered through a network of approved Academy Centres, each with its own specialist areas. Grimsby Institute is to be a specialist centre for fish-processing skills, while Peter Rowley Ltd is to specialise in lean manufacturing.

The other four Academy Centres are the University of Lincoln Holbeach Campus (chilled ready meals); Poultec Training, Dereham in Norfolk (meat and poultry); Reaseheath College in Nantwich (dairy); and Johnson Diversey in Northampton (food hygiene). More are planned and it is anticipated that there will be up to 35 such centres within three years.

A key benefit of the academy is that it will draw upon the best expertise available in order to develop new training programmes and learning units specifically to meet the needs of employers. Already there are ideas in the pipeline for about 40 new programmes and units which eventually will be accessed through the new academy.

Daniel Khan, principal of Grimsby Institute, said:

“We are delighted at the prospect of being one of the first approved Academy Training Centres for the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing. The Grimsby Institute has long been regarded as a leading light in the provision of specialist fish processing training and we’re looking forward to the opportunity to impart our knowledge of the sector through the new academy.”

Peter Rowley Ltd, based in Dudley Street, Grimsby, has been working in the field of lean manufacturing for 10 years, during which time the company has developed a particular expertise in the food and drink sector and has devised a wide range of food-specific training materials.

The programmes aim to deliver productivity improvements by first educating the entire workforce, from boardroom to shop floor, about the benefits of lean systems. The implementation phase is driven by senior managers in the client organisation, who first undergo an intensive four-day programme about managing the change to lean manufacturing.

Peter Rowley said:

“Our membership of the academy will enable us to help in the promotion of lean manufacturing more widely within the food and drink manufacturing sector, and to link with others in the field to ensure that the highest standard of training resources are available throughout the country. We aim to help manufacturers become more competitive, which will also help to deliver increased job opportunities for skilled workers.”

Further information

The academy is costing £4.4 million to set up in its first three years, after which it is forecast to become self-financing through the sale of training programmes to employers. Capital contributions from employers over the first three years, in the form of donations of equipment and premises at Academy Centres, amount to £1.4 million, and are backed up by another £1 million from employers in the form of rent waivers and training programme development contributions. Employers are expected to contribute to the academy another £1 million in cash sponsorship in the first three years to match £1 million in cash committed by the government through its Learning and Skills Council.