Background

The UK food and drink manufacturing industry is the largest UK manufacturing sector, the only growing manufacturing sector (£67bn in 2003 to £74bn in 2006) and second only to Canada in total global productivity. The industry is vital to the sustainability and competitiveness of the UK economy.

But our position is under threat from Holland, Germany and France. Eastern Europe and even further afield. If we are to keep food and drink production in this country we need to increase the skills of the workforce. The new National Skills Academy will play an important part in our success.

Some facts about food and drink:

The sector:

• Over 500,000 people are employed in the sector.
• Over 9,000 companies operate in the industry across over 45,000 sites.
• 35% of all food and drink manufacturing happens in the Northern Way i.e. the line between Liverpool and Newcastle via Leeds.
• The sector turns over £74bn each year, £22bn of which goes to the treasury.
• Some production has already moved to Poland, China, Thailand etc and this trend will continue.

Skills in the sector:

• 28% of employees have basic skills i.e. read/write/numeracy to the level of an average 10 year old.
• 52% have level 2 or below skills i.e. the ability to gain 5 GCSE passes.
• There is a major shortage of management/supervisory, technical operator, craft skills and machine operators.
• 1 in 4 food scientist roles are vacant.

The future:

• 118,000 new recruits will be required in the next 8 years (by 2014).
• It is predicted that in 15 years all jobs will be at level 2 or above (by 2021).
• The growth and usage of technology continues unabated—so the skills required by the workforce continue to increase.
• The consumer will be even more demanding and continue to force the pace of productivity and quality within the industry.

Why will a National Skills Academy make a difference?

In the 21st century food and drink manufacturers are under considerable pressure. Changing regulatory and legislative requirements, increased pressure from consumers and retail supermarkets and increased automation, all place demands on the skills of the UK food and drink workforce.

The National Skills Academy for Food and Drink will provide access to up-to-date, relevant, quality training to meet the needs of the industry and ensure we remain productive and competitive on the world economic market.

Vision