Dairy companies can’t bridge skills gap alone, says Arla consultant

24-Feb-2014 - Last updated on 19-Aug-2020 at 08:35 GMT

Arla has been able to work with other dairy cooperatives through the Eden Project

A critical skills shortage in the UK dairy industry is starting to be countered by dairy companies working together towards a common cause, according to senior HR consultant at Arla Foods Chris Edwards.

Speaking to FoodManufacture.co.uk in this exclusive podcast, Edwards said individual dairy companies lacked the resources to supply enough skilled people into their own businesses.

However, working together under the Eden project at Reaseheath College in Nantwich has allowed companies such as Arla, Dairy Crest and Müller Dairy to pool resources to train people efficiently.

Skills gulf

“For many years the industry didn’t articulate what it wanted and relied on a stream of people coming from the college system,” Edwards said.

“Industry wasn’t brought into the education side and therefore education went off in one direction and industry in the other and then there was a gulf.”

Listen to Edwards in this podcast to learn more about the Eden project and the 144 students that have trained at £7.5M facility based at Reaseheath.

Watch out for a profile on Reaseheath College in our sister title Food Manufacture in the future. Subscribe to Food Manufacture.