Baxters invests in training for its future supervisory stars

By Nicholas Robinson

- Last updated on GMT

Super supervisors: seven employees on Baxters' year-long programme became supervisors
Super supervisors: seven employees on Baxters' year-long programme became supervisors

Related tags Vocational education Management Board of directors

Aberdeen-based soups and condiments manufacturer Baxters has bolstered its commitment to developing skills in Scotland’s food and drink industry through its Supervisors for the Future programme.

Seven of the 14 Baxters employees on the year-long programme, which ran in conjunction with the training provider Polaris Learning, secured supervisor roles within the firm after completing the course last month, said Kirstian Findlay, UK HR manager at Baxters.

Programme

The programme focused on boosting the technical and theoretical skills of the employees, who have now attained an Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) award accreditation, as well as a Scottish Vocational qualification in Food and Drink Operations Level 3.

In their final assessment, each student on the programme presented an idea to the board of directors to implement change in the company, one of which has already been adopted.

“The programme is essential for retaining Baxters’ unique culture by developing and nurturing the skills and knowledge it has within the company​,” said Catriona Sloan, managing consultant at Polaris.

Baxters will continue to run the programme and will provide other learning opportunities for its employees, such as an ILM Certificate in Management for Future Managers Level 3, Sloan added.

Audrey Baxter, executive chairman of Baxters, was one of 120 Scottish industry leaders who signed an open letter last month, warning a yes vote for Scottish independence on September 18 would be bad for business.

Missed out on jobs and investment

The country’s food and drink industry has already been stung by uncertainty over Scottish independence and has missed out on thousands of pounds of investment as well as thousands of new jobs, an industry source told the Food Manufacture Group last month.

Scotland’s food and drink industry has been predicted to be worth more than £16.5bn by 2017 and will also provide an extra 5,500 new jobs by 2018, according to the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The Training programme of the year is one of the categories in this year's Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards​. Watch out for the awards shortlist to be published on FoodManufacture.co.uk and our sister title Food Manufacture magazine in November. 

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