Everyone who has made the transition from university or college to the world of work for the first time knows what it's like.

The lack of food scientists and technologists in the food and drink industry is already acknowledged to be one of the biggest issues it faces. But it's one thing to lament the situation and another thing entirely to do something about it.

Many people complain about the lack of practical training courses for prospective entrants to the food and drink industry. Many bemoan the lack of skilled teachers in the area. But most are armchair critics who are not prepared to roll up their sleeves and do something about these things.

A Google search using the term 'sickie' turns up a page on http://www.thesite.org suggesting tactics for pulling convincing time off work for sickness. It contains such gems as: "If you're tired and have a slight cold or a touch of hay fever, splash a little warm water on your forehead and pinch your cheeks for that fevered look, and go home with a dose of 'flu."

Employers from the food and drink industry are pitching in to entice people who have been unemployed for some time back to work as part of the government's local employer partnership scheme.

The impetus to create in-house training programmes for staff is growing with sector skills council Improve's constant stress on the requirement to strengthen workers' skills base.

Just a stone's throw from the Cotswolds, the Forest of Dean and the Wye and Severn Valleys, Hartpury village is a great base for hikers who are looking to explore the region. At least, that's what the tourist blurb says.

It's been a busy three years since food and drink sector skills council Improve was born, but the organisation has reached a milestone.

Eastbourne has perhaps been thought of more for retirement homes and fish and chips by the sea than for being a centre for culinary excellence, innovation and training. Pictures of old aged pensioners shuffling along pavements and mums and dads dragging ice cream-toting youngsters come readily to mind.

Retailers regularly complain about the lack of genuine new product development coming from food and drink manufacturers. Leaving aside the pressure on processors to deliver a success and the penalties for not doing so, the situation is not helped by lack of funding and adequate teaching equipping people to create genuinely innovative products.

Migrant workers could represent as much as 15% of food manufacturers' total workforce in the industry, according to Improve. Moreover, only a third are unskilled. The remainder are split evenly between semi-skilled and skilled, where most of the full-time shortages will be in the next few years, says the sector skills council.