Industry gets in line for learning

It's not often that you find a mix of higher and further education (FE) at one campus, which is what makes the University of Lincoln's Holbeach campus in South Lincolnshire unique. Not only that, but in the 18 months since refurbishment, the centre has built solid relationships with food employers in the area (both large multinationals and small, niche market producers), listened to their needs, and adapted its offering accordingly.

As a result of this approach, one of the new, key areas of training is in manufacturing improvement, as Val Braybrooks, campus director, explains. "About a year ago I spoke to Geest who were concerned about not having a facility to train technical operators on complex equipment, equivalent to that in a factory, but in a learning environment.

"A group of employers, including Moy Park, QV Foods, Premier Foods and Geo Adams, then said they shared this concern and it was generally recognised that the only way forward was to work collaboratively to increase the pool of skilled labour."

Consequently, today Holbeach is home to a sophisticated packaging machinery line, courtesy of key partner Ishida Europe, which has enabled the campus to add a new strand to its curriculum, including a new foundation degree in food manufacturing with an option in process and business development. It has also given rise to a range of shorter courses for production staff and is available for companies to hire out to test drive new products and packaging formats.

"The fact is that many of the low skilled jobs in the food industry are disappearing because of the increased availability of automated processing and packaging machinery," says Braybrooks. "Food companies are recognising that in order to expand and stay ahead of the competition they need to introduce innovations and added value to their ranges."

Both these factors have created a skills requirement that Holbeach, with its new line, is now well placed to address, she adds. "Ishida and the other equipment suppliers supporting the project have spent a lot of time here training the teaching staff, so now we have an infrastructure to move forward with."

While the centre's curriculum has traditionally been geared towards technology and science, which helps companies to develop their technical roles, it was felt that more focus was needed on the managerial roles within the industry, particularly as it is often a struggle for companies to recruit graduates. As a result, part of its work is now in helping employers to 'grow their own' managers through courses like the foundation degree in food manufacture. "About 40 senior managers in food companies in the area have been grown through Holbeach," says Braybrooks.

Similarly, as 23% of the 3,000 part-time students are foreign nationals and as more and more manufacturers rely on overseas workforces, it is not surprising that Holbeach has tailored its courses to accommodate the inevitable language problems that this creates.

"We do a lot of work supporting the migrant workforce, as this area has a high number of migrant workers," explains Braybrooks. "But a few years ago we noticed the success rate for foreign nationals on health and safety and food hygiene courses was plummeting - they were clearly being disadvantaged."

In response, a dedicated team was developed to impart the language skills needed to work safely and help foreign nationals integrate into the workforce and progress. "To do this we teach in the workplace and the materials are contextualised to the individual's company. Over 600 foreign nationals a year go through these Skills for Life qualifications now." Work-based trainers are also trained to screen to identify staff language, reading and listening skills.

Holbeach, which boasts Centre of Vocational Excellence status along with being a Centre for Knowledge Exchange, has recently benefited from a £2.9M investment from the university and Lincolnshire Development. This has helped create a new product development kitchen and sensory evaluation suite, together with modern microbiology and chemistry laboratories and an IT and communications technology suite.

And when it comes to engaging young people, the centre is doing its bit through an Increased Flexibility Programme, where 46 people from four local schools are taught GCSE Food Manufacturing. Most other students are already employed in the food industry.

Phase two

Going forward, Holbeach has ambitious expansion plans and wants to strengthen the manufacturing improvement provision, at the request of the 130 employers it serves, whose interests are represented by the Technical Training Partnership steering group.

"We have gone from being a fairly local facility to a national one, and are seeing a huge increase in the uptake of training, which is really positive for the sector," says Braybrooks.

"But it means we have already outgrown the premises and there is no longer the capacity to accommodate all the training equipment employers need." The answer will, it is hoped, lie in a planned £3M specialist training facility (on the same site) for which funding has been secured.

Phase two will be a purpose-built 1,400m2 food factory, with a fully integrated production line, including a case packer. Planning permission is still needed, but the message is clear: watch this space. FM