Cheshire college wins £6M training contract
Reaseheath College in Cheshire has won a £6M contract to develop a pan-European qualification for the dairy sector.
Reaseheath will provide a degree-level qualification for dairy processing personnel, with the first intake of students starting training in September.
Named Project Eden, the initiative is a partnership between dairy processors (through trade association, Dairy UK), the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing. Other organisations representing the food industry, including the Society of Dairy Technology and Improve, are also involved.
“Our dairy students will benefit from the college’s dairy expertise and state of the art training dairy, which is currently being built,” said Project Eden’s steering group chairman, Jens Termansen of Arla Foods.
Other firms involved in the project include Dairy Crest, Robert Wiseman, R&R Ice cream, First Milk and Milk Link.
The qualification will provide training for three years, with at least 18 weeks per year spent at college studying dairy theory, science and practical skills. The remainder of the time will be spent working hands-on in the dairy industry. It will be the benchmark qualification across Europe, according to Dairy UK.
“This is a great step towards the delivery of truly world-class dairy education for our industry. It is vital for the dairy sector that we remain competitive on the world stage, and Eden is a vital tool in achieving this,” added Dairy UK’s director general Jim Begg.
Reaseheath College was named as the training provider, after it announced that an investment of £51M would be pumped into its facilities over the year.
