Apprentice bown makes the grade at jolly

Elizabeth Bown, owner-manager of Jolly's Fish & Farm Produce in Orkney, has completed the Level 3 Modern Apprenticeship in Food Manufacture she began at the start of last year.

Bown, 41, has blazed a trail for the food and drink industry, being one of the first people to capitalise on the relaxation of the upper age limits for apprentices.

Her achievement coincides with another Orkney resident - 23-year-old Graeme Horne, quality controller at Orkney Meat - completing the same apprenticeship qualification.

Bown's and Horne's achievement was made possible by the Scottish government's agreement to fund adult apprenticeships in certain categories.

Bown founded Jolly's with her husband, Tony, in 2006 and decided she needed more formal management training as the business grew.

"I was pretty much at a standing start before I began the Modern Apprenticeship," says Bown. "I have learned a lot and now have the confidence to take a bit of a back seat, which gives me more time to look after our four kids and 1,000 acre farm."

Gordon Gibb, director of Aberdeen-based Polaris Learning, which provided the training for Bown and Horne, said: "The massive range of [apprenticeship] modules now available means that both Graeme and Elizabeth found the subject options they were looking for and the flexibility to complete the course while working.

"There is also no fixed period within which you have to complete the Modern Apprenticeship, which is appealing to those who have demanding jobs or family lives. Elizabeth's success is inspiring to anyone who has considered taking a qualification later in life."

Bown says she would instantly recommend the apprenticeship programme she has followed to other managers and senior personnel. "Most definitely. Particularly if, like me, they have no formal training. I have no doubt that it will be of great value to me, and to the company."