Bakery boss takes on Danish apprentices

Denmark-born Lise Madsen, md at Honeyrose Bakery in Park Royal, London, said she had tried to find ways to get the “brightest and best”​ young British bakers into her factory, but has had no success.

Instead, she is running year-long apprenticeship schemes with a Danish University, Aarhus Business College. The organisation subsidises the students' accommodation costs while they are in London. Madsen also has an arrangement with Agroparistech in Paris, which sends production students for six month secondments.

Madsen, who is the subject of this month’s Me and My Factory feature in our sister publication Food Manufacture​​, said: “The Danish university sends their best students to us each year and we will rotate them through the business. They’ll start out in production, then they’ll do some work with sales and marketing and then they work with me directly. That works really well because the Danish government subsidises their stay which is crucial with expenses in London being what they are.​

“And, boy, the students are good.”​

‘Lack of co-operation’​

The lack of co-operation from UK institutions appears to be at odds with a government pledge to make apprenticeships the “new norm”.​

While a local college frequently visits for a factory tour, Madsen said there were no similar training relationships with UK colleges or universities.

“I contacted the baking school at South Bank University about running a similar scheme for British students but without success,”​ Madsen added.

“I told them we are one of the few craft bakeries left in the UK where students will genuinely get the chance to learn how to bake by hand rather than just learning to operate or maintain big stainless steel machines. But they showed no interest.”​

‘Could do more to encourage apprenticeships’​

Madsen said the UK government could do more to encourage apprenticeships and build relationships between manufacturers and colleges.

“The Danish state is more proactive when it comes to looking ahead, investing in education and understanding the value of education by being willing to pay their citizens to go abroad for a year to learn skills. And these guys learn lots. They are great when they come, they have great ideas and they are really keen. It would be great if we had something like this in the UK,”​ she added.

Don’t miss the Me and My Factory feature​ with Madsen.

Meanwhile, employers in England believe qualified apprentices are 15% more employable that those with other qualifications, according to a survey of 500 firms conducted by ICM Research.