Media Centre

• An image bank of stock images which you can use to support media releases.
• An archive of Improve issued press releases.

For more information on any of the news stories please contact Katrina Gill at Nexnet PR on katrina.gill@nexnet.co.uk or telephone 0113 247 0029. Alternatively to speak to the Marketing Department at Improve please email improve@improveltd.co.uk or call 0845 644 0448.

IMAGE BANK

This document includes lo-res stock images which can be used to support on and off line media stories. Hi-res versions of these and other images are also available on request.
Improve Stock Images Nov 2006.pdf

PRESS RELEASES

May 2008
1.  Ambitious targets for new food and drink apprenticeships
Revamped apprenticeships in food and drink manufacture are being rolled out across Northern Ireland, promising the nation’s £2.5 billion industry a fresh injection of new talent.
2.  Skill shortage hampering expansion plans
Tan-y-Castell Welsh Cakes, based in Narberth, Pembrokeshire, is typical of many thriving bakery businesses in Wales.
3. Funding secured for basic skills training in Welsh bakeries
A food workers union in Wales has secured government funding to help boost the skills of staff in the country’s £1.7 billion food and drink manufacturing industry.

April 2008
1.  SQA launches new qualification to boost food and drink industry
Efforts to revolutionise skills training in Scotland’s £7.6 billion food and drink processing industry have received a further boost with the launch of a new suite of national qualifications.  
2.  New apprenticeships launched in Northern Ireland
Food and drink manufacturing companies in all four UK nations can now ensure their workers have access to the most up-to-date training programmes, following the approval of a new apprenticeship for Northern Ireland.
3.  New study to assess financial impact of migrant labour
Research into the economic impact of migrant workers on the UK’s food and drink manufacturing industry has been commissioned by Improve, the sector skills council.
4.  Apprenticeship pilot lets dairy industry find cream of the crop
Attracting young people into any industry is a competitive business to say the least. For the dairy industry, doing battle with fashionable sectors like media or IT for the best talent coming out of schools and colleges can feel like David taking on Goliath.

March 2008
1.   Improve strengthens team with new appointment
Improve, the food and drink sector skills council, has appointed a new senior marketing executive.

February 2008
1. New research to prove the business benefits of training
The first piece of UK-wide research that will highlight the business benefits of training in the food and drink manufacturing industry has been commissioned by sector skills council Improve.
2. Wales leads the way in food science
Science graduates are being offered a stepping stone towards high-flying careers in the food and drink industry thanks to new courses being launched in Wales.
3. Scottish Government considers plans to extend Modern Apprenticeships
Hundreds of new apprenticeship places could be created in the food and drink industry under proposals being considered by the Scottish Government.
4.  Champion apprentice urges industry makeover
An award-winning apprentice has told the government its plans to revitalise apprenticeships will only succeed if more is done to change young people’s perceptions of industry.
5.  Employers invited to snap up funds to boost staff training
Cash is being made available to help food and drink manufacturers in Yorkshire and Humberside increase productivity and profits by boosting the skills levels of existing staff.
6.  Employers invited to snap up funds to boost staff training
Cash is being made available to help food and drink manufacturers in the north-east increase productivity and profits by boosting the skills levels of existing staff.
7.  Skills shortages could threaten Mother’s Day chocolate boom
Despite a spring-time boom on the back of Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, skills chiefs are warning that the UK’s confectionery industry could face an uncertain future.

January 2008
1.   New guidelines to support food safety training
Food and drink manufacturing bosses are set to benefit from new industry guidelines that will clarify food safety training requirements.
2.  Hunger for haggis being hampered by staff shortages
Haggis makers have warned that a shortage of skilled workers means they will struggle to meet rising demand if global interest in Scottish food continues to grow.
3.  Food manufacturers agree scheme to boost skills
Food and drink manufacturers in Northern Ireland are being urged to support a new scheme designed to boost skills across the sector.
4.  Food and drink chief hails apprenticeship reforms
Boosting apprentice numbers could help the UK’s largest manufacturing sector generate £100 billion within a decade, according to the man in charge of the industry’s skills agenda.
5.  Employers invited to snap up funds to boost staff training
Cash is being made available to help food and drink manufacturers in the West Midlands increase productivity and profits by boosting the skills levels of existing staff.

December 2007
1.  Paula Widdowson to leave Improve
Paula Widdowson, commercial director of Improve, the food and drink sector skills council, is to leave the organisation in the middle of December to join Northern Foods in the new position of director of corporate social responsibility.
2.  Ambitious targets for new food and drink apprenticeships in Scotland
A revamped Modern Apprenticeship for food and drink manufacturing is being rolled out across Scotland, promising the £7.4 billion industry a fresh injection of new talent.
3.  New learning opportunities for brewing
Brewers are set to benefit from the launch of a set of new industry standards, which will help provide additional learning opportunities for workers in the sector.
4. New learning opportunities for dairy
Dairy employers are set to benefit from the launch of a set of new industry standards, which will help provide additional learning opportunities for workers in the sector.
5.  New learning opportunities for food and drink
Employers across five food and drink manufacturing sectors are set to benefit from the launch of a set of new industry standards, which will help provide additional learning opportunities.
6.  New learning opportunities for milling and cereals
Employers in the milling and cereals industry are set to benefit from the launch of a set of new industry standards, which will help provide additional learning opportunities for workers in the sector.
7.    New learning opportunities for seafood
Seafood processing employers are set to benefit from the launch of a set of new industry standards, which will help provide additional learning opportunities for workers in the sector.
8.  New learning opportunities for sweet confectionery
Confectionery employers are set to benefit from the launch of a set of new industry standards, which will help provide additional learning opportunities for workers in the sector.

November 2007
1.  Ambitious targets for new food and drink apprenticeships
Revamped apprenticeships in food and drink manufacture are being rolled out across England and Wales, promising the £65 billion industry a fresh injection of new talent.
2.  Education reforms offer boost to food and drink industry
The skills chief of the UK’s largest manufacturing sector has welcomed new proposals for the overhaul of education in England and Wales as “a triumph for employers”.
3.  Improve strengthens team with new recruits
The food and drink sector skills council, Improve, has strengthened its team with the appointment of three new recruits.
4. Students urged to discover the glamour in food science
As far as prospective careers go, working as a food scientist or technologist certainly has its attractions for today’s teenagers. Big salaries, plenty of variety and the chance to play around with your favourite foods all day are just some of them.
5. Food companies urged to sign skills pledge
Skills Minister David Lammy MP has welcomed the decision of Northern Foods’ chief executive Stefan Barden to become one of the first food and drink manufacturing employers to sign the Skills Pledge, publicly committing to raise the skills levels of the company’s 11,000 employees.

October 2007
1.  Improve welcomes leading industry figures to its board
Improve, the sector skills council for food and drink, has announced the appointment of four leading industry figures to its board.
2.  Food manufacturers invited to help deliver new diplomas
Employers in the food and drink sector are being urged to step forward to help deliver a groundbreaking manufacturing qualification in schools.
3. Hi-tech tool marks launch of new food and drink qualifications
An innovative one-stop guide to help food and drink manufacturers design vocational qualifications for their staff has been launched on-line.
4.  Skills Academy chief unveiled
The first director of The National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing has been named by Improve, the food and drink sector skills council.
5.  South Yorkshire schools pioneer new initiative
Primary school pupils in South Yorkshire are taking the lead in a major new drive to promote better understanding of food manufacturing among young people.

September 2007
1.  Improve welcomes skills strategy for Scotland
The publication of the Scottish government’s strategy document Skills for Scotland has been welcomed enthusiastically by Improve, the food and drink sector skills council.
2.  Employers urged to go to universities
As hundreds of thousands of students return to university this month, food and drink manufacturers are being urged to make their presence felt on campuses in order to tap into the UK’s blossoming undergraduate talent pool and plug crucial skills gaps in the industry.
3.    Food and drink chiefs back skills drive
Leading industry figures have issued a rallying cry to the UK’s food and drinks manufacturers, calling on them to lend their full support to the drive to improve skills across the sector’s workforce. 

August 2007
1.  More power to employers in qualifications overhaul
Food and drink manufacturers could soon be able to offer employees the chance to gain universally-recognised qualifications through their own tailor-made in-house training programmes – and attract new government funding in the process.
2.  Adult apprenticeships launched for food and drink industry
England’s food and drink manufacturing industry is on course to benefit from a significant leap in apprentice numbers after the government this month scrapped the upper age limit on funding.

July 2007
1.  New qualifications to boost careers
People seeking to start or develop their careers in food manufacturing can boost their chances of getting ahead through new vocationally linked qualifications launching in September.
2.  New ways for Yorkshire food workers to boost earnings through skills
Workers in the Yorkshire and Humber region’s £8.1 billion food and drink manufacturing sector will have new opportunities to increase their skills and their earnings, thanks to a ground-breaking scheme to revamp work-related qualifications.
3.  New skills academy means more training for less money
Employers in the food and drink sector can now achieve more training for less money through the new National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing, said Jack Matthews, chief executive of Improve, the food and drink sector skills council.
4.  Teenagers taste food manufacturing careers in school
Four teenage girls have earned an award for devising a new food product, as part of a pioneering initiative to promote better understanding of food manufacturing in schools.
5. New Skills Academy for North-West food workers
Food and drink manufacturing bosses in the north-west are set to benefit from a pioneering new training initiative, following the online launch of the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing.

June 2007
1. Pizza maker is finalist in Apprentice of the Year Award
 A pizza maker from Leyland in Lancashire has been chosen as a finalist in the prestigious annual Apprenticeship Awards, to be announced on 20 June.
2.  Top food manufacturers sign agreement to boost skills
Leading food and drink manufacturers in Scotland have joined together in a common cause to boost skills across the sector.

May 2007
1.  Master-plan for NVQ and SVQ reform to be unveiled
The master-plan for a revolutionary raft of 16 new vocational qualifications in food manufacturing will be unveiled to employers at a major event in Leeds on 6 July.
2.  Sir Digby Jones backs scheme for food scientists
UK skills envoy Sir Digby Jones has given his backing to a new scheme that aims to solve an acute shortage of young people entering a career in food science and technology.
3.  Leeds youngsters to pioneer food and drink apprenticeships
Leeds has become one of the first areas of the country to offer school pupils the opportunity to complete a new qualification - a Young Apprenticeship in Food and Drink Manufacturing, while still at school.

April 2007
1.  Food and drink manufacturer to bring business into the classroom
A food and drink manufacturer is helping to bring business into the classroom as part of a UK-wide careers campaign.
2.  Two new appointments strengthen Improve team
Two new appointments have strengthened the team at Improve, the food and drink sector skills council.
3. National standards for distiller training launched
New national training standards in distilling, warehousing and bottling are among over forty vocational units launched by the Scotch Whisky industry at Blair Athol Distillery today.

March 2007
1.  North West Companies urged to claim free skills passport for staff
Food and drink manufacturers in the North West have until the end of March to take advantage of free skills passports for their staff.

Feb 2007
1.  Food companies urged to help stem scientist shortage
The shortfall in scientists and technologists within food and drink manufacturing is set to worsen unless urgent measures are taken to attract more young people into these roles, according to new research. 
2.  Industry chiefs urge manufacturers to work with schools
Industry chiefs will today (Thursday 8 February) urge in particular manufacturers to step up their work with schools in a bid to close a widening skills gap.
3.  National accolade for Holbeach Campus
University of Lincoln Holbeach Campus has earned a national accolade as a centre of specialist learning for skills in manufacturing chilled ready meals.
4.  Grimbsy leads new national skills initiative
Two leading education and training organisations in Grimsby are at the forefront of a new national initiative to drive up skills in the UK workforce.
5.  New national accolade for JohnsonDiversey training
JohnsonDiversey in Northampton has earned a national accolade as a centre of specialist learning for hygiene skills in food manufacturing.
6.  ‘Lean’ trainers join academy network
A specialist in lean manufacturing techniques has become the sixth organisation to join the network of Academy Training Centres within the new National Skills Academy for Food and Drink.
7.  New national accolade for Poultec Training
Poultec Training in Dereham has earned a national accolade as a centre of specialist learning for meat and poultry food manufacturing skills.
8.  New seafood training group joins National Skills Academy
With only a few weeks to go before the April opening of the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing, a seventh major training organisation has joined the network of Academy Training Centres, to specialise in seafood processing.
9.  Drive to revamp food and drink apprenticeships
A major drive to revitalise apprenticeships in food and drink manufacturing has been launched by Improve, the sector skills council.

Jan 2007

1.  Diploma Consultation Leeds
Yorkshire is playing host to a nationwide consultation that will help manufacturers boost the skills of their future employees by getting involved in the design of a groundbreaking new academic qualification for teenagers.
2.  Diploma Consultation London
Manufacturers in the south-east are being urged to have their say in the design of a groundbreaking new academic qualification for teenagers, by attending a consultation event in London.
3.  Food and drink companies urged to sign-up to cut price training
Food and drink manufacturers in England are being urged not to miss out on an opportunity to gain heavily subsidised training for their female employees.
4.  College courses must become more relevant to work-place needs
The government’s Trade and Industry Select Committee inquiry into the future of UK manufacturing has been told that college and university courses must become more relevant to the needs of the work place.
5.  £4.4m Skills Academy for Food and Drink to open in April
The National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing will open in April after receiving the go-ahead by the government today (Wednesday 31 January 2007).

Dec 2006

1. Spearheading a drive for more women managers
Improve has been awarded £500,000 in public funding to subsidise training that will help 500 women employees achieve a management qualification within the next two years.
2.  Employers urged to to train temporary staff
Improve has commissioned research to explore the impact of temporary workers in the sector in Northern Ireland. 
3.  More school pupils to start food and drink young apprenticeships
More than 150 school pupils across England are expected to start a Young Apprenticeship in Food and Drink Manufacturing in 2007.

Nov 2006
1. Last Chance to have you say on the Manufacturing Diploma - Nov 06.pdf
News on the latest consultation events to allow industry to sign off the learning outcomes of the 14-19 Diploma.
2. Food Science Research and the SSA Nov 06.pdf
Improve latest research highlights growing deficits of food scientists and the impact this will have on the future of the industry.

Oct 2006
1. New Virtual Careers Advisor Launch - Oct 06.pdf
Improve launches a new ginger-bread man careers advisor to give online advise about careers in food and drink.
2. Ageing Workforce Research Oct 06.pdf
New industry research from Improve shows the need to invest in promoting more flexible opportunities for the older workforce.
3. Advanced Apprenticeship Framework revisions - oct 06.pdf
Improve gains approval for new apprenticeship frameworks which meet the needs of industry. 

Older press releases and wider news from across the food and drink industry can be found by accessing our fully searchable news archive by clicking here.