03.03.2010
An industry skills chief has told politicians that the UK’s £78.7bn food and drink industry must be considered a priority for skills funding after the election as it takes steps to recruit 137,000 people by 2017.
Jack Matthews, chief executive of food and drink sector skills council Improve, told the All Party Parliamentary Food and Drink Manufacturing Group that attracting new talent into the industry will be essential if the UK is to achieve its goal of becoming a global leader in sustainable and secure food.
Mr Matthews said that the targets and priorities set out by Defra last year for sustainability and food security over the next 20 years could only be achieved through investment in a knowledgeable and competent workforce. He called on the government to acknowledge and recognise food and drink as a priority industry for targeted funding for training as part of its strategy for driving recovery and growth in the economy.
“The food and drink industry is a success story for UK industry,” he said. “In terms of international productivity, we are ranked second globally. It contributes £22.8bn in Gross Value Added (GVA), has an annual turnover of £78.7bn and produces £13.1bn in exports. However, there are a great deal of changes taking place; demand for more high-value products, the adoption of advanced manufacturing techniques, and more stringent EU and global standards and regulatory requirements all create their own challenges. In addition, environmental change and the rising global population are creating their own pressures on the food supply chain, meaning we will potentially have to feed more mouths with fewer resources.
“We must attract and develop talented individuals who can help create a high-tech, modern and efficient food industry to achieve the sustainable and secure supply of food we need going forward. We need to fill one hundred and thirty-seven thousand jobs by 2017 to replace workers who are expected to leave the industry and to meet rising demand in certain areas. Around a third of those will be in professional and managerial roles such as food scientists and technologists, engineers and senior officials, increasing the number of professional roles by 50 per cent on current numbers. There will also be demand for significant numbers of skilled technical and process jobs. For this to be achievable, the industry needs government support in terms of investment and funding, which follows the reforms in qualifications for the industry we are currently pursuing. The government must respond to the needs of employers. They are most informed to tell us what skills and knowledge they need from their employees and we must listen.”
Mr Matthews was looking to gain politicians’ support for Improve’s development of a Food Supply Chain Cluster, which would bring together different sector skills councils and supply chain elements to create a single, cohesive vision for developing the workforce right across the food and drink supply chain.
“At present, different elements of the food and drink industry, from agriculture to processing to retail, are treated as distinct when it comes to skills,” he said. “The development of a strong cluster would focus on achieving food sustainability and security by driving the skills agenda, ensuring the industry can meet its performance and productivity priorities in the coming years no matter where that need is along the food supply chain. We would be leaders in taking this approach and this would continue the success story that is the UK food and drink industry.”
