3 November 2014

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More than 2,400 students and teachers are to be targeted in a bid to inspire interest in engineering and other STEM-related careers in the food and drink manufacturing sector.

Between October and November, food and drink businesses across the country will open their factory gates to showcase exciting and rewarding careers that can be highly skilled, high-tech and extremely rewarding.

But competition is fierce to attract the brightest and the best to the food and drink sector. So, from Slough to Skelmersdale, Belshill to Birmingham, a record number of pupils will go behind the scenes of some of the UK's best-known food and drink companies as part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)' See Inside Manufacturing programme. Manufacturers aim to encourage students who have an enthusiasm in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) to apply that interest to careers such as food scientist or food engineer.

By highlighting the case studies of industry role models and providing examples of food and drink manufacturing careers during visits, they are hopeful of attracting the next generation of industry workers.

These industry and education partnerships form part of food and drink manufacturers' drive to recruit students onto the industry-backed MEng Food Engineering degree at Sheffield Hallam University. This course has been specially designed to develop the leading food and drink engineers of the future and is delivered by the recently launched National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering.

Angela Coleshill, Director of Employment & Skills at the Food and Drink Federation, the voice of food and drink manufacturing, said:

“Food manufacturing is the largest manufacturing sector contributing a gross value added of £24bn, making it even bigger than the UK automotive sector. The value of this vital sector to the economy and the consumer is well-understood, what is less well-known is the range of skilled roles on offer. Through initiatives like the Government's See Inside Manufacturing programme and the creation of the UK's first MEng Food Engineering degree we hope to raise the profile of careers in our sector and create a robust pipeline of skilled workers.”

Matthew Hancock Minister for Manufacturing said:

“Food and drink is one of our great British industries and a jewel of our manufacturing sector. FDF members have engaged record numbers through See Inside Manufacturing and it's fantastic to see them taking the lead again; creating the first ever MEng Food Engineering course in the UK. This will give the next generation the skills they need to rise through the ranks of food and drink; Britain's largest manufacturing sector.”

Notes for editors

1. Food and drink companies supporting BIS See Inside Manufacturing 2014 include: Agrico, Bells Bakery, Cargill, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Pinney's of Scotland, Mars UK, Nestlé UK & Ireland, PepsiCo UK & Ireland, Premier Foods, Mondeléz International, Thornton's, and Warburtons.
2. Students visiting manufacturing sites range from primary age to those in higher education.
3. Nearly four out of five young people (78%) would consider a STEM career but more than half (51%) say they know little or nothing about the type of jobs that are on offer. (Source: Populus research for Nestlé UK & Ireland, October 2014).
4. Food and Drink Federation (FDF) members have supported the See Inside Manufacturing initiative since 2012. In 2013, food and drink manufacturers engaged with over 1,700 of the 6,300 students and teachers who took part in SIM visits, over a quarter of the total number welcomed by the ten key manufacturing sectors involved in the initiative. See more about See Inside Manufacturing.
5. The MEng Food Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University has been developed by Graduate Excellence, a partnership between the Food and Drink Federation, the National Skills Academy for Food & Drink and Sheffield Hallam University. Students benefit from guaranteed competitively-paid work placements and have exclusive access to jobs that are only on offer to course graduates (subject to final grades, references and employer recruitment processes).
6. Companies supporting the MEng Food Engineering include: ABP UK, apetito, Ardo UK Ltd, Arla Foods, Burton's Biscuit Company, Cargill, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Dalehead Foods, F. Duerr & Sons, Fine Ladies Bakeries, Finsbury Foods, Fosters Bakery (Staincross) Limited, General Mills, Kavli UK Ltd, KP Snacks, Maple Leaf Foods, Mars, McCain Foods Ltd, Mondelèz International, Nestlè UK, New England Seafood, New Primebake and Bakkavor, Princes Limited, PepsiCo UK, Pork Farms, Premier Foods, Silver Spoon, AB Worlds and Jordans & Ryvita, Simpsons Ready Foods, Tate and Lyle Sugars, United Biscuits, Warburtons, William Jackson Food Group.
7. The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) is the voice of the food and drink manufacturing industry – the UK's largest manufacturing sector.
8. The National Skills Academy for Food & Drink is the food and drink manufacturing industry's skills body. The Academy was created in 2007 to facilitate sector specific training provision to drive up sector productivity and competitiveness in line with employer needs. Training organisations that become part of the Academy undergo rigorous quality checks and include both publicly and privately funded learning centres. Each delivers some aspect of skills development for the food and drink manufacturing industry as a whole, and/or specialist skills for one of its various sub-sectors.
9. Sheffield Hallam University is one of the UK's largest universities with more than 36,000 students, 27,000 of which are undergraduates. The University has the fourth highest number of postgraduate taught students in the UK and runs approximately 580 different courses. The University is England's largest provider of courses that involve work placements (such as a year in industry) and 91 per cent of the University's graduates are in work or further study six months after graduation.
10. Graduate Excellence has received co-investment from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) through the Employer Investment Fund.
11. The National Centre of Excellence at Sheffield Hallam University builds on the launch of the UK's first food engineering degree.

For More information

For more information, supportive imagery or case studies, please contact Fleur Williamson, Anna Taylor or Marita Upeniece on 020 7420 7120/7118/ 7140 pressoffice@fdf.org.uk

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