Scottish Bakers Newsletter - April 2023

THE SCOTTISH BAKER

In this issue:

- President’s visit to Westminster

- Scottish Baker of the Year Launch

- World Championship Scotch Pie Awards

THE SCOTTISH BAKER

WELCOME

ALASDAIR SMITH CEO

Welcome to the spring 2023 edition of the Scottish Baker, your industry newsletter. Scottish Bakers emerged from the holiday period on a high, with the World Championship Scotch Pie Awards lunch. Hosted by the wonderful Carol Smillie, it was my pleasure to speak at the awards and my congratulations go to all winners. Our competitions are one of the most important ways in which Scottish Bakers celebrates the skills of its members and shines a spotlight on the vast array of wonderful products they produce every day. At the time of writing the entry window for the Scottish Baker of the Year awards is about to close for 2023 and judging day is approaching. Eligible members can apply for the business judging process from 17 March until 29th March. I can’t wait to find out who is in line for the top awards when we announce the winners at our Annual Conference, taking place in The Hilton, Glasgow.

This is the premier event for our members, bringing together around 350 bakers, their families, and allied trades under one roof. It’s a weekend of fun and celebration, but also one of business and this year the Saturday daytime programme has been completely influenced by what members told us they wanted to hear about. Make sure you get your tickets now. Behind our celebrations though, I am as aware as you all are of the great many outside forces affecting our members, specifically energy and ingredient costs. While we remain at the mercy of widespread inflationary pressures for our key commodities, the Government’s relief package for business energy users brought much needed protection from the eye-watering increases we were facing before its introduction.

As an industry it is right that we recognise the value of this support, but also right that we express concern that the replacement package, due to come into force from 1 April, will lead to higher energy costs. We have been actively lobbying, with our trade colleagues from across the UK, for a better deal for bakers. Throughout everything, though, I know our members continue to be resilient and ambitious and for this you are all winners in my book.

As always, it’s my pleasure to add my own welcome to all readers of the Scottish Baker newsletter.

The start of every year is a busy time for the team here at Bakers House, with the Scotch Pie Awards very quickly leading into the opening of the Scottish Baker of the Year Awards and Annual Conference planning.

Our conference programme this year has been pulled together in direct response to requests from across our membership, and we’ve got a great range of interesting speakers throughout the day. We’ve also made a few subtle changes to the Saturday agenda to enable us to deliver more relevant content than before, with plenty of opportunity for discussion and questions which you told us you enjoyed.

Our conference this year will deal with “people issues” in two main morning presentation and discussion panels with speakers from Peninsula and McGhee’s Bakery talking about how to look after your workforce. We’ve also got a dedicated training and development panel with speakers from Scottish Baker’s members Lees of Scotland and Keptie Bakery.

The afternoon will see us move to discuss the serious business of baking and we’ll welcome Stephen Brown from C J Lang, Dael Links of Snappy Shopper and Lewis MacLean of MacLean’s Highland Bakery to talk about new opportunities and how to grasp them. We’ll have a return of a past-conference favourite: Trends and Inspirations. Delegates will hear from BAKO, Dawn Foods and The Knowledge Bank on what is hot and what is not in the bakery world, as well as how to access this essential information. And of course, the weekend will feature a brilliant range of exhibitors, and two great evenings where we announce our amazing Scottish Baker of the Year awards.

Make sure you get your tickets from our website now and I look forward to seeing you there and remember that for the first time, members buying a full weekend ticket can bring along one young member of staff (25 years or under) to attend the Saturday daytime sessions free of charge.

Until then, keep baking!

CONTENTS

IAN MCGHEE President

FIGHTING FOR A BETTER ENERGY DEAL IN WESTMINSTER

President Ian McGhee and CEO, Alasdair Smith, visited the hallowed halls of Westminster in February to raise awareness with politicians of the potential damage to the trade once the new Energy Discount Scheme comes into force in April.

This new scheme, which replaces the energy price cap in place for businesses until the end of March, is likely to see members paying more yet again for their energy at a time when all other costs are continuing to rise.

Ian and Alasdair were invited to Westminster by SNP’s Stephen Flynn and Stewart Hosie and enjoyed a full and frank discussion not just about our concerns but also the key uncertainties about the scheme that remain

unanswered. They have agreed to raise these questions in the house and we hope this will draw some clarification for us.

We also secured a meeting with Secretary of State for Scotland, The Right Honourable Alister Jack MP, at the Scotland Office in Dover House. Mr Jack was similarly keen to hear about the concerns we had about the scheme and undertook to write to the Chancellor on our behalf to get some answers.

This is what we have said to both parties: We note and welcome the new scheme recognises bakeries as one of the “Energy and Trade Intensive Industries” or “ETIIs” that qualify for a higher level of discounting

on their energy bills. However, we would like absolute clarity that ALL bakeries – from the smallest craft baker operating as a sole trader to the largest plant bakery – qualify for this higher energy discount.

We would like clarification on whether the higher discount applies only to sites where baked goods are manufactured or whether bakery retail outlets are included within the higher energy discount.

Many bakeries also run associated cafés: do these businesses qualify for the higher energy discount?

On behalf of the wider supply chain to the UK’s bakery sector, will the Government consider those businesses without whom the sector could not continue – eg yeast producers, or ingredient suppliers (who often have exceptionally high refrigeration costs), also being brought within the higher level of energy discount.

We have some intelligence that the higher energy discount is applied on top of the basic discount (this came from BEIS) – is this the case and, if so, how is this applied and what does this mean in practical terms for businesses energy bills compared with the current relief?

As a critical part of the UK’s food chain, we would argue that bakery businesses should receive the additional discount on more than 70% of their energy usage (as the limit has been set so far).

Are there any other measures the government can offer to help mitigate rising energy costs (eg grants for installing green energy generation such as solar panels).

These meetings arose from our letter issued to the Chancellor in early January, co-signed by the Craft Bakers Association, the Federation of Bakers, and the Association of Bakery Ingredient Manufacturers. We circulated the letter to the media and a range of MPs in the other parties represented at Westminster as part of our strategy to maximise coverage of this serious issue and we’ve been pleased with the diverse coverage it has generated. Lobbying around government policy has become an increasingly important part of what we do at Scottish Bakers, and this is a good example of UK-wide industry collaboration giving weight to our voice.

WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF BAKERS SHORT COURSES FOR BAKERY STUDENTS, APPRENTICES & TRAINEES

The Worshipful Company of Bakers has announced two Short Courses for 2023:

9– 14th July 2023 at the School of Artisan Food in Nottinghamshire

of Bakers announces two Short Courses for 2023: the School of Artisan Food in Nottinghamshire Bakels Innovation Centre at Bicester in the UK Artisan Food, Nottinghamshire charity, dedicated to enthusing and helping people from all walks of delicious - food.

13-15th September 2023 at the Bakels Innovation Centre at Bicester in the UK

The Worshipful Company of Bakers announces two Short Courses for 2023: July 9– 14th 2023 at the School of Artisan Food in Nottinghamshire September 13-15th at the Bakels Innovation Centre at Bicester in the UK

The Worshipful Company of Bakers announces two Short Courses for 2023:

The School of Artisan Food is an awardwinning charity, dedicated to enthusing and helping people from all walks of life to learn about healthy, sustainable - and deliciousfood. Based on the beautiful Welbeck Estate in Nottinghamshire, the School is unique to the UK food industry; a hidden gem of specialist skills and knowledge, state-of-theart facilities, and a passionate emphasis on

MORE INFORMATION

School of Artisan Food, Nottinghamshire

July 9– 14th 2023 at the School of Artisan Food in Nottinghamshire

September 13-15th at the Bakels Innovation Centre at Bicester in the UK

School of Artisan Food, Nottinghamshire

Bakels manufactures and distributes a wide range of ingredients, some of which are tailor made for industrial and in-store bakeries while others are specifically developed for the Craft and Food Service sectors. Bakels has well established sales and technical teams focusing on serving the specific needs of each sector of the baking industry and owes its success not just to investment in facilities and innovation but also in recognising the importance of training people, both young and old, in essential bakery skills.

UK food industry; a hidden gem of specialist skills and knowledge, emphasis on the production of

Applications for the two courses are now open, with the application form available on the Baker’s Company website www.bakers.co.uk on the training and education page.

Bakels Innovation Centre, Bicester,

The School of Artisan Food is an award-winning charity, dedicated to enthusing and helping people from all walks of life to learn about healthy, sustainable - and delicious - food.

Nottinghamshire, the School is unique to the UK food industry; a hidden gem of specialist skills and knowledge, of-the-art facilities, and a passionate emphasis on the production of charcuterie).

directors decided to open an artisan bakery in the premises of the old the middle of Sherwood Fo aspiring artisan bakers produces more than 40 varieties of long fermen methods to craft the products ranging from sourdoughs – each with a the multi-award winning Volkhorn Rye and Cheese biscuits. The bakery estate and their products are also available at selected outlets across the Yorkshire.

The courses are open to students in the final year of their full-time bakery education at college, or the equivalent level of a workplace-based training course or apprenticeship. You must have at least 1 year of experience of working in a bakery – for college students this will be placements, internships, etc., and you will be asked to submit details of products you have worked on during your experience.

Welbeck Bakehouse:

School of Artisan Food is an award-winning charity, dedicated to enthusing and helping people from all walks of learn about healthy, sustainable - and delicious - food. Based on the beautiful Welbeck Estate in

is

In 2006, two of the School of Artisan Food’s directors decided to open an artisan bakery in the premises of the old fire station on the beautiful Welbeck Estate in the middle of Sherwood Fo rest. Having designed two large wood-fired ovens, it seemed a perfect location to teach aspiring artisan bakers as it had been difficult to find bakers with the requisite skills. This pioneering artisan bakery produces more than 40 varieties of long fermentation breads and

The Bakels Group was originally established in 1904, and the company as we know vision and lifetime work of Bernard J Bakels; who led the company into ingredients

industry;

SCOTTISH BAKER OF THE YEAR

SCOTTISH BAKER OF THE YEAR LAUNCH

UHI Inverness College Students Challenged to Bring us ‘Scotland on a Cake’

We were delighted to return to Inverness, the home of current Scottish Baker of the Year, The Three Little Bakers, to launch this year’s competition.

A group of students from UHI Inverness College, who are studying professional cookery and hospitality, took part in a cake decorating challenge, overseen by our ambassador and couture cake specialist, Mich Turner MBE.

On the day, the students were able to call upon advice from the current Scottish Baker of the Year, Paddy Murphy from The Three Little Bakers, Scottish Bakers President and Director of McGhees Bakery, Ian McGhee, and Vice-President Michelle Phillips of Edinburghbased Mimi’s Bakehouse was also on hand to offer her top tips.

Whilst all of the students were amazing, the judges awarded the best cake to Tetiana Potapko with Mich saying, “Tetiana’s interpretation of the brief with exceptional hand finishing skills impressed the judges. Her attention to detail, technical ability and quality of finish set her apart in a close run contest.”

Tetiana relocated to Aviemore last year from Ukraine and has recently moved to Inverness to continue her studies.

Our thanks go to UHI Inverness for hosting us for this memorable event.

The Scottish Baker of the Year 2023/24 will be announced at our Annual Conference & Awards weekend in May.

THE SCOTTISH BAKER

We’re excited to be bringing you another fantastic conference programme for 2023 with engaging panel discussions and key note speakers.

We listened to your feedback and developed our programme with “Your People” being our morning focus before moving on to the business of baking in the afternoon, where we’ll talk about future opportunities as we move Forward Together: For the Good of All.

Not only will one King be crowned that weekend, but we’ll also be crowning our own Scottish Baker of the Year for 2023/24! Great value weekend tickets are available from £185 +VAT. What’s more if you have a member of bakery staff under the age of 25, they can come along to the Exhibition and Saturday daytime programme completely FREE!

MORE INFORMATION

For more information on this year’s programme, visit our website

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THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SCOTCH PIE AWARD GOES ONCE AGAIN TO JAMES PIRIE & SON

James Pirie & Son, who won the competition in 2020 and in 2018 as well as taking the title World Scotch Pie Champion of Champions in 2021 with their iconic Scotch Pie, were told in January that their pies had once again reached the peak of perfection and were officially the best in the world.

The butcher also took the top prize for its Sausage Roll which took a Diamond title, making it the best sausage roll in Scotland. Alan Pirie from James Pirie & Son said, “I am stunned! Speechless and stunned. Wow. I was delighted to have won the competition twice and to take the Champion of Champion title but but to have once again been judged alongside literally the best pies in the land and to have come out on top is beyond my wildest dreams. I really do make the best Scotch Pies in the world. This is just fantastic news and will be a huge boost to the business after a year of continuing to serve our community with fresh produce through difficult circumstances for us all.”

“With nearly 500 of the best pies on the market submitted by 78 of the best butchers, bakers and other pie makers for judging by 60 pie professionals, all of our winners can be proud of placing so highly in the competition,” said Alasdair Smith, Chief Executive of Scottish Bakers who run the competition each year.

The winning products were all considered by the judges to be the best of the best when it came to taste, texture, appearance and smell across all the categories from the iconic Scotch Pie to Football Pies & Savouries, Macaroni Pies, Steak Pies, Sausage Rolls, Cold Savouries, Hot Savouries, Vegetarian Savouries, Haggis Savouries, Bridies and Apple Pies.

Whilst it was a butcher who took the top prize, it was a great showing from the bakers, who won seven of the Diamond Awards!

Carol Smillie presented the awards to the winners saying, “I am always delighted to present these awards, meet so many faces old and new and of course all those delicious pies! These bakers and butchers consistently provide such high quality and the new faces tell me that the sector continues to thrive and prosper with more professionals than ever throwing their hats into the ring. Well done to all our winners.”

Master logo (the logo should not be used on dark backgrounds, only white or bright coloured backgrounds)

Mono logo (for use when printing in greyscale only)

2023

2023

PFM PACKAGING MACHINERY IS DELIGHTED TO BE BRINGING THE PFM ACADEMY TO THE SCOTTISH BAKERS HQ

The one day ‘Introduction to Flowrapping’ training course normally takes place at PFM’s in house training facility in Leeds. The company however, recognises that time away from the normal place of work can restrict who is able to attend the Academy and is taking to the road to allow Scottish Bakers members the opportunity to come along and improve their understanding of the basic foundations and principles of flowrapping.

The day will be open to anyone who has an interest and is aimed at line operators, supervisors and site engineers who are new

Available dates:

23, 24 & 25 May 2023

Location:

to flowrapping or just want to brush up on their existing knowledge.

There is no requirement to have a PFM flowrapper, the basic principles apply to all makes and models and Scottish Bakers has kindly offered their conference facilities as a training room with lunch and refreshments provided throughout the day.

PFM UK was founded in 1987. After establishing a leading role supplying flowrappers to the cheese industry the company has broadened its markets across bakery, food and non-food sectors. Both the UK and Irish Republic are covered from the

Scottish Bakers, Kingseat Road, Dunfermline, KY11 8RY

Other dates available upon request

Leeds headquarters with sales and servicing for horizontal and vertical form-fill-seal machines, multi-head weighers, automatic feeders and further packaging lines built by PFM group companies.

Aftersales service is carried out by specialised engineers, backed with over £2 million worth of spare parts holding in Leeds, set up by PFM as part of its commitment to supplying parts in the shortest time possible.

The strength of PFM Group remains in its original technological ideas, in its perseverance to create new concepts and technology, and absolute determination to be always one step ahead.

REIDS BAKERY LANDS VIRGIN ATLANTIC DEAL

“This is a fabulous opportunity to showcase our products all over the world,” said Reids business development director Tracy Reid. “Virgin Atlantic is a well-respected and recognised brand, and it is great to be associated with them.”

Virgin Atlantic is now added to a long list of well-known names in the travel industry that are supplied with their shortbread.

Reids Bakery in Caithness has landed a deal to supply Virgin Atlantic with their shortbread. The deal means that passengers will get to enjoy four types of their shortbread. The six figure contract is a massive boost to the business.

“It is remarkable to think our products go all around the world from here in Thurso,” added Reid. “None of this would be possible without the great team we have, who ensure our products are all made to the highest possible standards often to very tight deadlines.”

INDUSTRY TITANS JOIN MACPHIE TO GUIDE GROWTH

LEADING figures from the world of food and business have joined one of the UK’s biggest ingredients firms to help it achieve the next stage of its growth plans.

CARR’S FLOUR VICTORIOUS AT FOOD MANUFACTURE EXCELLENCE AWARDS

We are pleased to share that Carr’s Flour has won the Ingredients Manufacturing Company of the Year at the Food Manufacture Excellence Awards 2023. This is the second time the company has won the title, having previously been awarded the same accolade in 2021.

MEMBERS SECURE REFORMULATION FUNDING

Scottish Bakers members Bells Food Group and Border Biscuits are amongst a group of 13 food production businesses to secure funding through the FDF Scotland’s Reformul8 Challenge Fund. The fund supports Scottish food producers with reformulation on aspects such as salt, fat and sugar reduction.

Allan Burns, Sales & Marketing Director at Carr’s Flour, said of the win, “We’re delighted that the hard work and dedication of the Carr’s Flour team has been recognised once again. Winning Ingredients Manufacturing Company of the Year is a testament to the quality of our products and continued commitment to providing only the very best for our customers. I couldn’t have been prouder of the team at Carr’s Flour, who all helped make this happen.”

Other winners at this year’s awards included Moy Park, Birds Eye, Charlie Bigham’s, Pilgrim’s UK, Wyke Farms and Raynor Foods. The Food Manufacture Excellence Awards recognise excellence across the UK food and drink manufacturing industry, honouring businesses of all sizes and across all categories, from ambient to plant-based products.

Food and drink businesses have a real desire to offer a wider range of healthier products – but the associated costs can be challenging. This is why FDF Scotland developed the Reformul8 Challenge Fund. This third round of support was made possible due to £50,000 of funding received from the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership Recovery Plansupported by the Scottish Government.

Norman Soutar and Jane Stewart join the team at Macphie Ltd as Non-Executive Directors, bringing with them a wealth of leadership and industry expertise. With more than 29 years’ experience in the food sector, Soutar’s latest venture saw him managing the William Jackson Food Group as Chief Executive where he more than tripled the company’s revenue and oversaw a number of business disposals and acquisitions.

As part of his 14 years at the food group, he helped family-favourite brand Aunt Bessie’s build its brand reputation for helping make complicated recipes and techniques more user-friendly.

Soutar, said: “To be part of the evolution and growth of a food industry leader like Macphie is something that I am very much looking forward to.

“One of the firm’s core aims is to make life easier for chefs and bakers and this is something I can wholeheartedly get behind, having a passion for it myself.

“During my time at William Jackson Food Group, I worked with the Managing Directors and their leadership teams to help them create value over the long term, going that extra step beyond group strategy support.

“I hope that I can bring the knowledge and skills that I have gained throughout my 29 years in the industry to help Macphie on the next phase of its expansion plan.”

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

We have been delighted to welcome a host of new members to the Scottish Bakers family since the start of the year.

Bakery members to join us have been:

- Naked Sourdough, an artisan micro-bakery located in the heart of the Scottish Borders in Jedburgh and Kelso, founded in 2020.

- Bross Bagels, which brings Montreal style bagels with NYC inspired deli fillings to the people of Edinburgh.

- Wee Cake Box of Montrose who make artisan cakes and confectionary.

Associate (Allied Trade) Members to join us have been:

- Griffin Air Systems who are the expert compressed air company serving Scotland with premium-quality equipment and expertise.

- Sure Recruitment who pride themselves in offering a hands on, common sense recruitment service.

- I.T.S is a proudly independent flavour house based in Newbury, Berkshire.. They supply a wide range of natural flavours to the bakery industry - helping everyone from small craft bakers to large industrial bakeries. They pride themselves on speed and service, always doing our best to get the flavours you need.

JOHN LIVINGSTONE

Edwin (Eddie) T. Henderson 1933 - 2022

We are sad to report the death of John Livingstone who served as Training Manager from 2004 until his retiral due to ill health in 2011.

Members who remember him will be saddened to learn that Eddie Henderson passed away, peacefully at home, on the 15th December 2022, aged 89.

John made an instant impact on our training activities as stated in our 2005 Yearbook which reported that: “The Training Company continues to make good progress and in particular mention should be made of the positive contribution of new Training Manager John Livingstone. John has brought his

Eddie was born in Keith, Aberdeenshire and lived there, happily, all his days.

As a Sales Representative for Macphie, from 1981 until his retirement in 1998, Eddie was an extremely well-known face and had a great many friends within the baking industry throughout the North of Scotland. Eddie travelled widely to all parts of his territory but he was particularly fond of his regular trips to the Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles, where he was always made most welcome. His popularity in those parts was such that he often stayed as a guest at the home of his customers.

organisational skills and leadership to the company and he and Skills Director Arthur Rayer make a most impressive team”. John and Arthur continued to develop the training activities and laid the foundation for the UK wide delivery of Bakery Training so successfully expanded by Scott Anderson and his team over recent years.

Unfortunately, John was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2008. Surgery was only partially successful and he was left with

Together with his wife Moira, Eddie attended many of the Scottish Baker’s Regional functions throughout the 80’s and 90’s where he enjoyed the company of his great many friends within the Scottish bakery trade. Eddie was a wonderful character, with a terrific sense of humour and a warm, engaging smile who will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

EDWIN (EDDIE) T. HENDERSON

Members who remember him will be saddened to learn that Eddie Henderson passed away, peacefully at home, on the 15th December2022, aged 89.

Eddie was born in Keith, Aberdeenshire and lived there, happily, all his days.

As a Sales Representative for Macphie, from 1981 until his retirement in 1998, Eddie was an extremely well-known face and had a great many friends within the baking industry throughout the North of Scotland.

Eddie travelled widely to all parts of his territory but he was particularly fond of his

mobility and speech problems which resulted in his retiral through ill health in 2011. In the intervening years John was an inspirational husband, father and friend. He coped with any treatment necessary with a minimum of fuss and much patience using email and messenger to regularly communicate with his many contacts.

Sadly John was admitted to hospital on 31st December with pneumonia and died the following day.

regular trips to the Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles, where he was always made most welcome. His popularity in those parts was such that he often stayed as a guest at the home of his customers.

Together with his wife Moira, Eddie attended many of the Scottish Baker’s Regional functions throughout the 80’s and 90’s where he enjoyed the company of his great many friends within the Scottish bakery trade. Eddie was a wonderful character, with a terrific sense of humour and a warm, engaging smile who will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

CENTENARY CLUB

The CC Christmas lunch at Haggs Castle has always been successful and with 18 bookings early in December, we thought this year would be no different. However, we then started getting cancellations due to various short-term illnesses, and in one case a member’s car breaking down while still under warranty.

This trend continued down to 8 attendees on the day of the lunch. Then one member, who had booked and paid two weeks earlier, forgot to attend the lunch on the day. I will save his embarrassment by not mentioning his name!

As usual the choice and quality of the lunch at Haggs Castle was excellent, and they made no charge for the cancelled lunches. Due to the small number of attendees, we did not have the normal updates from Alasdair and Ian but instead had various discussions on the industry and on Scottish Bakers.

This included the former SAMB Conference Technical Sessions and the Forty Group’s contribution to some of them. With Fiona Phillips nee Marr present, who was involved in organising the technical sessions for some years, this took us back to 1988, when the

Forty Group gave a presentation entitled “20 Hot Tips from the Forty Group”. The tips covered production, sales, delivery and management.

This included giving advice on the appearance and attitude of shop staff by having Forty Group members portraying good serving staff from fictional Smarts bakery and poor serving staff from the fictional Grotts bakery, with them being suitably attired for their roles, see picture below.

THE CENTENARY CLUB SECTOR 1 LUNCH 14TH FEBRUARY 2023 ATHOLL HOTEL, ABERDEEN BY JIM BROWN

Organised by Sector 1 convenor Clive Sangster, this was a excellent lunch to which Sector 3 Convenor Jim Brown was delighted to attend and to take some pictures. It was also great to meet Sheila Chalmers again, now in her 90th year!

Front row: John Chalmers, Phillip Sarafilovic, Fiona Marr, Lesley Terris, Pat Dye, and Eric Milne Second row: 2nd Alan Stuart, 4th Ian Brown

MODERN APPRENTICESHIP CONTRACT GETS UNDERWAY IN APRIL

Our new Modern Apprenticeship (MA) contract for part-funded training programmes in Scotland commences on April 1st with 481 training places being granted

We have seen a dramatic increase in enquiries for these places as employers see the multiple benefits in staff retention, attraction, satisfaction and business improvements.

Our training arm of National Food & Drink Training (NFDT) can help all employers looking to upskill and retain employees within the Food & Drink Manufacturing Sector in Scotland.

Current MA programmes include the following:

- Food & Drink Operations –For supervisors/Managers

- Craft Bakery – Anyone operating in that environment

- Food Sales & Service skills –Retail Operations

- Distribution Skills –Despatch Operators, Packers & Pickers

- Food Manufacture Excellence –Business Improvement techniques (waste reduction)

- Production & Processing –Operators in manufacturing/production

UPSKILL YOUR WORKFORCE

Hands up if you think an apprentice is a teenager joining the workplace for the first time?

Then you are underestimating the power of apprenticeships to transform your workforce, regardless of their age and skillset.

MORE INFORMATION

Find out how to tap into this upskilling opportunity by scanning the QR code

MORE INFORMATION

Please register any initial interest via our Training Manager Scott Anderson on scott@scottishbakers.org Scan the QR code to take a look at our brochure with more details on how we bespoke and deliver MA programmes to your business!

Scott Anderson Training & Quality Manager

OUR TRAINING ARM OF NATIONAL FOOD & DRINK TRAINING (NFDT) CAN HELP ALL EMPLOYERS LOOKING TO UPSKILL AND RETAIN EMPLOYEES WITHIN THE FOOD & DRINK MANUFACTURING SECTOR IN SCOTLAND.”

TESCO COMMITS TO SUPPORTING BAKERY SKILLS TO BRING CUSTOMERS THEIR DAILY BREAD

Scottish Bakers and its specialist training arm, National Food & Drink Training (NFDT), are delighted to announce a partnership with Tesco to run Apprenticeship Standards at level 2 in their from-scratch bakeries.

Alongside its current Bakery Training offer, Tesco are trialling the new apprenticeship which will support colleagues in building new skills, enhancing Instore Bakery knowledge and provide the tools to drive product quality in-store.

The scheme will be classed as a “Level 2” Bakery Apprenticeship. The modules which will be covered as part of the scheme are as follows:

Principles of baking; Principles of bakery ingredients; Understand how to manufacture baked goods; Maintain quality and solve problems within the bakery; Understand how to carry out innovation and new product development in bakery; Demonstrate effective teamwork in baking; Produce fermented and enriched doughs; Produce cake and pastry products; Offer excellent customer service; Prepare, display and manage stock in retail bakery.

A spokesperson for Tesco said, “We want all of our colleagues to be themselves and reach

their potential – whoever they are, wherever they work and whatever they do. We really look forward to our colleagues having the ability to take part in this pilot and gain a nationally recognised Bakery Level 2 qualification. We also look forward to hearing the feedback throughout in regards to each individual learning journey.”

The initial pilot programme of 7 learners has seen employees from Bishop Auckland, Durham, Oldham, Oxford, Plymouth and Redditch take part in a programme designed to enhance their key skills, knowledge and behaviours in relation to craft bakery with the addition of in-store bakery customer service.

“The participants are learning hands on scratch baking and so far their colleagues have been delighted to sample fresh bakes such as croissants, bread, Swiss roll, scones and turnovers they have made as part of their learning,” NFDT Training and Quality Manager, Scott Anderson said, “and we are looking forward to continuing this journey with them.”

NFDT delivers Apprenticeships to the bakery and food and drink manufacturing sectors with enlightened businesses seeing the benefits to productivity, quality and efficiency as well as recruitment and retention of staff.

Scottish Bakers Chief Executive Alasdair Smith said, “A major factor in business growth is attracting new talent and retaining those skills through their ongoing development. Apprenticeship training helps businesses become more productive and efficient by upskilling their new and existing workforce and delivers other benefits like reduced wastage, lower staff turnover and higher output.”

“Investing in people, both new and those already in the workforce, is vital as all food and bakery businesses are under greater pressures than ever before. Apprenticeships are delivered on-the-job, meaning there’s minimal downtime and impact on production capacity while staff develop their skills. Training and assessment are conducted by NFDT’s expert industry trainers to guarantee the quality and relevance of the support provided. We believe more businesses need to recognise and invest in training to ensure their long term sustainability.”

Pictured: Tracey Gordon from Bishop Auckland store and Mark Draper from the Durham store.