As government’s ‘See Inside Manufacturing' initiative enters its second year and extends into food and drink factories, the Food and Drink Federation reports that almost 1,250 students and teachers are set to visit companies in the sector.
Following excellent feedback from pupils and teachers who visited automotive factories last year, the government initiative, See Inside Manufacturing has been extended across the food and drink sector.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) is coordinating the school visits to companies in its sector, in conjunction with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, and yesterday revealed the strong interest which pupils and teachers have shown.
Under the See Inside initiative manufacturers are asked to open their doors to students, teachers and career advisors in a month of intensive interaction with the next generation workforce and their key influencers. The aim is to educate visitors about the high tech environment of the modern factory as well as the diverse job roles now available in manufacturing.
See Inside 2012 will begin next month and participating companies in the food and drink sector include: Adam’s Foods, apetito, Britvic UK, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Ginsters, General Mills, Kraft Foods UK, Mars Chocolate UK, Nestlé UK, United Biscuits, Warburtons and the William Jackson Food Group.
FDF Director General, Melanie Leech, said that she is delighted so many visitors will have the chance to learn more about the food and drink sector this summer and congratulated participating companies on their proactive approach to altering public perceptions of their industry.
“As an industry, we know that to realise our potential and to deliver our shared vision with government of 20% growth by 2020, we will need to attract the best talent. Engaging with young people to bring to life a career in food and drink is a key priority for FDF, and the main driver behind our Taste Success – A Future in Food campaign. Programmes such as See Inside Manufacturing support this work,” said Ms Leech.
The Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, Mark Prisk welcomed FDF’s involvement in this year’s See Inside campaign. “Food and drink is the largest manufacturing sector, employing almost 400,000 people,” he said. “Food and drink is a great asset to the programme [See Inside], and just the type of support we need to help dispel outdated myths of manufacturing.”
The second year of See Inside visits will also see automotive factories throw open their doors to school visits again. Trade body SMMT and the Automotive Council are assisting government in the organisation of school trips to comapnies in this sector.
See Inside is linked to the Make It in Great Britain campaign, also run by BIS, which aims to transform the image of modern British manufacturing and raise awareness of its importance for the economy. Make it in Great Britain is coordinating a national exhibition of the ‘best of British’ manufacturing at the London Science museum. This will run concurrently with the Olympic Games this summer.
