The minister attended the special launch event in Sheffield, alongside several representatives from food and drink companies across the UK. The city will be the home of the new degree – the MEng Food Engineering, which will be offered exclusively by Sheffield Hallam University.
The minister congratulated the UK’s largest manufacturing sector for taking collective action to address skills shortages as part of its joint vision with government to grow the sector 20% by 2020.
Nestlé UK & Ireland chairman and chief executive Fiona Kendrick also addressed guests at the launch.
Kendrick spoke of the challenges her company faces when recruiting engineers due to the lack of food and drink specialist skills. She emphasised the impact this has on both her business and the industry at large, stressing that a lack of technical expertise will hinder the sector’s ability to innovate and to remain competitive.
Nestlé is one of the many companies that have already signed up to support the degree, which is designed to create employment-ready engineers, and Kendrick strongly urged other manufacturers to do the same.
Fiona Kendrick, chairman and chief executive Nestlé UK & Ireland and chair of FDF’s Competitiveness Steering Group, said: “At Nestlé, one of the biggest challenges we face is recruiting the best talent for our business. Our success depends on our ability to remain competitive and innovate however a lack of engineering and technical expertise will hold our industry back.”
Source: FDF
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