Scottish Bakers’ training arm national food & drink training accredited

National Food and Drink Training (NFDT), the training arm of Scottish Bakers which supports the bakery trade throughout Scotland has been accredited to the matrix Standard, demonstrating the high quality delivery of apprenticeship programmes and skills courses to meet the baking and wider food and drink sector needs.

These include Bakery and Craft Bakery Skills, Food Manufacturing Excellence, Food and Drink Operations and Supply Chain Skills at Levels 5 and 6 in Scotland, and Food and Drink Operations, Bakery and ILM Team Leader/Supervisor at Levels 2 and 3 in England.

The strapline of Scottish Bakers is ‘for the good of all’, and the main objective of NFDT is to make the food and drink industry more competitive and sustainable through the skills and development of its staff.

The vision of NFDT is to add value to employers manufacturing process large or small, aid and sustain the retainment and recruitment of workers and promote the industry as a positive career destination through high class apprenticeship training specific to the Food & Drink sector. This is supported by a mission that Scottish Bakers through its National Food and Drink Training arm will be a leading UK independent provider of high-quality apprenticeship and skills training to the bakery and wider Food and Drink industry.

NFDT are doing this by providing the widest possible range of benefits that help employers sustain and grow their businesses, including skills development, technical information and assistance, competitions, sector intelligence and business networking.

One example is the ‘Bite Size Chunks’ programme in Scotland, a series of 10 online learning modules funded by Scotland Enterprise. The description includes a list of potential business benefits, such as improved profit/margins and a more motivated and engaged workforce.

The matrix Standard is the international quality standard for organisations that deliver information, advice and/or guidance (IAG), either as their sole purpose or as part of their service offering.

Roger Chapman, Head of the matrix Service for The Growth Company said: “This is a fantastic achievement for Scottish Bakers and NFDT and I would like to congratulate the team on their success. We believe that at the heart of high-quality advice and support services are strong leadership, excellent service and a focus on continuous improvement, all underpinned by effective use of the resources available.

The matrix Standard is designed to benchmark organisations against best practice in these areas. With their accreditation success, NFDT is working to provide the best possible support to their clients.”

Commenting on the award, Scottish Bakers Chief Executive Alasdair Smith said: “We are delighted to have been awarded the matrix Standard and it comes at a crucial time with businesses facing very real recruitment and retention challenge. But it is vital businesses continue to invest their time in training staff to ensure they remain resilient into the future. We are delighted to be a trusted partner and the matrix Standard reaffirms this position.”

For more information about the matrix Standard please visit www.matrixStandard.com.