Project 10 – Employer Support

Staff working in the food and drink industry across Northamptonshire attended a training course this month designed to support local businesses promote their products more effectively and increase business growth.

The bespoke course designed and hosted by Northampton College was delivered by local industry specialists; British Pepper and Spice and TMI Foods and facilitated by Rachel Mallows from the Mallows Company.

The course was designed as a result of feedback from MIN (Made in Northants) SME businesses and topics included; good manufacturing practice, food processing and hygiene and getting your product into national outlets.

Vicky from The Happy Little Cake Company in Northampton attended the workshop and said, “I got an incredible amount out of the day and feel very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to learn from two very knowledgeable and experienced food industry experts. I'm currently trying to get my head around bringing a range of gluten-free baking mixes to the market and having the opportunity to chat with Ian from British Pepper and Spice about my anxieties was invaluable and the things he said will stay with me.”

The event also provided a great networking opportunity for delegates as they were able to share their knowledge and concerns with others working within the industry and discuss further training opportunities with staff at Northampton College.

These sessions focus on a range of different topics including how to use the internet and social media to increase sales, recruiting young people onto Apprenticeship schemes within your organisation and coaching and mentoring for employees.

Project 6 – Social Media Training

My colleague and I attended the Social Media training course at Northampton College in September 14 and off the back of the very insightful training it was brought in house. The aim was for all employees within the business to gain a base level understanding of Social Media and the benefits a business can gain from it.In total 25 employees took the programme.

Development of staff within the Ecommerce department is of huge importance. With the business developing a lot over recent years and with an aggressive 3-5 year business plan, we endeavour to have and develop the best people to support these plans.

Bell’s benefited greatly from the training. Members of staff were not aware what impact Facebook and Twitter had when managed correctly, and their input and support since the training has increased dramatically. As a result, a number of members within the business signed up to a variety of Social Media platforms for the first time and have been using them personally and to interact with the business page, and on one instance, have used Pinterest as a tool to aid with showroom updates.

It has allowed us to market our products and in some cases from new products to come on board as a result of us finding them through Facebook. The training aided in a significant decision to cut back on more traditional forms of media in an effort to work more with digital marketing.

I was very satisfied by the overall level of service and commitment shown by both the organiser and presenter for the training provided at the Northampton College and when brought in house. The course was lightly tailored to our wants and needs which was very accommodating and their patience with some participants who were a not so pro-online was appreciated.I would be very happy to give a recommendation. Reason being, is they were accommodating, the course was genuinely informative and the support provided was more than I anticipated.

Project 21 – Leadership and Management

Nicola joined the training as she felt another qualification would be beneficial. She wanted to build her confidence, using different tools in a working environment on a new project within the organisation. After being in the NHS for 15 years she felt that training would benefit her. She was working in the NHS for 15 years as a Healthcare Assistant. She became very happy in her work due to changes in the NHS format and decided to leave which was a difficult decision. She has taken on a job role of supervisor in the Play Factory which is something completely different to what she use to do. The project helped Nicola to look at people in completely different ways and also analyse herself in the way she is within her working life and home life. She hopes that the training will help her to be more productive and approachable as a leader.