Building for the future

Retailers regularly complain about the lack of genuine new product development coming from food and drink manufacturers. Leaving aside the pressure on processors to deliver a success and the penalties for not doing so, the situation is not helped by lack of funding and adequate teaching equipping people to create genuinely innovative products.

But all that's about to change for two areas in the UK, Hull and South Staffordshire, where plans are swiftly progressing to set up food centres to inject welcome energy into the food sector.

South Staffordshire is set to receive a £1.2M Food Technology Centre for training and innovation after Regional Development Agency Advantage West Midlands approved funding for the scheme.

The two storey centre will be built at Rodbaston College in Penkridge and has already received £500,000 worth of support from Staffordshire County Council.

It will consist of five units for small companies in addition to 12 office units and shared kitchen space, which will be used for product development and courses on the subject. Work is due to start later this year and it is hoped that the centre will be in use by August 2008.

The project will provide Rodbaston College itself with facilities for training students of food and drink processing. However, it will also offer the opportunity for those embarking on a career in food and drink to learn the principles they need to succeed. And it will give them the space to test their ideas for new products.

"The idea behind the centre is to support small food and drink companies to help them to grow," says Karen Wright, Advantage West Midlands food and drink cluster manager. "Having access to shared facilities and being able to work with other companies who are facing similar challenges helps companies in the early stages of their development."

By offering these facilities to fledgling food businesses, Wright says she hopes the groundwork will be laid to develop "major household names of the future"

Ralph Alcock, Rodbaston College principal, says that he's delighted to see the establishment of a centre that will help budding entrepreneurs in the sector succeed in building on their ideas. "The centre will have fully equipped food preparation areas enabling anyone with a business idea relating to food processing, packaging, distribution and so forth to get established and will be a major factor in encouraging food related business ventures."

Already, organisations such as the Staffordshire Food Club and Women in Rural Enterprise have shown an interest in becoming involved in the project.

Councillor John Wakefield, Staffordshire's cabinet member for economic prosperity, hails the venture as a way to develop industry and jobs in the region. "Staffordshire is a county bursting with business energy and creativity and a proud tradition of fine quality food production," he says. "This centre of expertise and research has all the ingredients for future economic growth and success. Together the partners [involved in this venture] are cooking up a fantastic future for Rodbaston, for Staffordshire and the West Midlands."

Penridge may be at the beginning of the process that will lead to this centre of innovation, but Hull has reached the end. Malmo Park, a £4M innovation and technology centre first announced in May is due to open this month. A 'food hero' network has been unveiled at the site, consisting of a team of eight specialists covering areas of expertise from manufacturing and marketing to product development and training.

Rachel Field is on-site manager at Malmo Park. Specialising in business advice on subjects ranging from property, recruitment and training, she was previously project manager for Hull Food Alliance and started her working life as a chef. "We know how difficult it can be to start a food business, so we've assembled the best advice and expertise in the county to give businesses a head start in an increasingly competitive market," says Field.

Her team includes Jane Deri, Enterprise in Food business advisor. The Enterprise in Food project provides free start-up training for food and drink businesses. Deri is a chartered accountant who set up her own successful delicatessen, café and catering business, which she later sold on. She will be hosting an eight week training programme at Malmo Park from September.

Other team members are Paul Connell, business advisor from Business Link Humber, and Linda Carter, development manager for Yorkshire Forward, Yorkshire regional food group. Moira Stratford and Mark Setterfield, project & technical manager and food technologist for Food Technology Advisory Service Humber respectively, are on board. Finally, Gemma Richardson, skills director for Yorkshire Forward and Paul Turner, principal environmental health officer with Hull City Council, complete the team.

Malmo Park offers subsidised production and managed office space for fledgling food entrepreneurs, acting as an incubator unit. But Field says there's a lot more to it than that. "The key ingredient is the onsite business expertise and development kitchen. I can confidently say if you're a food business looking for new premises, Malmo offers not only the most competitive rates, but the know-how and expertise to get your business off the ground."

The first meet the buyer events to put manufacturers in touch with retailers are already being planned, she adds. Malmo Park offers considerable opportunity for food companies to collaborate to develop ideas. They might share production teams, work jointly on distribution or join forces to exhibit at trade shows.

"There's strength in numbers and we've got a terrific team of people to support these producers," says Field. "So if you've been kicking around a few product ideas, now is the time to write that business plan and visit Malmo Park." FM

Tate offers teachers unique opportunity

Tate & Lyle held tours of its Plaistow Wharf plant and Thames sugar refinery for 12 secondary school teachers in July to encourage them to get their pupils enthusiastic about engineering.

Inspiration for this particular event came from Newham Education Business Partnership. The day formed part of the continuing Shape the Future STEPs (Science, Technology and Engineering Placements) at Work programme, sponsored by the Royal Academy of Engineering.

The group arrived at Plaistow Wharf, where Lyle's Golden Syrup is made, in the morning. It was split into three groups of four, each led by a plant engineer, while in the afternoon, visitors met up with several manufacturing managers. They were then treated to a talk about the process of sugar refining at the plant before the tour.

"We went through the types of projects the engineers were involved in, the risks involved in their work and how they had solved past challenges," says Ken Wilson, community relations officer at Tate & Lyle, who supervised the talks and tours at the Thames refinery. The event was well worth while, he says.

"It was of benefit to the whole industry because we are going to be short of engineers in the future and there's an onus on manufacturers to do something." Both sites also host several work experience placements for secondary school and college students every year. They also send representatives to local schools to talk about work-related skills such as interview techniques.

Dr Robert Ditchfield, director of education affairs at the Royal Academy of Engineering says: "We gained great insight into the science, chemistry and technology involved in the day-to-day running of such a facility, and many of the teachers found what they learned from the day directly applicable to their courses as case study material.

"It was also a unique opportunity to meet staff at every level and to learn about their careers so that we can better inform students of the stimulating and rewarding careers available in engineering."