Impact from the programme included impressive retention rates and a high percentage of female apprentices. On the back of this success the organisation decided to offer two new apprenticeships – Butchery and Performing Manufacturing Operations – to all of its 200 staff working in the Boning Hall. The objective was to increase yield on some of the cuts of meat produced, improve English language skills across non-native speakers and increase the number of employed female butchers.

The impact of the training been extraordinary including substantial monthly savings, doubling the number of female butchers and skill levels raised by an average of 32% across the business.

What is equally impressive is Dovecote’s support on encouraging reskilling from other areas of the business. Employees from the packing team who have shown an interest in the butchery side of the business have been encouraged to apply for an apprenticeship and a former cleaner at the factory has recently completed the Performing Managing Operations apprenticeship. Furthermore two former butchers have become skills coaches training the latest cohort of 35 new apprentices.

Another 2020 recipient, Netmatters Ltd, has also seen the value of changing how it recruits web developers in the face of regional skills shortages.

The web design and IT support agency based in Wymondham, Norfolk, begun to offer in-house technical training after struggling to recruit qualified employees due to a skills scarcity in the area.

At the same time the business committed to offering training to those in the community that may not have previously had the opportunity.

Non-profit company, Sharing in Growth (SiG), also received an Award in 2020. In 2013 the UK aerospace supplier industry was losing market share to overseas competitors who were typically 20% cheaper. Furthermore 53% of the smaller manufacturers were experiencing challenges in retaining and recruiting skills and 62% were also experiencing productivity issues.

Established in 2013 and sponsored by Rolls Royce to address some of these challenges, SiG’s mission is to drive the productivity of the UK aerospace sector to compete globally and in doing so secure 10,000 jobs by 2020.

Supported by industry experts, SiG created an intensive training programme to improve 60 participating organisations whose productivity is typically 30% less than larger industry suppliers.

Offering access to blue chip level training that is not normally available to smaller businesses, the tailored and immersive programme has enabled small to medium suppliers to benefit from high quality and effective training and development in order to achieve world class standards, compete globally and create new jobs.