Dovecote Park
Established in Yorkshire in 1997, Dovecote Park supply the finest British beef, veal and venison for the retail, fine dining and food service sectors nationwide.
Years awarded: 2018, 2020, 2024
Region: Yorkshire & The Humber
Size: 250-999 employees
Sector: Food and beverages
Bespoke butchery training to deliver crucial talent pipeline
Theme: Talent pipeline / Career pathways
Topics: Bespoke training; In-house
In 2023, this meat supplier launched its Butchery Traineeship Programme to meet a rise in customer demand and to alleviate the challenge of recruiting skilled butchers. The in-house, bespoke programme, which is providing a crucial talent pipeline, has been undertaken by 25 trainees and has led to a 5% improvement in production line performance and improved staff retention of 74%.
Increasing production efficiency through apprenticeships
Themes: Apprenticeships; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Topics: Bespoke training; Women focus
Dovecote Park is the number one provider of meat to Waitrose supermarkets. It identified that staff were not performing to capacity and that production efficiency could be increased. The business introduced a new apprenticeship programme for staff in the Boning Hall and results include an exceptional return on investment, an increase of female butchers and also staff retention has improved by 13%.
Creating an impressive talent pipeline
Themes: Apprenticeships; Talent pipeline / Career pathways
Topics: Women focus
This is an example of how a meat processing plant established an Apprenticeship programme in order to create a pipeline of ‘grown its own’ butchers trained to its own exacting standards. The impact of the learning has been outstanding and includes impressive retention rates of apprentices and a high number of female trainees, in what is usually a male-dominated sector.
News and case studies featuring Dovecote Park:
Royal recognition for employers who invest in training and development in the UK and Ireland
On Thursday 21 November, 52 recipients from the UK and Ireland were recognised by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal through the Princess Royal Training Awards held at Goldsmiths’ Hall in London. Over the past nine years, The Princess Royal Training...
52 organisations receive royal recognition for tremendous training and incredible impact in 2024
15 August 2024: City & Guilds has today announced the 52 training programmes that will be recognised by the 2024 Princess Royal Training Awards. Now in its ninth year, The Princess Royal Training Awards continue to recognise organisations who demonstrate...
Celebrating the Award class of 2020
On 15 December, we celebrated the innovative training and development successes of the 43 recipients who achieved a Princess Royal Training Award in 2020. By necessity the ceremony was a little different this year. Whilst it needed to take place virtually rather...
39 UK businesses receive excellence in training Award commended by HRH The Princess Royal in 2020
HRH The Princess Royal, President of City & Guilds Group, recognises organisations whose training has delivered measurable business impact 39 businesses celebrated at virtual ceremony for their innovative training programmes in the Princess Royal Training...
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Commendation announced for 2020!
Each year, the Princess Royal Training Awards offer an additional commendation for employers who have demonstrated a significant commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). The commendation aims to highlight how providing equal opportunities can unlock...
Case Study: investing in employees to create sustainable talent pipelines and fill skills gaps at Dovecote Park, Netmatters and Sharing in Growth
Whilst the breadth and depth of Covid-19 has impacted us all to some extent, there’s no denying that certain sectors have been extremely hard hit. The retail, healthcare and hospitality sectors have been badly affected and many businesses are looking to training...
UK businesses’ training is recognised by HRH The Princess Royal on her 70th birthday
HRH The Princess Royal, President of City & Guilds Group, recognises organisations whose training has delivered measurable business impact Businesses continue to deliver excellent training programmes in the Princess Royal Training Award’s fifth year, despite...
The Princess Royal visits recipients Dovecote Park in Yorkshire
It was great to see our president HRH The Princess Royal on her first official engagement following the COVID-19 pandemic visiting Princess Royal Training Award recipients Dovecote Park in Yorkshire to learn more about their training programme first-hand. Find out...
In the press: 2018 recipients’ August news roundup
It has been a busy couple of weeks since we announced the 48 Princess Royal Training Awards recipients on HRH The Princess Royal's birthday. Since then the recipients have been featured in local and national news articles talking about their successful training...
Royal recognition for UK businesses upskilling their employees
We are happy to announce the names of 48 businesses commended by the 2018 Princess Royal Training Awards. The prestigious Awards honour UK companies including River Island, John Lewis, RBS, the Royal Air Force and GSK for their outstanding training and development...
