An EU-backed funding programme is to boost the fresh produce industry in Yorkshire by providing training and development advice.

MorePerformance, the training and development division of the specialist recruiter MorePeople, has announced that its highly successful Leadership and Development Programme (MLDP) has been approved by Lantra for delivery under the LandSkills programme.

LandSkills, managed by Lantra on behalf of Yorkshire Forward, is part of the EU-supported Rural Development Project for England. The LandSkills programme is designed to deliver sustainable business benefits to the agricultural, horticultural and forestry industries in the Yorkshire and Humber Region.

Companies placing delegates on the MLDP will be eligible to have 50 per cent of the costs paid for by LandSkills. Businesses must be involved in some form of primary production to qualify for this but there is no restriction on the size of the company or any exemptions based on prior training or educational attainment of the delegates.

Peter Hunt, MorePerformance director, said: “The MLDP has been operating successfully for over five years within our core sectors of fresh produce, horticulture and garden and leisure. We are delighted to have gained approval from Lantra to deliver the MLDP under the LandSkills initiative, as this enables us to offer the programme across all land-based activities within the Yorkshire and Humber region.

“We feel that the match funding available to companies via the LandSkills initiative is a great opportunity for some of the smaller enterprises to gain access to the type of training and development initiatives that perhaps in the past they may have felt was inaccessible to them on cost grounds.

“In these turbulent times, when these types of skills are needed more than ever, the funds available through LandSkills will hopefully encourage companies to maintain their levels of training and development and emerge better equipped to handle the business challenges that lay ahead,” he said.

The LandSkills MLDP is open to anyone operating in the land-based industries in Yorkshire and Humber, including farmers and growers and those working in forestry, commercial horticulture and the fresh food supply chain.

Lantra is an employer-led organisation, which is licensed by the UK government to drive forward the skills, training and business development agenda for the 17 industries in the sector. The first Yorkshire MLDP will start in early 2009.

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