The fresh produce industry is leading the way in specialist work-based qualifications, with the launch of a post-graduate certificate in food and fresh produce management.
Management Development Services (MDS), the Peterborough-based member-led recruitment and training organisation, and Harper Adams University College, Shropshire, have jointly introduced the groundbreaking course, which is the first of its kind for any industry in the UK.
The PgC has been developed with a unique blend of business and academic expertise, and gives an extra edge to the 20-year-old MDS scheme, which is funded entirely by 26 UK fresh produce companies. It has already produced a large number of top-level managers for the industry and the link with Harper Adams, the UK’s leading university institution for rural and land-based industries, strengthens the course for all parties, said MDS chairman Doug Henderson.
“The post-graduate certificate is universal recognition of the excellence of the MDS training programme. Our aim is to constantly move forward and to prepare the managers of tomorrow to identify and meet the challenges that face the fresh produce industry,” he said.
The two-year programme includes four management secondments during which trainees take responsibilities across the supply chain in MDS member organisations. The initiative combines this work experience with work-based projects and 27 days of management training and development.
Professor Wynne Jones, principal of Harper Adams, said: “This is a unique example of the perfect balance being achieved between a training scheme and a group of employers being able to say what they feel is important.
“This model has added experiential value. It is the [required] skills sets that are driving the qualification and not vice versa and will ensure that the food chain is highly professional at all levels. It is a win-win-win - for the scheme, for the trainee and for the industry.”
Henderson added: “The UK’s fresh produce industry often claims to lead the world in its supply chain management, but we are not world leaders in training our people. This scheme aims to bring the people up to the same standard as the supply chain.”
Once completing the new qualification, the MDS trainees will receive postgraduate academic recognition from Harper Adams. The programme will give MDS trainees a much-enhanced career boosting opportunity. The first trainees will graduate in 2009.
Charles Cowap, lifelong learning manager at Harper Adams, said “It is extremely important to bridge the gap between university and work. The work-based post-graduate certificate will assist trainees to get ahead and give them a unique selling point in a fast-moving and competitive market.”
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