The Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education, which is at the forefront of a new national initiative to drive up skills in the UK workforce, is one of the first six accredited Academy Training Centres within the new £4.4 million National Skills Academy for Food & Drink Manufacturing.

Forecast to deliver new skills to at least 28,000 people during its first four years, it is only the fourth of a new network of sector-based National Skills Academies to be established. It is the culmination of more than two years of research, planning and development by leading employers, including Grimsby-based Young’s Seafood, and co-ordinated by Improve, the food and drink sector skills council.

The majority of training programmes will be delivered through a network of approved Academy Centres, each with its own specialist areas. The Grimsby Institute has long been regarded as a leading light in the provision of specialist fish processing training and has therefore been awarded the specialist centre for fish-processing skills.

A key benefit of the academy is that it will draw upon the best expertise available in order to develop new training programmes and learning units specifically to meet the needs of employers.