Fiddes Payne – Spicing up the workforce

From its food manufacturing facility in Banbury, Oxfordshire, Fiddes Payne supplies herbs, spices and home baking products to supermarkets in the UK and in many other countries globally. Following talks with training provider, Intec Business Colleges, the company decided to introduce an NVQ programme into the workplace.

Intec delivers Apprenticeship Programmes, National Vocational Qualifications and computer software training to companies and their employees throughout the country, working in partnership with Government funding bodies, principally the Learning & Skills Council.

When Fiddes Payne decided it would offer all permanent staff the chance to gain an externally recognised qualification, it aimed to acknowledge their achievements and show how highly they were valued. Staff are now working on NVQs and apprenticeship qualifications in Storage and Warehousing, Business and Administration, Team Leading and Management.

For all of these qualifications, assessment takes place ‘in company’ and measures effective skills and competence against set criteria. Throughout the process staff are asked to identify factors critical to their job success, therefore improving business performance. As a result the process not only delivers a vocational qualification for the individual but also a culture of continuous improvement across the organisation.

Now that the NVQ and apprenticeship programme is in full swing, there is a noticeable difference in staff morale and enthusiasm, says their office manager.

“People feel good about the company investing in them,” she said. “Some of our workforce didn’t have any qualifications, or perhaps just a couple of GCSEs, so this is a chance for them to fill that gap. We also have quite a few workers from abroad who are doing these NVQs and it is helping them to get a better understanding of British working standards, on top of gaining a recognised qualification.”

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Intec Business Colleges was established in 1982 and is now one of the UK’s leading work based training organisations. Intec delivers Apprenticeship Programmes, National Vocational Qualifications and Computer Software Training to companies and their employees throughout the country. Intec works in partnership with Government funding bodies principally the Learning & Skills Council to provide Companies with staff training and development solutions. Intec’s aim is to help people and organisations to develop their skills to improve their performance and future prospects.
www.getoncourse.net

Fiddes Payne was purchased by Chris White and friends in 1993 and started on 1st May of that year. Originally the business had very basic herb and spice products selling for the most part, to the Health Food, Independent, and Delicatessen trades plus limited wholesale sales. Sales levels to the above customer base trebled in 1993–1997. Notwithstanding this uplift, it was considered that a long-term strategy of sales to independent retailers was unlikely to succeed due to the ever-increasing strength of the multiple retailers. Accordingly company marketing strategy was re-focused on the multiples/supermarkets and the first major multiple sales were achieved with spice mills bearing the Mosimann label (The renowned Swiss Chef) to Waitrose in September 1998. Since then, the company growth has been very rapid and now covers all major multiples in the UK.
www.fiddespayne.co.uk

For further information, please contact:

Frances Herman-Squance
PR Officer, Intec Business Colleges
Frances.herman@getoncourse.net
01788 575090