Free Workshop is Food and Drink to Regional Businesses

The two institutions have combined their expertise to deliver the two-day event for small and medium sized food and drink manufacturers.

Businesses can gain valuable insights into scaling up production and business planning by attending the lively, interactive programme.

The workshop will involve participants reviewing their long-term strategy and marketing plan, in addition to discussing operational capability and legislative issues affecting the food and drink industry.

Day One will include sessions on ‘Business Planning for Food and Drink’ and ‘Supplying Products for Retailers’, while Day Two will focus on ‘Scaling up Food and Drink Production’ and ‘Developing your Marketing Plan’.

Guest speakers Joe Hall, Managing Director of Halls Food Group, and Gillian Hall, owner of Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses, will talk about their own experience of scaling up and growing their businesses.

The workshop programme is part of Lancaster University Management School’s £3.8 million Innovation for Growth project, part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Around 300 firms could benefit from the free support, which aims to boost management and innovation to develop better products and processes to underpin growth.

The project will give local businesses the opportunity to utilise the university’s world-class research in entrepreneurship. Management school students and academics will also be available, along with access to online resources.

Reaseheath College, in Nantwich, Cheshire, is a champion in dairy technology. The college has a new £7.2 million Food and Drink Centre of Excellence with additional facilities to support bakery and butchery. This new development was part-funded by the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and supported by the food and drink manufacturing industry.

By offering a combination of state-of-the-art technology and the expertise of commercial food specialists, Reaseheath supports SME businesses in new product and process development work and also assists in other key areas such as scaling up, shelf life testing, food packaging and labelling.

Helen Fogg, Project Manager at Lancaster University Management School, said: “This two day - fully funded - workshop programme is a great opportunity for food and drink SMEs to scale up not only their production, but also their business to stimulate growth.”

“It is also a great opportunity to tap into the resources of Lancaster University Management School and of Reaseheath College, which combines the expertise and competence of commercial food specialists, scientists and technicians,” added Helen.

For further information visit: www.lums.lancs.ac.uk/ifg, or call 01524 510 769.