Three of Shropshire’s biggest food and drink manufacturers — Kraft Heinz, Avara Foods and Pickstock — have partnered with Telford College to design a new Level 3 Food and Drink Maintenance Engineering apprenticeship, created to tackle critical skills shortages across the region’s fast‑moving manufacturing sector.

Launching this September, the programme has been shaped directly by employer input through Telford College’s regular Employer Skills Hubs, where manufacturers highlighted that recent changes to engineering standards had removed essential practical skills from traditional pathways.

The new apprenticeship reinstates core competencies such as machining, welding and electrical maintenance, but crucially teaches them in a food‑safe context using stainless‑steel production lines, specialist lubricants and sector‑specific materials.

Anton Hickey, site director at Kraft Heinz’s Telford facility, said the collaboration addresses a long‑standing challenge: “We can recruit engineers, but finding engineers with the right skills for a fast‑changing food and drink environment is difficult. This is a real opportunity to mould apprentices with the exact skills our site needs.”

David Moreton, head of apprenticeships at Telford College, said employer feedback was the catalyst: “Traditional engineering apprenticeships have moved towards mechatronics, stripping out many of the practical skills food and drink manufacturers depend on. Employers told us what was missing — and this new apprenticeship restores those skills.”

Avara Foods’ engineering operations manager, Michael McCoole, added: “Investing in the next generation of engineers is vital for our continued growth. Apprenticeships like this ensure our sector has access to specialist skills and knowledge that support innovation in a fast‑moving industry.”

The first cohort begins in September, supported by Telford College’s Apprenticeship Plus initiative, which offers bolt‑on training for existing employees. Food and drink businesses interested in partnering can contact [email protected] or [email protected].