Focus on productivity in parliament
At a pre-Budget breakfast event with food and farming minister George Eustice, held in the House of Commons yesterday, the All Party Parliamentary Group for Food and Drink Manufacturing put increasing productivity centre stage.
The event was hosted by John Stevenson, chair of the All Party Group, and Jon Woods, general manager, Coca-Cola Great Britain.
Stevenson says, “Food and drink is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector. We cannot tackle Britain’s productivity challenge unless food and drink is at the heart of the solution. I am delighted that the All Party Group has been able to bring together leaders from UK food and drink with George Eustice from Defra as we celebrate the Year of Great British Food.”
Eustice adds, “Our food and farming industry is already an economic powerhouse, worth over £100 billion a year and supporting one in eight jobs. We are hugely ambitious for the industry’s future, which is why we are working together to develop a long-term food and farming plan. By championing the latest technology, building skills and boosting productivity, we want to create a stronger brand for British food and drink that will see our quality produce enjoyed at home and abroad.”
Fiona Kendrick – who was appointed last year to lead the food and drink sector’s contribution to the Mayfield Review of productivity – comments, “While investment in technology is clearly a crucial element of the productivity puzzle, we can only maximise the benefit of that new technology if we invest at the same time in the people who are using it. We know that there are significant skills challenges facing our industry from an ageing workforce to talent shortages to specific technical skills gaps. These challenges risk undermining future productivity improvements in our sector.
“What we need to do now as food and drink companies, working together with FDF, the National Skills Academy, NCUB, government and others, is capitalise on the various ideas and initiatives we all have for improving our pipelines of future talent to deliver game changing results for our industry so that we can continue to grow and boost our productivity.”
Woods concludes, “In an increasingly competitive environment for investment, we need to work with government to boost the UK’s productivity. The Mayfield Review – and the FDF’s complementary work on industry productivity – is vital and urgent.
“I’m delighted that the All Party Group has provided this forum for us to speak directly to ministers about the key issues.”
