16 July 2013

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Funding for the development of a new National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering[2] will help industry and government to realise their shared vision for growth[4], the FDF has said today.

Speaking at an FDF Centenary[5] parliamentary reception celebrating the contribution of industry's skilled and talented individuals, FDF President Jim Moseley welcomed the award of £6.9million by Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)[6] to support in the development of a National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering.

Food and Drink Federation President Jim Moseley said:

“Not only will students on the UK's first food and drink engineering degree experience close industry involvement but they'll also be supported in their studies by a state of the art National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering. The £6.9million award to Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) along with a significant number of pledges of industry support will create a cutting edge facility which will act as a hub for R and innovation solutions, as well as providing industry the facilities for workforce development.”

Mr Moseley also used his address to issue a call to action for FDF members to get involved in this year's See Inside Manufacturing initiative[7].

“To attract new talent to the industry to fill our skills gap we need more young people to consider food and drink manufacturing as a career of first choice. Alongside our Taste Success campaign, our involvement in See Inside Manufacturing will help us to bring to life the fantastically varied careers available in the industry. That's why we're asking more members to get involved with this exciting initiative so that we can help more young people decide whether they might have a future in food.”

The reception was hosted by John Stevenson MP. Anne McIntosh MP, Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Work, and Pensions Minister Mark Hoban were guest keynote speakers at the event.

Notes for editors:

1. The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) is the voice of the food and drink manufacturing industry – the UK's largest manufacturing sector.
2. The National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering initiative is part of Graduate Excellence, a partnership between FDF, the National Skills Academy for Food Drink and Sheffield Hallam University. Graduate Excellence has received co-investment from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills through the Employer Investment Fund. For further information on partnership, visit the Graduate Excellence web page.
3. Companies that have pledged their support for the new Centre via contributing equipment, facilities, mentors or advisers are: apetito, The Authentic Food Company, Bradman Lake Group, Cargill, Coca Cola Enterprises, Dalehead Foods, Endress Hauser, Festo, G's Fresh, General Mills, Ivensys Operations Management, Mars Chocolate UK, McCain Foods, Nalco, Nestle, PepsiCo, Premier Foods, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Star Refrigeration, Tate and Lyle Sugars, Warburton's and William Jackson Food Group.
4. Our shared vision for the UK food and drink industry is to "="growth"" href="http://www.fdf.org.uk/2020_growth_vision.aspx">deliver sustainable growth of 20% by 2020
.