1. Press Release
Enhancing Management Skills in the Bakery Sector
The National Skills Academy for Food & Drink and Scotland Food & Drink Skills Academy
supported National Bakery Training and Scottish Bakers to provide a series of management
development programmes for the Craft Bakers Association and Scottish Bakers members.
The “Womenin Work” programmesupports the development of management skills for women
working in the food and drink industry.
Justine Fosh, Chief Executive of the National Skills Academy for Food & Drink, said: “Wewere
delighted to support Scottish Bakers and National Bakery Training both in Scotland and
England. The feedback we have had about the management development course has been
very positive and demonstrates that professionally delivered training can make a really positive
impact on bakery businesses.”
National Bakery Training worked in partnership with the Craft Bakers Association (CBA) and
Scottish Bakers to engage with employers, and very quickly almost 100 learners were signed
up for the programme.
Mike Holling, Executive Directorof the CBA, welcomed the programme, saying: “It is important
that we realise that in today’s changing marketplace that we continually invest in the people
that are instrumental in running the management functions of our businesses. We have
evidence from members that a well-trained manager can add significant increases on their
bottom line.”
Feedback so far has been extremely positive, with Karen Wain from Birds of Derby
commenting: “I found the whole course very informative, very motivating and extremely well
delivered. Personally I left with some extremely important lessons on how to manage my time
better and how I can develop myself and my management team to be even better at our jobs.”
Likewise, Sarah Blackwood, shop manager at Ray’s Craft Bakery in Prescot, said: “It has
helped me to understand why situations have occurred prior to this training, and now I feel I
will be able to do my job role more efficiently and hopefully more successful."
Sandra Ogden, Head of Retail & Marketing Operations at Greenhalgh’s Craft Bakery said:
“The one thing that stood out for all of the supervisors was the style of delivery. It was a
fantastic, dynamic approach which kept all of the participants captivated. Clare Svendsen,
who is one of Sandra's senior supervisors, added: "The training was very inspirational. It has
given me confidence in the way I manage and I will be looking to expand my knowledge of the
psychology behind people behaviours. It's been fantastic, thank you." Ann Yorkston, Retail
Development Manager for Browning’s the Bakers in Kilmarnock was very positive about the
training, saying: “It is amazing to see the difference in behaviour when people are shown how
to break their job role down into functions and then get them focused on the activities that will
make a real difference to how the business is run, this can only be positive for our company.”

2. Alan Clarke Chief Executive of Scottish Bakers was enthusiastic, saying: “This is a real
example of partnership working across the UK and I would like to say a really big thank you to
the National Skills Academy for Food & Drink, the Scotland Food & Drink Skills Academy and
the Craft Bakers Association for fully engaging with this dynamic programme.Weare delighted
that the feedback has been so positive.”