Free skills training delivers sweet boost for Honeycomb

A Lancaster-based honey supplier has lifted its staff training to new heights thanks to the support of a £5.6m workforce skills programme being delivered in the county.

Honeycomb was able to secure fork lift truck operations training for four of its staff members through the Lancashire Skills Support for the Workforce (LSS) programme.

Myerscough College delivered the training as part of the scheme, which provides funding to enable eligible businesses in Lancashire to invest in up-skilling their workforce.

Paul Humphries, who owns Honeycomb, said: “It’s fantastic that we have been able to deliver this training on site with help from Myerscough College and funding from Lancashire Skills Support. This has allowed us to increase our efficiencies and increase the number of team members who can safely operate the machine.”

“Steve the trainer was first class, and supported us every step of the way. The training received was perfect and conveniently delivered on site to our exact needs.”

Andrea Gardner, enterprise manager at Myerscough College, said: “We are trying to offer as many eligible businesses training that will directly help any ‘skills gaps’ they may have. The team conduct a full training needs analysis to see exactly what needs they have and try to address these.”

“It’s great that our training can have such a direct impact on the business and its efficiency at this busy time of year.”

LSS will support 3,817 employees aged 19 and over who are working in small or medium sized businesses and have a workforce of up to 250 employees. It will run until July 2015, with places allocated to businesses on a first-come, first-served basis. The fund operates across the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP) area, which consists of Lancashire, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen local authorities.

Honeycomb is an independent fourth generation family run business established in 1947. It supplies the highest quality English honey to residential customers and businesses across the country.