Advanced Butcher Apprenticeship launches
The Butchery Employer Trailblazer Group (BETG) has received final Government approval for the Advanced Butcher Apprenticeship – only three months on from its original submission.
Following a successful appeal led by the Food and Drink Training and Education Council (ftc), the Advanced Butcher Apprenticeship will also attract increased funding.
The maximum state funding available will now be £8,000, which based on the same co-investment model as the Level 2 Standard, equals a total training fund of £12,000. As with the Level 2 apprenticeship employers will also have the freedom to negotiate prices for training with training providers.
The new apprenticeship provides clear routes for career progression, which could help businesses retain talented staff. Covering three pathways, it is suitable for employees working in independent retail shops, in-store supermarket butchery departments or meat processing plants.
A common factor in each route is ‘responsibility’. Apprentices achieving the Advanced Butchery Standard will be expected to be capable of taking responsibility within their particular business. This could mean managing staff within retail butchers, running a production line in a processing plant, or being accountable for achieving sales targets in an in-store butchery department.
As well as essentials like advanced cutting skills, the apprenticeship will also develop expertise in all aspects of health and safety practice and management systems. To support this the apprentice will need to achieve three mandatory Level 3 qualifications in Food Safety Supervision, HACCP and Health and Safety.
Completion of the apprenticeship is expected to take just under two years from start to finish.
Director of operations for ftc, Terry Fennell, who helped design the new standard, praised the efforts of the employer group who met 14 times to bring both the Level 2 and Advanced Butcher Apprenticeships to market.
He said: “Thanks to their dedication we have been able to unshackle the meat industry from a framework that delivered neither the funding nor the skills they needed. Companies now have properly funded, ‘fit for purpose’ training to develop capable staff and drive their businesses forward.”
Employers needing advice on how to enrol butchers on the new apprenticeship, or find training providers, should contact Terry Fennell at terry.fennell@foodtraining.org.uk.
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