NEW centres of excellence for skills in food and drink manufacturing could be established in Yorkshire within a year as part of a new national academy for the sector.

Improve, the York-based food and drink sector skills council for the UK, has submitted a £5 million bid for Government approval to set up a multi-million pound National Skills Academy, which will comprise centres of excellence in all parts of the UK, geared to meeting a mixture of local and UK-wide needs.

A green light for the scheme would be a major boost for skills and job prospects in Yorkshire, which is the UK's biggest region for food and drink manufacturing with 1,100 companies working in the sector, turning over £7.3 billion, and employing 60,000 people.

The centres of excellence, which could be university or college departments, private training organisations, or even the training centres of manufacturers themselves, will have to meet exacting standards as leaders in their field, and must be prepared to welcome increased employer involvement in return for access to a greater market for skills.

Some will offer a broad range of training opportunities and others will specialise in industry sub-sectors such as dairy, meat and poultry, seafood, bakery, brewing and distilling, confectionery, milling and cereals, and soft drinks.

They will make up the first national academy of learning dedicated to the food and drink sector, which also aims to be one of the first four sector-specific skills academies to be set up in the country. The farming industry in York is already ahead of the game with the opening this week of a new £1.5 million Centre of Vocational Excellence at Askham Bryan

Jack Matthews, chief executive of Improve, based at Heslington, said: "We believe we have the right blueprint for a highly successful academy, which will be a beacon for excellence, pulling together and building upon the very best of resources and knowledge available to the sector.

"Our bid is supported by employers and trade associations, such as the Food and Drink Federation, which represents the top 250 companies in the sector, and which canvassed its members before pledging support.

"In addition, we have the separate backing and commitment of many other influential employers' associations and individual employers, who believe wholeheartedly that the academy will be a major driving force for the development of skills."

Updated: 10:45 Friday, October 14, 2005