Help Wanted - Are you Looking for a Career?

You don’t have to travel far at the moment to come across a ‘Help Wanted’ sign in a fish and chip shop window or to see a vacancy being advertised via social media. But it’s still rare to see an “Apprentice Wanted” notice.

Currently, many businesses in the UK food industry are struggling to grow and thrive or even to survive. Whilst there are many factors which impact upon the success or failure of a business, there is one resource across all businesses which is often undervalued - your people! If your employees are fully engaged with your business and well-motivated, this could mean the difference between mere survival and profitability.

“The job is not all about money. It’s also about feeling part of a winning team. I am a team leader and I help to make everyone feel good about themselves and to have a sense of pride in their work and in the business.” Employee at award-winning fish and chip shop.

If you are unable to recruit and retain the right people, it doesn’t matter how good your fish and chips are, your business is still going to struggle.

How do you go about creating a winning team and what role can apprenticeships play in this? If you are struggling to recruit staff then offering a suitable apprenticeship alongside the vacancy might tip the balance for you. Getting the job advert right is essential if you are to sell your vacancy to the best candidates.

The right kind of job advert coupled with an appropriate apprenticeship offer could make all the difference. If all goes well you will hopefully have a pool of high calibre candidates to choose from when it’s time to interview.

Now that you’ve found the ideal person for the job, they need to be trained, supported and developed so that they can become part of your winning team that will drive your business forward.

Having an apprentice onboard can make a big difference. It can help to motivate other members of staff to get involved in training or even to become an apprentice themselves. But it doesn’t just end there. Motivating and leading your staff is how you keep your team winning year after year.

If this seems a bit daunting then don’t despair as we are working with three UK apprenticeship providers to help make this possible. Working together, and with other like-minded organisations, we will make guidance and tools available, to help you build, develop and keep that winning team.

If you want to get involved then please contact us, the National Federation of Fish Friers team: mail@nfff.co.uk or the Seafish Onshore Training team: onshore@seafish.co.uk or one of three apprenticeship providers we are working with.