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WINTER 2015
Can an apprentice add real value
to your business model?
Julie Osborn The agricultural industry has always struggled to attract
talented people and relies heavily on developing talent from
Business Services Specialist within. Integral to the development of our home-grown
julie.osborn@david-allen.co.uk talent in the UK are the agricultural colleges, of which we are
lucky to have a rich supply of throughout the country.
Call Julie on 01228 711888 and add
value to your business model today.
In recent years the shortfall of labour, The labour shortfall will become even Ideally we should all have a talent
particularly skilled labour, has been more apparent throughout Cumbria model that can grow and evolve to
partially met by the use of agencies. in the coming years as many will have fill the gap that would be left by the
While this may have addressed the to compete with the demand that the withdrawal of agency labour. With
gaps in the short term, it’s an expensive building of the Moorside Nuclear Power most agricultural business models built
and unsustainable option in the long Plant will create on labour resources. around family, a robust model should
term, for reasons including: It is estimated that this project alone incorporate succession management
will create around 6,000 direct jobs. and skill development.
• Agency labour is often more
expensive as it needs to fund the “...a team that understands To thrive as we move forward into
third party who facilitate the process. the value of knowing their the future, our sector needs to
supply chain, what they innovate. The best place to find
• Agency labour is typically are trying to do, what the this innovation is through our own
short-lived and these workers don’t retailer is trying to do, and home-grown talent pool. Building a
settle in the local area so therefore importantly what the market business model that can evolve from
don’t spend and invest back into the wants will be integral to the progressing an apprentice through to
local economy. success of many businesses.” being an individual with the skills they
need to equip a business for success is
• Posts are typically short-term which In general, businesses recognise the key to enabling the agricultural sector
results in incurring the cost and effectiveness of apprenticeships. to thrive.
time of training a new person each An apprentice can develop the skills
time someone moves on – this can required for the long-term, resulting in The ‘earn while you learn’ concept
become very expensive. increased productivity and improved makes this attractive to more people
performance and ensuring a reliable as it offers the opportunity to build a
Investing in a long-term labour strategy and committed workforce. career while training on the job and
that uses the traditional apprenticeship being financially rewarded. If the
model can provide a strong framework concept was applied throughout each
for the future. This framework will stage of the agricultural supply chain,
enable us to address the challenges we would be able to stop talent getting
listed above while building valuable lost in the system and instead harness
links between schools, colleges and the skills of talented people, adding
businesses. value to more businesses and putting
us all on the road to success.
6 david-allen.co.uk
