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HR Director of midlands based butchery and farm shop chain, Walter Smith Fine Foods; Paul is well placed to champion the training needs of SME’s. In 2013 Walter Smith were chosen as winner of Medium Employer of the Year in the National Apprenticeship Awards, in recognition of their commitment to training young people through apprenticeships. Paul also led the government-backed Walter Smith Employer Leadership Project (WS-ELP), a three year training project, established to provide bespoke training support to over 350 SME food businesses. Ftc provided quality assurance and consultation services for the project. In addition, as CEO of Crosby Management Training, an independent training provider, Paul is also in the unique position of being able to represent not only the training needs of employers, but also the organisations that deliver them.
The newly formed board, announced on Friday, will be made up of eight members, with the majority being employers, business leaders and their representatives. The core task of the Institute, which becomes ‘fully operational’ in April, will be to support the government’s drive to achieve 3 million apprenticeships by 2020. Employer expertise is regarded as vital to achieving this goal.
The Level 2 Butchery Trailblazer was the first apprenticeship in a food craft to gain approval and has been hailed as exemplar by government. Talking about his experience gained as the Vice-Chair of this trailblazer group, and Chair of the recently approved Level 3 Advanced Butchery Standard, Paul commented,
“ The Butchery Trailblazers are fine examples of what can be achieved when employers and training specialists unite together, motivated by nothing more than achieving the very best apprenticeship training for their industry. For small businesses especially, apprentices are the life-blood of their future – I look forward to playing my part to ensuring they get the quality apprenticeships that they deserve.”
Congratulating Paul on his appointment, ftc Chief Executive, Bill Jermey, said,
“Paul’s passion for training and apprenticeship shines through in everything he does. We were fortunate to have him as chair of the Butchery Trailblazer and I’m sure he will continue that good work on the board of the Institute for Apprenticeships.”
ENDS Notes for Editors: