In February Government announced the results of the first round of the UK Seafood Fund Skills and Training Scheme grants, with two of the seven projects funded nationally being based in Grimsby.

The two Grimsby projects supported were:

The TEC Partnership in Grimsby has been awarded £20,561 to support its c.£27,400 ‘Step-into-Seafood’ project which will introduce the seafood processing sector to new entrants and provide career opportunities.  Co-designed with employers and industry specialists, the pilot training course will involve the development of a vibrant and diverse integrated 5-day programme.  This project comprises employability training and an introduction to specialist seafood processing skills and aims to attract both unemployed and working individuals to the seafood sector, offering skills that allow progression to a range of sustainable, skilled career opportunities.  It will create a legacy of flexible, blended, replicable training content that can be adapted and implemented in other UK locations.

The University of Lincoln has been awarded £248,000 to the University of Lincoln as part of its c.£331,000 project addressing the acute shortages of skilled junior and middle managers in the seafood processing sector.  The project is led by the university’s National Centre for Food Manufacturing (NCFM), in partnership with the Seafood Grimsby and Humber Alliance (SGHA).  This project will enable NCFM’s successful apprenticeship offer for a range of food manufacturing roles at Levels 4 to 6 to be adapted to meet the specific needs of seafood processing businesses and develop a new degree and higher-level skills offer that will aid the development of aspiring managers and leaders in technical, operations and supply chain management roles.  It builds collaboration across the seafood supply chain, as well as with the University of the Highland and Islands Shetland, to aid the long-term prosperity of the sector and coastal communities.

The successes in the UK Seafood Food Skills programme builds on the delivery of the UK Food Valley Seafood Pilot delivered with Community Renewal Fund (CRF) support in 2022, which has now been extended into 2023 with UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) support.  In 2022, the CRF project supported 80 businesses in the seafood and hospitality industry with a range of short courses, master classes, one to one business support and innovation support, complemented by the award of small capital grants to help business adopt new technology.