By The Independent

Copyright independent

In my career, I am fortunate to wear many hats. One of which is CEO of Lioncroft Wholesale, one of the UK’s leading independent wholesale businesses, while another is Chairman of Unitas Wholesale, the UK’s largest wholesale buying group. Outside of the day job, I am also Chancellor of Aston University, one of the UK’s most successful, ambitious and forward-thinking universities.

As the owner of a family wholesale business, we supply thousands of bestselling food and drink brands to our customer base of 10,000 convenience retailers and hospitality venues, such as bars, restaurants, takeaways and sporting venues.

We employ almost 200 people across our two depots in Birmingham, with a range of roles from entry level to the most senior executives. We pride ourselves on offering fantastic terms of employment, and we embody our values of HOPE: Honesty, Opportunity, Purpose and Energy at every level of the business.

And, at Aston University, which is home to more than 20,000 students from more than 120 countries, we provide world-class education in science, technology and enterprise to powerfully bring together education and industry. In their studies, students are actively encouraged to problem solve, identify opportunities and follow their passions with gusto to create the careers that will shape and inform the ever-changing world around them.

Regardless of which hat I happen to be wearing, every single day I can see, up close, the clear impact of the career path you choose as well as the impact of the people you work alongside. The concept of power of association is well known; the people you choose to spend time with and the groups you align with significantly influence your mindset, behaviours, opportunities and overall success.

So, with this in mind, how can we encourage the next generation of bright minds and fresh thinkers to identify and embrace roles and opportunities that they may not even be aware of?

I speak from experience, as in wholesale we have long had conversations about how we ensure we attract the next generation of talent. In fact, Food and Drink Wholesale (UK), the trade body for the sector, has positioned recruitment and retention as one of its key priorities for several years, but it seems despite this, we are approaching what is being described as a ‘workplace crisis’ as our industry focuses on the future, revealing a skills shortage that could place businesses up and down the UK in a precarious position.

The latest research commissioned by IGD has revealed a significant disconnect between young people’s career aspirations and their awareness of diverse opportunities within the UK food and drink industry. The comprehensive survey, involving more than 1,000 young people aged 16-25 as well as 1,000 parents, has revealed a worrying lack of awareness of this thriving, vibrant and exciting industry, highlighting a desperate need to reframe the industry and the huge breadth of modern career paths on offer.

While we know Gen Z is passionate about creative and purpose-driven careers, somehow, something as fundamental as the food and drink sector appears to be overlooked as a viable career pathway. To me, this is an enormous own goal, not just for the next generation and the sector, but also for the wider UK economy.

Let’s be honest. The UK relies on food and drink. Food and drink props up the very backbone of the UK, from the catering supplied provided to schools and hospitals, to the snacks we purchase to fuel us through our day, to the emergency coffee before a big meeting or that evening’s meal for the family. Whatever your preference, budget and location, it is the food and drink industry in its myriad forms, that ensures the nation is able to keep on going.

To give some context, the UK food system employs 4.2m people, which makes up around 13% of all employment. This equates to more than one in eight jobs. In its report, IGD

forecasts that in next 10 years, the UK population will grow from 69.9m (2025) to 73.4m (2035), meaning more food and drink will be needed. While some will be sourced from abroad, realistically, UK food and drink capacity will have to increase in order to meet demand. It therefore makes sense that to serve even greater numbers, we need great people to join us in order to propel us into the future and ensure the skills gap doesn’t widen further.

So why are we facing such a workforce crisis? One of the very clear issues is that the wide range of roles available in food and drink currently goes unnoticed. Nearly a fifth (19%) of those surveyed admitted they were not aware of the jobs available, while a staggering 72% did not consider it a place where they could discover their purpose and learn essential skills, even though a whopping 78% of respondents have a passion that could be met in the food and drinks space.

Of course, one of the things we don’t really touch on is the challenge to recruit in the first place. All too often, the automated process of job applications means sifting through countless forms from applicants who are not suitable or have hit a blanket ‘send’ to all jobs available.

There is also the ongoing issue of the demands of potential employees who, since the working-from-home experience during the pandemic, don’t want to travel or work from an office. It is clear that for many, flexibility and compromise are, well, compromised… but that’s a feature for another day.

So what can we do to drive a change? Well, we can shout more about what we offer for a start. Those in the industry know it offers genuinely incredible opportunities across all areas of career development. From buyers, traders and package designers to cyber security, data analysts and AI specialists, the food and drink sector is truly awash with career options and opportunities.

Virtually every sector is facing a critical period ahead and we cannot survive, let alone thrive, without embracing fresh thinking and new approaches. We are all tasked with achieving sustainability goals; championing diversity, equality and inclusion; embracing AI, digital technology and automation; while also being progressive, forward-thinking, innovative and creative. And, as every business owner knows, these things cannot be achieved by standing still.

To help tackle this, IGD has launched Mmmake Your Mark, an initiative to showcase the food and drink sector and raise awareness of the diverse opportunities and essential skills available to help create a more resilient food system.

So, as I welcome the Mmmake Your Mark initiative as a great example of how industry and education – two of my great passions – can come together to find solutions and power us into the future, I urge all other business owners to think not just of next month or next year, but the next generation. What are they looking for, and how can we attract the best to provide us with the rocket fuel we will need for the future?

For more information and to see the full Job Creation 100 2025 track, click here.

To find out more about E2E, visit https://www.e2exchange.com/

1] ONS projections LINK

[2] This stat is the inverse of those who selected ‘A space to discover purpose and passion’ when asked ‘What, if anything, do you believe to be true benefits of careers in the food and drink industry? (Select all that apply)’