Four Linden Foods’ apprentices recently graduated at a prestigious award ceremony at CAFRE Loughry campus after successfully completing a Level 2 Certificate for Proficiency in Meat & Poultry Industry Skills.

The yearlong apprenticeship programme is made up of various units of study combined with practical sessions to improve skills and classroom units to develop knowledge and understanding.  The programme was delivered in partnership with Loughry campus of CAFRE.

Linden’s own NVQ assessors Michal Szymborski and Monika Panfil worked alongside Loughry College Assessors to deliver and assess both practical and classroom elements.

The programme is carefully designed to not only enhance the skills and knowledge of the apprentice but to stretch them and expose them to other areas of the business gaining a rounded whole company understanding. This encompassed areas such as ingredients, boning, lean management, manual handling, health & safety, food safety and working with others.

Speaking at the graduation Julija Kikule from Linden Foods said:“I thoroughly enjoyed completing the Apprenticeship programme. It was extremely beneficial to me and gave me priceless experience. It helped me understand my job better and gave me confidence. There is a lot more to learn but I believe that my experience with the apprenticeship program will help me achieve my goals and further my career at Linden Foods. My tutors at Linden were a huge support to me throughout the programme.”

Angela Givan – Linden Foods, HR Manager commented: “Once again we are delighted with the success of this programme across our sites at Linden Foods, and proud of the commitment and effort by all the trainees to achieve their accredited qualification. The investment in this course is an integral part of our people strategy, that ensures we are continually building upon the talent of every individual, and growing their knowledge and skills for future business success. Loughry College team, together with our own in house HR development team, are to be commended for the support and encouragement they give to all trainees, to continue to achieve the results we do”.

Pictured: (L-R)  Gavin Dallas (Primal), Michal Szymborski (Linden Assessor), Julija Kikule (Retail Production trainer), Jason Lockhart (Primal), Ross McCrea (Retail Line Leader), Monika Panfil (Linden Assessor)