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My Job in…Food: Sarah Lewis, Manager, Food Skills Cymru, and Deputy Wales Director, Lantra Wales

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Sarah Lewis explains what she loves about her role as manager of Food Skills Cymru, a Lantra project that aims to ensure employees have the right skills and training

Why did you decide to work in the food and drink manufacturing sector?
Coming from an agricultural background I have always had a passion for Welsh food and drink. Knowing where my food comes from and how it is reared, grown or produced, and how it ends up on my table, is really important to me.

Tell us about how you joined Lantra.
After graduating from Harper Adams University, my first job was working for Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs across the border. After a period of working in Cumbria, I longed to move back to Wales and stumbled across the vacancy with Lantra by chance.

How long have you worked at Lantra?
I started working for Lantra in April 2005 working on a two-year fixed contract as a Project Co-ordinator. Wind the clock forward a few years and I am now Deputy Director for Lantra Wales, managing the Food Skills Cymru project.

Explain your job to us in a sentence.
Supporting food and drink manufacturing businesses, finding solutions and ensuring they get the right skill set for their employees. It’s rewarding, fast-paced and always evolving.

What does your average working day look like?
Since the pandemic, most of my work has moved online. I can have up to five different meetings a day with businesses, Training Providers, Welsh Government, Stakeholders and the Lantra team. I spend a lot of time communicating with businesses and supporting them with their training needs, there is a huge variety in what I do, and no two days are ever the same. The best part of my job is working with my team, they are like family to me.

We need to change people’s perceptions. Food and drink a great sector to work in, with a wide variety of job roles, good salaries, career prospects and job security.

What’s the best part about working in the food and drink manufacturing sector?
The variety of the businesses that I get to work with, from bakers, brewers, distillers, meat processing plants, confectioners, milk and cheese processors – they all have their own unique needs, and it is great to be able to find solutions for them and to see the difference the support can make.

What are you working on at the moment?
Developing the Food Workforce Wales campaign supporting businesses with recruitment, working on changing people’s perception of the sector and encouraging more people to work in food and drink manufacturing. For further information about the campaign and to see what job opportunities are available have a look at our website at www.foodskills.cymru/food-workforce-wales.

What are your job’s biggest challenges?
I’m an optimistic person, I don’t see challenges, only opportunities.

And what’s the biggest misconception people have about working in food and drink manufacturing?
People think it is low skilled and low paid work – this is not true. We need to change people’s perceptions. It’s a great sector to work in, with a wide variety of job roles, good salaries, career prospects and job security. We have around 550 businesses located across Wales and the sector is worth over seven billion to the Welsh economy. It’s an important sector that feeds a nation and we need more people working in the sector.

What advice would you give to people wanting to work in food and drink manufacturing?
It’s an innovative and dynamic sector to work in with loads of opportunities, there is a huge variety of job roles, career progression, attractive salaries and job security.

What are the major challenges facing the sector and how does your role factor into tackling them?
Labour shortage is a major issue for some businesses right now and we are helping the sector with this through the Food Workforce Wales recruitment campaign. Building a more sustainable sector for the future is also a key area that businesses are working towards and, as a result, we have recently developed a bespoke Sustainability Training Programme for food and drink manufacturing businesses focusing on People, the Plant and Products.

What does the future hold for you and Lantra?
Hopefully no more lockdowns and a return to face-to-face events. I’m quite a sociable person and I miss networking opportunities. Lantra will continue to support businesses with skills, qualifications, and training solutions with more focus on careers and getting more people to work in businesses right across the food supply chain.

Business News Wales