Welcome to our July update – keeping you informed of all the latest news from Verner Wheelock Associates.
July Training Courses
Despite the holiday season we still seem to have been really busy during July. With just a couple of HACCP courses (Level 3 and 4) running at our training centre in Yorkshire and the demand for places was high – the Level 3 HACCP course was so over-subscribed that we ran two courses simultaneously!
The main focus however, has been on in-house courses where we were concentrating on lots of basic level and refresher training for operatives in both Food Safety and HACCP for two major clients. This was quite a change for us, as our training tends to be more focused on Supervisory and Management level.
Ethical Audits
Ethical audits for both food and non-food suppliers to the major retailers also proved popular during July, with our auditors travelling the length and breadth of the UK. August is also looking extremely busy!
Please contact us for a quote if you are required to have an audit during 2013.
Ethical audits are a process of continual improvement – a site doesn’t pass or fail or receive an A grade like in BRC audits so it is nice to see companies gradually decreasing the number of non-conformances and increasing the good examples on their bi-annual audit reports.
For anyone who would like to know about the SMETA Ethical Audit process we are running a 1-day Ethical Trading Workshop on 12th September in Spalding. For more information or to book, please contact Claire on 01756 700802 or email claire.lennon@vwa.co.uk
August Special Offers!
In honour of Yorkshire Day (1st August) we are offering 10% off any in-house course booked and confirmed by 16th August. All of our training courses can be offered at your own premises which can prove to be the most cost effective option as it reduces the cost of travel and accommodation. It also allows you the flexibility to run training courses at a time and place to suit you, to fit in with shifts or quiet periods etc. Where necessary we can tailor the content of the course to meet the exact requirements of your company or site. Contact us for a quote!
10% offer on selected September courses in Skipton
Receive a discount of 10% off the following courses if booked by 16th August:
- Auditing Skills 12-13 Sept
- Level 4 Award in Food Safety 16 – 20 Sept
Staff News
We are pleased to announce that during July we have received Centre and Qualification Approval from the food and drink industry specialist awarding organisation, FDQ. It seems to make sense that VWA should be working with FDQ as both organisations specialise in providing training and qualifications tailored to the needs of the food industry We are really looking forward to working with FDQ as they have a number of training courses that have been designed with specific sectors in mind e.g. Meat and Dairy, and we already have close links with many of the leading manufacturers and processors from these sectors.
We will continue to provide qualifications through our existing awarding bodies (CIEH, HABC and RSPH), but we believe that FDQs qualifications will also enable us to offer a more flexible and bespoke service to our clients, a number of whom are already working alongside FDQ to develop new and exciting courses that are designed by the food industry, for the food industry so are fit for purpose. For more information on FDQ, please visit their website www.fdq.org.uk.
Results
We have received some excellent results in the Level 4 Award in HACCP for food manufacturing during July from recent courses, including 3 Distinctions. It’s very rare for anyone to achieve this level so well done to the delegates from Dairy Crest, Nature’s Best and Salads To Go!
Coming up in September we are running the following courses:
Contact us for September availability (no courses running in August)
10 – 11 Sept: RSPH Level 3 Award in HACCP
12 – 13 Sept: Auditing Skills
12 Sept: Ethical Trading Workshop in SPALDING
16 – 20 Sept: RSPH Level 4 Award in Food Safety
23 – 26 Sept: RSPH Level 4 HACCP FULL (**NEW DATE** Next available course 28 – 31st October)
All courses take place in Skipton (at our NEW training centre), unless otherwise stated
Contact Claire Lennon on 01756 700802 or email claire.lennon@vwa.co.uk for availability. See the full Training Calendar here.