News

01 March 2006 - MKM wins Improve contract

Improve, the food and drink sector skills council, has awarded MKM the contract to provide the electronic support and infrastructure for their new skills Academy. www.improveltd.co.uk

Due for launch in September 2006, MKM will develop a virtual hub for Improve’s new Centres of Excellence. These will comprise the first of four sector-specific skills academies in the country. MKM will put in place an infrastructure for e-learning which will eventually range all the way from apprenticeship level to degree level.

The Academy aims to provide skills training in all aspects of training for jobs in the food and drink manufacturing sector, ranging from dairy, meat & poultry and fish to convenience and soft drinks. Students will be able to access the learning in whatever form suits them best, from virtual, web-based access to paper workbooks, or through colleges.

The development is very much needed, because, as Improve’s Chief Executive, Jack Matthews, has pointed out recently:

Like most sectors in the UK, food and drink manufacturing is currently held back because of skills gaps. Around 19 per cent of the people employed have no formal qualifications and a further 15 per cent have nothing higher than a Level 1 qualification.

In building a virtual hub for Improve, MKM will draw on its success in developing Retail Detail, an e-academy skills portal for the Retail Academy offering an online business support system for retailers including tools, resources and information.

The learning for Improve userswill be available in bite-sized units that they can accumulate at whatever pace suits them best, towards the level of attainment or qualification that suits them best.

The contract is a strong endorsement of MKM’s ground-breaking achievement in the provision of online skills academies.