Watch the webinar
Watch the above webinar, in partnership with Mmmake Your Mark, as we delve into the pressing issue of skills shortages in the food and FMCG sector.
Chaired by Adam Buckland, Divisional Managing Director – Scientific at Reed and in line with National Engineering Day 2024, this event featured a panel of distinguished speakers who shared their expertise and strategies for attracting new talent to the industry, including the next generation of school leavers.
Featured speakers
Mehdi Adjiri, Group Head of Technical Accounts, The Compleat Food Group
Sarah McCarthy, Head of Employability Programmes, IGD
Werner Bezuidenhout, Head of HR – Group Services and Talent Acquisition, Bakkavor Group
What was discussed?
Understanding the skills gap: an overview of the current challenges in attracting talent to the food and FMCG sector.
Innovative recruitment strategies: how leading companies are successfully attracting and retaining top talent.
Engaging the next generation: strategies for appealing to school leavers and young professionals.
Showcasing the industry: highlighting why the UK’s food and drink industry is a fantastic place to work.
Our panellists
Mehdi Adjiri, Group Head of Technical Accounts, The Compleat Food Group
Mehdi is an MSc-educated food technologist, with extensive technical and quality assurance experience gained over 18 years working in food manufacturing and retail. He manages own label and branded portfolios across high risk/high care, ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook, and ambient product categories.
Sarah McCarthy, Head of Employability Programmes, IGD
Sarah joined IGD in 2016. As Head of Employability, she leads IGD’s ambition to help industry attract young people with the skills we need to build a productive, inclusive, and sustainable future workforce. This includes running IGD’s national, industry-wide programmes, supporting companies to build partnerships with the schools in their communities, and influencing the skills system, by connecting industry into the right conversations and sharing insight to help tackle our long-term skills shortages.
Prior to joining IGD, Sarah spent 15 years working in further education and training roles, lecturing in English, and delivering a range of employability projects to help 14–24-year-olds with complex needs progress into work.
Werner Bezuidenhout, Head of HR – Group Services and Talent Acquisition, Bakkavor Group
Werner is a results-oriented, senior HR executive with rich experience in leadership, HR management, resource utilisation, systems implementation and organisational development in highly competitive and diligently structured organisations. He has a proven ability in creatively identifying methods for improving productivity and organisational behaviour.
Across multiple positions, Werner has demonstrated expertise in providing innovative human capital management solutions including strategic planning, policy/procedure administration, recruiting/hiring practices, people development, retention approaches, legal, compliance, managerial support, negotiations, and conflict management.
Adam Buckland, Divisional Managing Director - Scientific, Reed
With more than 10 years of recruitment experience, Adam has a deep understanding of scientific recruitment market dynamics, challenges, and opportunities across industries including life science, food and beverage, fast moving consumer goods, and sustainability and green energy.
Adam’s core competencies include creating tailored solutions for a portfolio of Reed's largest clients, maintaining relationships with senior stakeholders, and overseeing the delivery of contractually agreed operational services. He combines a traditional, high-touch, recruitment approach with the latest technology to ensure campaigns can be delivered on time and to budget.
