Latest news

Premier League of Interim Provision

I was thrilled a couple of weeks ago to discover (via a phone call) that a company called “InterimManagementJobs.net” had recently compiled an independent survey rating the service of over 50 Interim Management Recruiters across all sectors.  Even more interesting was that they planned to use this survey to create a “league”, even going as far as to have it’s own “Premier League”. 

The prospect of a league raised a few questions.  Would it be like it’s football namesake?  Would having oodles of cash propel you instantly into a Premier League top spot like Chelsea?  Or would it be more like Premiership Rugby where you can batter your way into the top spot? 

The results click here showed it would be neither of the above.  In fact, the league showed itself to be a surprising meritocracy, one where service matters, not name, size, profit, or how breathtakingly marvelous you were many years ago.

Thanks to all who voted!!

Scott

Hutchinson raises £2,235 for local charity

In March, Scott, Owen, Kyp and Kerrie, and interim Graham Jelfs, ran the Bath Half Marathon to raise money for local charity  PROPS. Not only did they speed round the course but they raised a total of £2,235.25.

PROPS is one of the only charities in the Bristol area to offer support to children and young adults with severe special needs. It is run by a team of volunteers who organise a range of educational and sporting activities for the children and young adults.

One of the most successful initiatives has been  a business enterprise after- school club where industry professionals come and help the students to made products they can display and sell. The money raised by Scott and the team means they can buy a Roland Cutter, a new piece of equipment that will enable the students to produce quality canvas prints, vinyl prints, posters, printed t shirts and fridge magnets.

Hutchinson Survey: Recession in the food industry

It’s hard to put a positive slant on the recession, but we have to accept that there are going to be winners and losers. For example, some food companies are going to the wall and the products they used to supply are being picked up by other companies. In the last recession, grocery food purchases actually rose by 0.2%.

We conducted a survey to find out how our clients are feeling and the results make interesting reading. It paints a positive picture of a confident industry that is not just surviving the recession, but performing well and predicting growth for the forthcoming months.

For a complete summary of the survey results, click here

Hutchinson Award 2009: Food science student wins industry award

LLaura Coyle (aged 21), food science student at the University of Reading, has been announced as the winner of the annual Hutchinson Award. The award is in recognition of her achievements during her placement at Tesco. The award will be presented at 2pm, 5 February in the University’s Food Science department.
Hutchinson Consultancy launched the £500 award in 2007. Scott Hutchinson, Managing Director, said: “There are fantastic career opportunities in the food industry but it has a reputation of long hours and low pay. We wanted to show today’s students that good work gets well rewarded, so we launched our own industry award.”
The UK food and drink industry is one of the most competitive manufacturing sectors in the world, with an annual turnover of £77.4 billion and employing over 500,000 people*. Yet it has suffered from falling numbers of top graduates coming into the market.
The course at Reading is a leading example of a vocational course that is succeeding in filling the skills gap in the food industry. The students gain valuable experience that often leads directly onto a job. The Hutchinson Award is an incentive to excel while on placement.
Professor Michael Gordon, Director of Teaching & Learning at the University, said: “The opportunity to undertake an industrial placement is an important component of the BSc degrees. The students benefit strongly from an understanding of the challenges facing the food industry, and the problem-solving that they are faced with allows them to develop skills that complement their academic studies in the University.”
Laura was chosen out of 30 applicants to join the technical team at Tesco, where her responsibilities included quality and competitor analysis, improving the shelf life of products, and meeting suppliers to see how they managed production of products and followed up on complaints.
She said: “The placement was probably the best choice I’ve ever made. It cleared all my preconceived ideas of the food industry and changed my mind about which areas I’d like to work in. I’ve been offered a job in the technical department when I graduate and am expecting the contract to be sent through in the next few weeks.
“It was a big step for me to take a placement, I originally was going to do a three year course, and for me to have excelled and be recognised for my work with the Hutchinson Award makes me feel like I have truly achieved something by my own merits.”
* Source: Top 100 companies listed by turnover on www.itsfood.com