As many members will have seen covered in the Press over the last few days the Food and Drink Industry is facing a critical shortage of HGV drivers. We highlighted this issue back in April and since then the situation has deteriorated as the Food Service Market has re-opened.

The Federation is involved in a number of forums and round tables to bring pressure to bear on the Government to help in providing some solutions to this issue as we have concerns about the interruption of supply.

It is really important we get as much real detail as possible to back up our position so would request members send in examples of the challenges getting drivers, or indeed staff generally, as the labour issue is spreading to production staff and distribution depots.

Please send any information you have to Siobhan or please ring CEO Richard Harrow (07930 345326)

Back in March the Government announced an additional fund of £1.5bn for businesses impacted by the closure of the Hospitality Sector. This was to provide Local Authorities additional funds to support local companies.

Despite repeated requests from the Federation on when these funds will be available and when members can apply for them, but we are still awaiting confirmation.

We will continue to press this issue on behalf of members but would also urge any member who is looking to access this support to contact their local MP to ask them to question why it is taking so long to access these funds.

Members can find details of their local MP via this link.

The Consultation on the proposed Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) has now closed but we would urge all members to lobby their local MP on the potential impact on the scheme being proposed by the Government.

The cost, as calculated by the Government, would transfer £2.7bn of cost annually to Industry. Indeed, experts in the industry have estimated that this cost could increase to £3.5bn.

This will mean members’ packaging, recycling and recovery costs rising significantly with estimates suggesting 20 to 30-fold from the current PRN system.

We have major concerns that the EPR proposal means that Business Waste Collections will become free to businesses and paid for by our members. There is already a very effective system for clearing business waste, and we see no sense in changing this. Furthermore, if you take away the impact of costs to a business then you will not drive a change in behaviour.

The proposal for the scheme to pay Local Authorities for litter collection is also of concern. This has the potential to be both open ended and a massive burden on the scheme.

Members can find the details of their local MP via this link.

If anyone would like support in drafting a letter then please contact BFFF CEO, Richard Harrow, who will be delighted to support you in this.

Starfrost are proud to support International Women in Engineering Day and celebrate the outstanding achievements of women engineers.

Wednesday 23^rd June marks 2021’s International Women in Engineering Day (INWED), a global awareness campaign, coordinated by Women’s Engineering Society (WES), which aims to increase the profile of women in engineering worldwide and focus attention on the career opportunities available to women and girls in engineering and related industries.

Lauren Stephenson, Marketing Manager at Starfrost said, “Starfrost are proud to support Women in Engineering Day and celebrate the outstanding achievements of women engineers throughout the world.”

“INWED is a fantastic initiative that raises awareness of women in the engineering industry and the exciting career opportunities available across the sector.  We hope to encourage and inspire more women to join the wide-ranging industry as well as raise awareness and promote progress for a diverse and equal workforce.”

In support of INWED, Star Refrigeration (Starfrost’s parent company) are sponsoring Institute of Refrigeration Women in RACHP Engineering Heroes event an event to commemorate International Women in Engineering Day. This year’s event will consist of an online meeting hosted by the Institute of Refrigeration’s (IOR) Women in Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heat Pump network group (WiRACHP). The live online meeting will follow the theme of ‘Engineering Heroes’ and will ask attendees to remember the motivational figures in their life who have helped them to choose a career in the industry.

Hosted by IOR Trustee and Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Ambassador Lisa-Jayne Cook, the event will kick off as a live webinar at 10.00 am on Wednesday 23^rd June and is expected to run through until 11.30am.

The network is now open to anyone (male or female) working in any RACHP related role such as service & maintenance, design, research, engineering, science, sales, administration, marketing, training, etc. You do not have to be an IOR member to take part. To attend the free online event which will take place on International Women in Engineering Day, register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtcOugqTIsG90fTscD2Z2AD8nkIOTMnoVW%20  and tune in to hear some amazing stories from the world of WiRACHP and inspire the next generation of female engineers.

To find out more about International Women in Engineering Day go to: https://www.inwed.org.uk/
To find out more about the Women in RACHP event go to: https://ior.org.uk/events/inwed2021