The Grow Ayrshire Support Programme, from the ‘Ayrshire Food an ‘a’ that’ initiative and supported by the three Ayrshire Councils, Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce and Business Gateway successfully got underway last month.
The Programme is designed to help local food and drink manufacturers across the region by way of a series of workshops, mentoring programme, grant and consultancy support and live product trials – allowing attendees to test their goods in real-world retail and wholesale settings. The topics covered in the workshops include, Retail, Wholesale, Sustainability, Marketing and Branding, Digital and Procurement. These topics are all relevant to businesses operating in this sector and the programme will provide the tools, connections, and expert guidance to take products onto local shelves or into wholesale, public procurement, and retail markets.
On Tuesday 11 November, Workshop 2 – Retail was hosted by Food2Market Consultancy at Ingram Enterprise Centre, Kilmarnock. The session was insightful, discussing key frameworks on how the Grow Ayrshire will be able to scale.
Workshop 3 – Sustainability and Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS) – was then hosted at The Circuit, Irvine.
Guest speakers covered several important issues:
Jamie Burns from Ailsa Reliability Solutions Ltd. discussed the net zero journey his business has been on, why he and his company are know helping other businesses on their sustainability journey and the upcoming cohort of the Net Zero Accelerator.
Brogan Devlin from Business Energy Scotland spoke about the importance of energy efficiency and the free service that Business Energy Scotland offers to businesses
Alison Welch from Scottish Enterprise introduced the group to lean manufacturing and how this process can be transformational for businesses.
Attendees provided positive feedback and that both workshops left them feeling more knowledgeable than when they arrived. The knowledge and skills delivered at the workshops are key to supporting business growth.
If you require further information about this programme, you can email grow@ayrshire.food