There has never been a more exciting time to get involved in MDS. Over the last two years, MDS has been working to increase the number of trainees it recruits, as well as to fine tune its training programme, ensuring that trainees receive an accredited qualification at the end of the two year programme. To this end, MDS has forged a partnership with Quantet Group to convert the programme into an apprenticeship, providing a more attractive offering to trainees and members alike.
We are pleased to announce that from the autumn, the training programme will become a Level 5 Leadership and Management apprenticeship, accredited by the Chartered Management Institute. The additional benefit of this is that MDS members will be able to put their own staff through the MDS training programme using their levy.
The changes will also enable MDS to fund trainees’ off the job training either by members passing down up to 10% of their unused levy or by co-government funding. This will ensure that costs for training MDS trainees are kept to a minimum.
The programme is exclusive to MDS and its members and is ideal for employees showing leadership potential. The partnership between MDS and the Quantet Group has gone a step further than the minimum standard for this qualification, as the programme covers both the requirements for the Level 5 Operations/Departmental Apprenticeship Standard plus five additional sessions to deliver skills specifically for the food & fresh produce sector. This would usually only be offered at a significant additional cost above the levy, but MDS together with Quantet can offer this programme inclusive of all the additional courses within the set levy fee.
The cost of the 2 year training programme is £9,000. However, members with funds in their levy can use this to fund training for their own employees. Those members who have used their levy or who are not levy payers can still access the training as Quantet can access 90% of costs through government funding. The fee to these members for the 2 year programme would therefore be just £900.
The next programme will start in October 2018. Please contact info@wordpress-764986-2591869.cloudwaysapps.com if you have employees who would benefit from developing their management skills and you would like to put them on the training programme.
We look forward to receiving your enquiries and to developing the potential for collaborative training.