A Saltcoats meat processing plant has won a national industry award for ensuring apprentices could continue their qualification assessments during the Coronavirus lockdown.

Dunbia Highland Meats has lifted the coveted Training Partner Of The Year title in the Scottish Craft Butcher Training Awards 2021.

Two butchers at Dunbia Highland Meats were also finalists in the Training Mentor Of The Year category at the SCB Training Awards.

Martin Neely (Butcher Academy Manager) and Chris Brawls (Butchery Skills Trainer) were each nominated by apprentices at the Butcher Academy for their encouragement and guidance.

Presented with the award by Scotland’s first National Chef and Masterchef: The Professionals winner Gary Maclean, delighted company HR adviser Chloe McInnes said it was a feather in the cap of everyone involved at Highland Meat’s recently launched Butcher Academy.

“I’m absolutely ecstatic about this accolade,” she said.

“The Academy was launched in October 2019 - just five months before the country went into lockdown.

“With assessors’ access to the plant denied, we had to look at other ways of ensuring the continuous assessment of our trainees and decided to go virtual.”

Dunbia Highland Meats employs more than 330 people at the Saltcoats plant with 14 apprentices currently attending the Butcher Academy.

Gordon King, Executive Manager at Scottish Craft Butchers, said Dunbia Highland Meats was an outstanding example of a company seriously committed to investing in its apprentices.

“This is a company which takes its apprentices on a complete journey from the moment they enter the Butcher Academy,” he said.

“When other meat processors called a halt to assessor access for its trainees, they moved forward and created an alternative solution.”

Mr King added: “Their commitment to their apprentices is exactly the type of support that shows how seriously they treat the training of our future qualified workforce.”