£1.5 million set aside to fund UK winemakers training

Steve Barclay, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was speaking at Wine GB annual conference this week to announce extra funding for training in wine production.

The Government has set aside £1.5 million to grant a new Future Winemakers Scheme for education to open new career paths and support the sector in creating new jobs. The new funding package will go towards delivering new courses at Plumpton College. After his speech WineGB chief executive, Nicola Bates, stepped in to make the announcement and said the funding came at a “pivotal point in our history”.

The funding will be targeted at educating, training and upskilling, as businesses estimate thousands of new vineyard jobs will be created over the coming years.

Currently the industry employs 8,000 workers but this is expected to rise to 30,000 in 5 years time. With work visas difficult to obtain after recent government changes, it is hoped staff will be recruited from within the UK.