Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks business, has launched Diageo Learning for Life, Scotland - a new, landmark training programme to help equip young, unemployed people with the skills to succeed in some of Scotland's most vibrant sectors.
The five year investment programme will provide valuable technical training and work based experiences, opening the door to a wide range of exciting career opportunities for young people. Participants will also benefit from advice in areas such as interview preparation, teamwork, and communication – helping to boost their confidence in support of their journey to employment. The scheme is part of Diageo’s long-term commitment to support Scotland’s economy and to help to tackle youth unemployment.
The first phase of the programme will focus on bartending and hospitality and will then expand activity to embrace retail, manufacturing and entrepreneurship.
Learning for Life, Scotland aims to make an immediate impact by creating opportunities for at least 200 newly trained graduates from the programme to work in the hospitality sector, gaining experience in roles available as a result of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.
Diageo has played a key part in bringing the Ryder Cup to Scotland through its ownership of The Gleneagles Hotel and as an Official Partner of the event with Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky.
The programme is being led for Diageo by Peter Lederer CBE, who has contributed 30 years’ service to Scottish hospitality since taking over running Gleneagles Hotel in January 1984. Peter is a Director of Diageo in Scotland and Chairman of Gleneagles.
He said: “The 2014 Ryder Cup and the Commonwealth Games coming to Scotland in the same year gives us a unique opportunity to have a positive impact on the lives of young people and also to give a real boost to our hospitality industry.
“With Learning for Life, Scotland - Diageo is determined to play its part in seizing that opportunity and looking beyond 2014, we want to build on that by using our business in the broadest sense to help create opportunities for young people in manufacturing as well as hospitality. We also want to use the programme to encourage the kind of entrepreneurship which has made Scotch whisky a global triumph.”
Stacey Allan (20), one of the first participants from the Learning for Life, Scotland programme who has been unemployed since 2011 said: “The course has opened up a lot of opportunities to me. I’ve learned new skills, achieved new qualifications and received great encouragement from the Learning for Life team.
“It’s a brilliant opportunity for anyone who is young and unemployed and the practical advice and hands - on experience that I now have from working in a bar will hopefully help me to build a career in the hospitality industry.”
Learning for Life is a major long- term global commitment by Diageo as part of its sustainability and responsibility strategy. It was first introduced in 2008 in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the lives of thousands of people have already been transformed.
Scotland is the first European country to launch the £5m programme with plans to roll it out across all markets around the world.
In addition to acquiring core technical skills, young people who are accepted onto the intensive Learning for Life programme will learn about customer service, product knowledge, information technology and important life skills, such as confidence and presentation, which are often barriers to gaining employment.
Diageo is backing the programme with input from key industry partners which include Skills Development Scotland (SDS), members of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association as well as from specialist training providers such as charity Springboard UK.
Damien Yeates, Chief Executive of Skills Development Scotland said: “Diageo’s new Learning for Life programme is exactly the type of support Scotland’s young people need.
‘The programme aligns with our own employability work in that it’s not just about giving someone a job – it’s important that we all take it a step further by equipping young people with skills they can use in future employment. SDS is delighted to support Learning for Life and we look forward to seeing future stars of key industries emerge from this programme.’
In addition, experienced Diageo staff will get involved as programme ambassadors and mentors, helping the young participants to prepare for the world of work, which may include CV and Interview preparation or just informal advice when the formal training is complete.
The £5m programme is a legacy of Diageo’s £1bn Scotch whisky expansion to increase the company’s distilling and warehousing capacity in Scotland which was announced in 2012.
