Industry Taster Days
May 22, 2025
Over the past two years, students have taken part in more than 350 industry taster day experiences, hosted by the Young People’s Support Service (YPSS) through funding from the National Citizen Service. From hands-on activities to site visits and chats with professionals, the sessions gave students a real feel for what these sectors have to offer, with a focus on providing community-based experiences at the grassroots level.
The programme was delivered in partnership with local industry specialists and training providers including CATCH, GPL Wind Ltd, Seafood Grimsby & Humber Alliance, and Creating Positive Opportunity (CPO), who worked with young people to gain employability support, careers information, and local labour market information. Additionally, they helped young people build confidence and explore career paths they may never have considered.
The final cohort, Learning4Life-Gy, explored careers in the seafood industry. Delivered by The Seafood Grimsby & Humber Alliance, the sessions sought to transform perceptions about careers in Grimsby’s nationally recognised seafood sector. With over 5,000 direct employees and around 10,000 in the supply chain, the industry provides a plethora of local career opportunities, many of which are often overlooked or misunderstood.
Local seafood businesses such as New England Seafood, North Coast Seafoods, Alfred Enderby, Premier Seafoods, Fastnet Fish, and Hilton Seafood opened their doors to provide an immersive practical and educational experience. Some of their offerings included tasting sessions, fileting demonstrations, production line demonstrations, tours and professionals in the industry sharing their knowledge and personal career journeys.
At New England Seafood Jaque Berridge, a Species Expert, shared his journey from filleter to product development lead: “From starting as a filleter to working in machine programming, I now work as a Species Expert and lead on product development and finance.”
Jaque had just returned from Norway, meeting with suppliers as part of his job role. He spoke of the hidden opportunities in the seafood sector, saying “finance, tech, logistics, account holding – it’s not just getting messy, although that is still a great role to have!”
Following the taster days, 100 per cent of the young people attending agreed that they had learned about the industry and its potential career paths.
Joanne Woodhouse, Schools Ambassador for Seafood Grimsby and Humber Alliance, spoke about the success of the event: “It’s been a pleasure working with North East Lincolnshire Council and the other organisations to give young people a taste of the seafood industry and the opportunities. We’re looking forward to continuing our work with young people to help them make their decision about their best, next step.”
Full article here
https://www.nelincs.gov.uk/it-gave-me-an-insight-into-what-i-could-achieve-students-inspired-by-one-of-a-kind-taster-days/