Briefs

n A £4.4m Skills Academy will open in April, said food and drink sector skills council Improve. It has been working with employers, including Warburtons and RHM, on the academy, which is expected to serve over 28,000 people in its first four years. The academy will co-ordinate existing training programmes through approved Academy Training Centres, of which there are five at the moment. Another 35, including Thomas Danby in Leeds, are expected to be approved within three years.

n Retailers including Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and Co-op pledged last week to remove trans-fats from their bakery products. Some retailers have already stated they were moving away from trans-fats, but this time they made the pledge under the banner of the British Retail Consortium.

n Northern Ireland sandwich manufacturer, The Bite Group, is opening an 18,000sq ft facility in Enniskillen, costing £2.5m.

n Greggs’ shop in Festival Place, Basingstoke, has won two awards in an annual internal awards ceremony, for South East Shop of the Year and Best Sandwich Core Growth. The news was announced during Greggs’ annual shop managers’ conference in London.

n Délifrance’s sandwich World Cup is to be held in Paris on March 7. Reading-based chef Adrian Brown will be representing the UK with his sirloin steak-based ’Sunday Best’ sandwich, which won first prize at the national leg of the International Sandwich Challenge. Brown will go head to head with 11 international chefs at the Paris Palais des Congrès.