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J.D Wetherspoon has this week announced plans to create around 1,000 new food jobs for school leavers.

The national pub chain has over 780 outlets throughout the UK, and school leavers aged 16 and 17 will be hired to work in them as part of the company's plans to expand food job opportunities for young people.

Wetherspoon has said that the new positions will not involve bar work, but food and hot beverage service as well as kitchen work.

The most attractive aspect of the plan for school graduates is that they will have the opportunity to study for qualifications that will help them to progress in the food industry whilst also earning money. The young employees will be encouraged to work towards NVQs, and a professional diploma and honours qualification should they reach management level.

The chain, which already employs approximately 200 young people in food jobs throughout the UK, is planning to create the new positions within a year, and has pledged to pay the new employees more than minimum wage.

Head of personnel and training at J.D. Wetherspoon, Mandy Ferries, has summed up how this new scheme will benefit school leavers, saying:

"We can offer them the chance to study as part of their work as well as progress within the company."

The Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) has awarded a £200,000 grant to a burgeoning South Tyneside business, as part of a wider, £1 million project expected to create numerous new food jobs.

The RDPE has awarded the cash to family pork butchers MI Dickson Ltd., in order that the owners may extend their South Shields bakery enterprise. Five new food jobs will be created as a result of the investment, whilst a further 14 will be safeguarded.

MI Dickson Ltd will also be able to use the money in a number of areas to improve the business, including:

• Creating more space
• Reducing congestion
• Improving workflow
• Improving the general working environment for staff
• Reducing double handling

Managing director Michael Dickson has explained how the funding will enable him to diversify the business in order to respond to changing consumer buying and eating habits. He also said:

"Our aim is to increase the market share through further expansion of our wholesale business by exploiting our proven credentials for quality, heritage and local food. We are grateful for the support from the RDPE programme to help us achieve our aims."

Following the announcement in May 2010 that Asda is to buy Netto's UK operations in a deal reported to be worth around £778, the company is now awaiting approval from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in order to go ahead with the takeover.

Whilst waiting for OFT approval to take over all 193 Netto stores- expected to be delivered by the end of September - Asda has already submitted planning applications for the conversion of several of Netto's outlets into smaller Asda stores.

Asda is currently missing out on the 'small stores' market, only having around 10 to 15 smaller supermarkets in the UK. The company is hoping to significantly expand into this market.

Speaking of the deal, an Asda spokesperson has explained the company's goals for the new small stores, if OFT approval comes through. First on the agenda is the creation of new food jobs:

"What I can say is that at a store level, we have a good track record of growing the number of colleagues (staff) in smaller stores we have already acquired from the Co-op and we see no reason why that wouldn't be the case in this instance.

"We anticipate we'll create up to twice as many jobs in each store converted to an Asda."

The news that a new multi-million pound Tesco supermarket is set to open in Newport has caused quite a stir in the Welsh city, as it has also been revealed that around 400 new food jobs will be created.

Construction on the new store, which is actually a redevelopment of a Tesco Extra shop on Spytty Road, will start in February 2011. The existing store - incidentally named 'the luckiest place to buy a lottery ticket in the UK' after two customers bought their winning tickets there - is being expanded in order to meet growing demand.

Once completed, the new supermarket will be 12,765 square metres in size and have a car park underneath. This sort of design has been called 'a store on stilts'.

Tesco has said that around 400 new food jobs will be created upon the store's opening, with local people taking priority to fill most of the positions.

Energy efficiency

In addition to creating new food jobs, Tesco has also made a concerted effort to make their new superstore 'green' and sustainable. Planned eco-efficient measures include:

• Using natural refrigeration units
• Installing specially designed skylights to optimise natural light
• Harvesting rainwater for flushing toilets

As the news breaks that food and drink chain Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) is to sell off more than 300 pubs and drink-led outlets, the company has revealed that it intends to focus more on food in the future.

M&B is offloading:

• 52 bars from their student-focused Scream chain
• 71 music and late night entertainment venues
• 67 community pubs
• 75 town centre pubs
• 68 smaller outlets

All of these businesses have been bought by TDR Capital, a private equity firm, for a reported £373 million.

Focus on food

Mitchell & Butlers is now planning to invest heavily in their food brands, which is good news for food job workers at Toby Carvery, All Bar One, Vintage Inn, Crown Carveries, Sizzling Pub Co. and Harvester outlets. As well as planning to open high street, retail and leisure park variants of these outlets, M&B is also investing heavily in marketing campaigns to promote their food brands.

M&B believes that there is more opportunity for growth in food, especially after setbacks such as the recession, the smoking ban and the duty increase on alcohol hit the drinks-led market hard.

It's good news for the food and drink industry this week, as well as for food job hunters, as both fast food chain McDonalds and high-end online supermarket and supplier Ocado have announced ambitious plans for expansion.

McDonalds expansion plans in Scunthorpe

Fast food restaurant chain McDonalds has announced a new £500,000 plan to expand a Scunthorpe outlet situated next to Glanford Park football stadium. Franchise owner Bob Meadowcroft, who owns four McDonalds restaurants and already employs 310 people in food jobs, is planning the expansion mainly because of Scunthorpe United's recent success.

The expansion is expected to create 12 new food jobs in the area, and Mr Meadowcroft has revealed that this number may increase once the restaurant is open 24 hours a day.

Ocado to open new distribution centre in Warwickshire

Ocado, the delivery operator for Waitrose, is planning to build a new £200 million distribution centre near Tamworth in Warwickshire. The local council has approved the expansion plans, as Ocado have promised to create up to 2,000 new food jobs for the area. The facility will be capable of processing up to 200,000 customer orders once fully operational in 2012.

Brenda Barnes, the head of leading US food group Sara Lee is reportedly stepping down following a serious stroke earlier this year.

Barnes, 56, has cited health problems as the reason she is retiring from her role as chairman and CEO of the successful Sara Lee food brand. Following a stroke back in May 2010, Barnes has been on medical leave and has said that she now wants to focus on her recovery.

Before Sara Lee, Barnes held a senior position at PepsiCo in the 1990s, which she left in order to spend more time with her children. She became an important symbol for the many challenges facing working mothers in the fast-paced food and drink industry.

The search for a new CEO

Sara Lee is now pulling out all the stops to find a replacement for Barnes, one who is able to drive the company forward. Named as possible successors within the Sara Lee family are Marcel Smits -former chief financial officer, currently serving as acting CEO - and Christopher John Fraleigh, the CEO of the North American retail and food service arm of the company.

In a deal reported to be worth around £6.4 million, Northern Foods has sold frozen food firm Dalepak to meat processing group Irish Food Processors (IFP).

The Dalepak subsidiary, based in Yorkshire, has not been performing quite as well as expected and only represents approximately 2 - 3 per cent of Northern Foods' total turnover. A spokesperson for the group has said that Northern wants to focus more on its "core business areas".

IFP is one of the largest processors of beef in Europe, employing more than 2,000 food job workers over 15 UK locations. The IFP empire already encompasses three convenience food subsidiaries - Freshlink Foods, Eatwell UK and Wessex Foods - but bosses are planning to add the newly-purchased Dalepak to this list. An IFP representative spoke of the Dalepak deal, saying that the opportunity fitted in perfectly with the company's plans.

The deal with Northern Foods involves the purchase of the Dalepak factory in Leeming Bar, North Yorkshire, where 243 food job workers are currently employed. These employees need not worry about job security, however, as IFP have promised that all positions will be safeguarded.

An IFP spokesperson even hinted that there may potentially be more food job opportunities opening up as a result of the deal, saying:

"The intention is very much to expand Dalepak; this is very much about expansion."

International food group Vion have announced that they are to create a total of 250 new food jobs in Scotland.

150 new positions will open up at Vion's chicken processing plant in the town of Coupar Angus, whilst a further 100 new jobs will be created at a plant in Cambuslang. Furthermore, a £650,000 Scottish Enterprise grant has safeguarded 234 existing food jobs in the Vion group.

Vion has recently launched an investment programme worth millions of pounds, which included the installation of a new packing line at the Coupar Angus facility. It is this investment- along with the efforts of existing employees - which has boosted sales and created greater employment opportunities at these two sites. Cambuslang in particular has flourished, as Vion reports that business is up 25 per cent compared to last year.

Vion Poultry's regional director Andrew Fisher has commented on the news, saying:

"This is very positive news and just reward for the tremendous efforts not only of the teams at Cambuslang and Coupar Angus, but also through the wider Vion supply chain from our farmers and feed mill operators, through to our production, sales and administration colleagues."

Leading supermarket chains Tesco and Asda are soon to launch a significant expansion of their current grocery delivery services in London, in an attempt to beat upmarket delivery specialists Ocado at their own game.

Each supermarket is planning to open what is being called a 'ghost store' in the capital, which is essentially a distribution centre for food delivery operations. These stores, although not open to the public, will employ 300 staff in food jobs, picking and loading up products for more than 10,000 home delivery orders a week.

Asda currently reports delivery sales of approximately £900 million a year, whilst Tesco is the market leader with estimated sales of £1.1 billion a year. Despite these impressive achievements, Ocado has managed to corner the London market for grocery delivery almost completely, with around 90,000 deliveries every week.

Industry analyst Jonathan Pritchard has commented on Tesco and Asda's attempts to reclaim the London delivery market with their 'ghost stores', saying:

"This shows that Tesco and Asda are serious about taking market share in the London area. It must only be a matter of time before Marks & Spencer and Morrisons come to similar conclusions about the opportunities."