20 Years of Success at VWA...

Verner Wheelock Associates was set up in Bradford in 1990 by Dr Verner Wheelock.  Still a family run business, but now based at Broughton Hall Business Park near Skipton, VWA will be celebrating 20 years as a successful food industry training consultancy during 2010. Watch this space for a series of events we are planning throughout the year to mark this special  occasion.  We hope that clients old and new will help us celebrate our 20th birthday in in style in 2010! Popularity: 9% [?]

First Aid Training with First Aid Academ...

November 2009 Verner Wheelock Associates has partnered with First Aid Academy which is a leading provider of high quality, first aid training. First Aid Academy can provide advice and training on all levels of first aid as well as specialist courses, and have provided us with information on the new qualifications introduced following a revision in First Aid legislation which came into force on 1st October 2009. Today, workplaces generally are low risk and have immediate access to the emergency services via mobile phones. Under the new revision the traditional 4-day First Aid...

Verner’s Views...

November 2009 Dr Verner Wheelock has lanched a new blog where he comments on food industry news and reports. Here are extracts from a couple of his latest blog entries: Let the Children Eat Cake… Eating a slice of cake to celebrate a birthday has been banned because it conflicts with the Healthy Eating policy in a Rotherham school (The Yorkshire Post 17 October 2009). The mother of one of the pupils sent a cake to the school so that her daughter could share it with her friends. This incident illustrates the absurdity of the government approach to Healthy Eating in schools. Read...

HACCP with Distinction...

November 2009 Over the last few months our delegates have been achieving excellent results in accredited examinations, particularly in the RSPH Level 3 Award in HACCP for Food Manufacturing. Of 85 delegates who have taken this new RSPH qualification with VWA since February 2009, the following exam pass rates have been achieved: Distinction – 73%; Pass – 25%; Fail – 2%. This means that the current pass rate for Level 3 HACCP at VWA is an impressive 98%. These figures relate to delegates who attended open courses in Skipton, as well as in-house courses at...

Funding for Training the Trainer...

October 2009 The VWA Training the Trainer course leads to the CIEH Professional Trainers Certificate, which enables delegates to acquire the skills to become successful trainers in their own right. The recent course on 5 – 7 October accommodated six delegates from around Yorkshire, all of whom benefitted from 60% funding from The Enhancement Fund which is a programme part funded by the European Union through the European Social Fund as is co-financed by the Learning and Skills Council and Yorkshire Forward. Tutor Peter Bruty (left) with the successful delegates   All...

Creating Savoury Flavours...

October 2009 The VWA ‘Creating Savoury Flavours’ course on 19 – 23rd October has yet again been a great success.        Back left: David Baines, Sergey Belkov (Zelenie Linii), Mirjam Groenewold (DSM), Silvia Baglioni (Kerry). Front left: Nicole Zeeuw van der Laan (Nestle), Paul Ricciardi (IFF), Astrid Huber (Nestle), Wendy van der Hout (Buteressence). The course comprised of a highly structured mixture of lectures and practical sessions.  The lecture programme explored the origin of flavour precursors in meat, the reaction of these precursors to form...

Certificate in Nutrition & Health &...

September 2009 Yet another successful RSPH Certificate in Nutrition & Health course has just been completed at VWA with course tutor, Jo Alcock. Delegates from the Certificate in Nutrition & Health with course tutor, Jo Alcock (front, 2nd from left) Delegates travelled from near and far – as close as Bradford and as far afield as Oxford and London – to attend this popular Level 3 nutrition course held in Skipton on 22 – 24 September 2009. The majority of the 8 delegates are already employed in food service and school meals, with others hoping this...

2010 Training dates now available...

September 2009 VWA has now set all course dates for the early part of next year.  See our Training Calendar. All 2010 courses booked by 31st December 2009 will be charged at 2009 rates and by booking early you will also pay just 15% VAT instead of 17.5% which will apply again from 1st January. Despite the ‘credit crunch’ all training courses this Autumn are still proving to be very popular, with many being fully subscribed with waiting lists – particularly the HACCP courses.  Book early to avoid disappointment! This year, many companies in Yorkshire and...

Pauline retires from VWA...

July 2009 Anyone who has been on a course at VWA over the last few years will probably have been in touch with Pauline Greenough at some point.  Pauline who was responsible for the production of all course materials and arranging exams has recently retired and we were very sorry to see her go. On 9th July, the staff and some of the trainers from VWA celebrated Pauline’s retirement at the Wheelock’s Binns Lane Farm where they were treated to a dressage display by Kathryn Wheelock and her horse Indi, followed by a cream tea with home made scones and strawberries....

Calling all Craft Brewers...

July 2009 Verner Wheelock Associates has launched a new course aimed at amateur craft brewers who are keen to take their hobby to the next stage. This 4-day Craft Brewing Workshop will take place at the Cruck Barn at The Craven Arms (home of the TV series ‘Yorkhire’s Perfect Pint) at Appletreewick near Skipton on 7th – 10th September 2009. The course will cover the following topics: • The history of Craft Brewing • Beers of the World • Ingredients & purchasing • The brewing process • Hygiene and HACCP in the brewery • Recipe formulation •...