Diageo
launches Diageo Learning for Life,
Scotland, a £5 million youth training &
employment programme in Scotland.
 Diageo today announced the launch of
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."
The Diageo Learning for Life Scotland
programme key initiatives:
- Bartending
- A core programme focussed on the
skills required for bartending life
skills, general employability and
business awareness.
- Hospitality
- A specialist module focussing on
skills required for a career in
hospitality.
- Manufacturing
- Broadening Diageo’s engagement in
apprenticeship programmes.
- Supporting Diageo’s future talent
pipeline.
- Supporting Scotch Whisky expansion
plans.
- Entrepreneurship
- Supporting young Scottish
Entrepreneurs.
- Retail
- A programme focusing on sales
skills for the retail and tourism
sectors.
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.
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