Foundation Degree in Dairy Technology Apprentice Ryan Mackay is set to travel to the Middle East to become a Line Manager for Arla Foods.
Whilst gaining knowledge and experience through his apprenticeship at Reaseheath College and on the job at Arla, Ryan believes that Project Eden has helped significantly to achieve this job role. Project Eden is a unique training programme aimed at supporting and developing skills within the dairy processing industry.
Ryan studied Dairy Technology at Reaseheath College for three years whilst working for his employer Arla Foods in Lockerbie, Scotland.
With an ambition to enhance his knowledge of the dairy industry and how equipment operates, Ryan has gained invaluable experience by training in different departments in the UK and has proved his incredible understanding by achieving his foundation degree.
Ryan said: “I’ve been trained in several departments that I never thought I would ever have an understanding of. One of which being able to make cheese at our site to the standard it has always been made. I take great pride in that. I now have a degree qualification which again is something I thought I would never obtain.
“Originally I would have liked to have been a technician, specialising in one of our departments at Lockerbie, however the opportunity arose in Bahrain and I decided to apply.
“This opportunity was to be a line manager at an Arla plant in the Middle East, specifically the country Bahrain. I have now been offered this job and will be moving my life to Bahrain the first week of August 2021. I will be responsible for managing a team of 65 people to keep a cream cheese production line going and aim to increase overall equipment effectiveness during my time there.
“I am looking forward to the whole new experience of living in another country as I am someone who hasn’t left the UK in over 15 years (I’m currently aged 26).
“I am looking forward to the new challenge of being a manager and putting everything I have learned to the test.”
To find out more about the Dairy Technology foundation degree apprenticeship please click here.
