Dale Farm has recently celebrated the graduation of two of its home-grown team members.

Graduating with honour degrees in Food and Drink Manufacture from the College of Agriculture Food & Rural Enterprise (CAFRE), Abbie Thompson, Planning and Production Support in Pennybridge and Maria Mullan, Assistant Powder Production Manager in Dunman are not only celebrating their academic achievement but also reaching a significant milestone in their career journeys with Dale Farm.

Both Abbie and Maria joined Dale Farm in 2018 straight after completing their A-levels and successfully completed a Higher-Level Apprenticeship programme in Food and Drink Manufacture from CAFRE. They were then given the opportunity to continue with their studies moving into the degree programme which they were both keen to progress.

Andrea Duncan, Group HR Manager at Dale Farm, said: “We’re immensely proud of Abbie and Maria and their achievements. Their journeys have been a privilege to watch and be part of, and we’re delighted that their hard work and dedication has paid off.

“We’re committed to supporting the Higher-Level Apprenticeship programme at CAFRE and we were thrilled that our first ever Higher-Level Apprentices would go on to successfully complete degrees in Food and Drink Manufacturing.

“We worked in partnership with Loughry and had a prescriptive training plan for both Abbie and Maria which allowed them to rotate around the various departments in their respective factories learning all elements of the manufacturing process alongside week block release to the Loughry campus to carry out their studies. Both were mentored by a manager at each of the sites which provided them the support and guidance to help them through the process and fulfil their potential.

“At Dale Farm we’re committed to nurturing and supporting home grown talent. We hope to see more of our colleagues celebrating their endeavours in the future.”