Background

After the Second World War, the States of Guernsey decided to buy Herm Island from the Crown in order that its pleasant atmosphere could be enjoyed by Guernsey residents. The States now rent the island to a tenant on a 100 year lease, who is expected to maintain the island for the benefit of its visitors.

It was reported in May 2008 that the tenants had put the remaining 40 years of their lease up for sale. In September 2008 it was announced that Starboard Settlement, a trust, had acquired the remainder of the lease. The trust formed a Guernsey company, Herm Island Ltd, to manage the island for the trustees.

The Context

In October 2007, the States of Guernsey Health and Social Services updated their food hygiene legislation, stating that a number of requirements were being put into place for traceability, HACCP procedures and training for food handlers.

This meant that food businesses had to be able to identify and evidence the sources from which they have been supplied with food. All food businesses also had to assess their food safety hazards, and put in place a suitable written record of assessment. Commensurate training was also required by law for level 1 and level 2 qualifications in Food Hygiene for food handlers of differing grades. It was also deemed that, with career progress, supervising staff must also complete level 3.

Initially, this meant that the organisation had to create a food hygiene policy along HACCP principles. No-one on Herm Island had the background to set this up. The choice was to get an external consultant to work with them to achieve this, or to have one senior member of the team in place to gain a qualification, and with it, the understanding to put this in place.

In addition, it was necessary to train the 60+ food handling staff that come to work on Herm on a seasonal basis every year. If each member of staff were to be trained through an external company each year, the cost would have been significant on an annual basis, probably in the region £2k - £2.5k. Again, in order to minimise the cost, it was sensible to have one senior member of the team to carry out this training.

These training needs were therefore the primary driver to this senior member of the organisation through both the CIEH Level 4 Award in Managing Food Safety in Catering and also the CIEH Professional Trainer Certificate.

Mr. Jonathan Watson, Director of Hospitality, was chosen to represent Herm Island Ltd. These qualifications meant that the he could facilitate both the establishment of a credible food safety management system, and also ensure that they had traceability of the food. He could also register himself as a Training Centre and Trainer with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, and deliver both Level 1 and Level 2 Awards in Food Safety in Catering. The initial annual expenditure of circa £2.- 2.5k meant that no further cost, bar the examination paper costs, were necessary for future years. In addition, verification and monitoring of all the food outlets on the island could be managed onsite.

The Solution

The most significant challenge was that neither course was available in the Channel Islands and so it was necessary to tie up both a course and Jonathan’s own availability. It was evident that the training needs could not be met in house, as there was no skill there to do this.

The selection process was actually quite straight forward in that he needed to find a training provider that could meet all his training needs. The criteria were as follows:

1. The provider needed to be close to, or in Gloucester, as Jonathan had accommodation available there.
2. The provider needed to be able to deliver both courses.
3. The provider and courses had to be CIEH registered.
4. Both courses had to be offered on an intensive course basis. Research showed that many Level 4 Awards are run over 5 weeks. This would not have worked for him, not least because of expensive travel costs.

It was clear that Envesca ticked each of these boxes. The primary decision makers were criteria 3 and 4. 1 and 2 would have been either costly, or inconvenient, whereas 3 and 4 made it happen.

Jonathan felt that Envesca’s customer service ethic made it very straight forward for him to reserve a place on each course, gave him excellent advice on pre course work, offered good value for money and has subsequently helped him with the registration process for his membership of the CIEH.

Jonathan said in July 2009:  “My relationship with Sue and the team at Envesca continues, as and when I have fresh questions and training requirements for Envesca. Simon particularly has been most helpful in addressing my queries and concerns. It seems that the company has either got the solutions in house, or can easily point me in the right direction. It is a great comfort to know that whilst sitting on a 300 acre island (when the tide is in) that there is a company that has the ability and desire to help.”

The Results

Since the training Jonathan has seen a number of positive results:

1. Herm Island has a comprehensive Food Safety system, based on HACCP and risk assessment, which is monitored, and verified on an ongoing basis.
2. All of Herm Island food has traceability.
3. All new team members are trained to Level 1 Award in Food Safety in Catering in their first week of employment.
4. All food handlers are trained to Level 2 Award in Food Safety in Catering in their first three months of employment. So far, 23 candidates, with no failures!
5. Following 2 more successful Level 2 training courses, Jonathan will have gained sufficient experience to train the CIEH Level 3 Award in Supervising Food Safety in Catering to his Business Managers and Head Chefs. This, being a three day course will be conducted during the quieter inter months.
6. We have had two successful visits from the States of Guernsey Environmental Health Officers, resulting in a very positive feeling from the enforcing body.

Going forwards, Jonathan said “Envesca also train the CIEH Level 4 Award in Health and Safety in the Workplace. This is certainly of interest to the Island, as more and more training is required to meet both legislation and the requirements of our insurance provider. The 5 day course once again meets the criteria as set out above and I am very much looking forward to booking myself on it!”