Funding futures

As well as taking care of current employees, our Employee Trust helps nurture and attract future talent. Since 2019, the trust has funded a scholarship programme with Abertay University in Dundee. The scheme offers a financial contribution and summer work placement for one food science student every year.

This year saw food and consumer science student Jamie McDonald join the team for three months over the summer of 2022, before he was offered a full-time role as Product Designer. He’s worked on a number of key strategic projects and has gone on to inspire future students by hosting an on-site event in collaboration with the Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST).

The event saw food science students from universities in Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow gather in Glenbervie to hear Jamie’s story as well as others from around our business, and take a tour round our development facilities.

Broadening its reach wider than food science, Macphie’s Employee Trust also funds a student bursary scheme, designed to ease the financial burden often associated with going to university or college.

The children or grandchildren of current and retired employees can apply for a small grant to help towards the cost of their studies. This year the trust gave out a total of £5,500, supporting students studying a broad range of subjects including medicine, hairdressing, economics and law.

Yasmin Ratcliffe is the daughter of one of our colleagues and she is in her third year studying medicine at Oxford University:

The Macphie student bursary helps my studies in many ways. For example, I had to buy a new laptop for revision and coursework so last year I used some of the money Macphie gave me.

“I also use the money for other learning supplements. In February I was lucky enough to get a place on a surgery course with the Royal College of Surgeons London so I used some of the money from this bursary to attend.

“This year I plan to continue using the money to support my academic life here in Oxford. I am relying more on technology this year since I am running a project analysing the role of brain chemistry abnormalities in causing hallucinations in Parkinson's patients, alongside my other exams.

“I also have a dissertation to write on the genetics behind aggression, and the bursary will support me in my learning and any primary research I need for that this year.”

Yasmin Ratcliffe, medical student at Oxford University

Keeping people safe…

Since its conception in the 1990s, we’ve maintained the highest BRC grade annually. This means that we not only meet the highest standards in food safety and hygiene but that we match this in our approach to the health and safety of our people.

…and warm

In response to rising energy costs in 2022, we launched a cost-of-living contribution scheme which saw us pay all our employees – bar senior managers – an additional £750 over winter. was offered on top of a company-wide pay increase

Ewan, Warehouse Team Leader

Welcoming refugees

A new initiative for 2022 was the launch of our partnership with the Scottish Refugee Council (SRC) to create career opportunities for refugees resettling in Scotland. SRC supports candidates with employability training, which includes how to create a CV, interview skill sessions, mock interviews and explaining employment rights and benefits. SRC worked with us to adapt our recruitment process to make it more accessible to the refugee community and as a result, we have two new recruits in our Tannochside factory team. Having joined our operational team, our new recruits have already progressed to continuous improvement and engineering roles where they are able to put their previous work experience and passion into practice.

We’re delighted with the pair’s contribution to our company and we are working on extending our work with SRC to include our Aberdeenshire factory.

We were delighted when the team at Macphie reached out to us. It’s wonderful that our collaboration already enabled two refugees in our programme to join the company.

“The people we work with have fled horrific situations around the world and come from countries where conflict and human rights abuses are rife.

“When refugees arrive in Scotland, new and challenging journeys begin. Not only do they have to contend with country, but their qualifications might not be recognised in the UK. They might not be aware of their employment rights, and there is also a language barrier.

“Many of the people we work with are highly skilled, experienced and qualified. Others have not had an opportunity to explore their potential due to circumstances in their home country. If given an opportunity to show what they can do, they can be an asset to any business.

“This is why it’s so important that we provide support to people in need of refugee protection as they start their new lives and that companies recognise the promise and potential that Scotland’s refugee communities bring, like Macphie has.

Our supply chain

We extend our duty of care far beyond our factory walls. We are members of Sedex, the world’s largest platform for sharing responsible sourcing data on supply chains, used by more than 74,000 members in over 170 countries. This is one of the ways we manage the wider impact our business has through the activities of our supply chain.

We use over 200 suppliers and require them all to confirm:

• the steps they are taking to ensure slavery and human trafficking are not taking place within their business, or any part of their own supply chain

• their acceptance of the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code, which includes the payment of relevant living wages, preclusion of child labour and lack of forced labour or excessive hours

• that they have - and supply us with - a copy of their ethical trading policy and environmental policy

• whether they themselves are members of Sedex

By monitoring compliance, we promote ethical practices through our own supply chain with the aim of driving positive change throughout the industry.

Macphie itself operates a robust recruitment policy to prevent the practice of modern slavery. We check eligibility to work in the UK for all employees to safeguard against human trafficking or individuals being forced to work against their will.