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$ 2000 to $ 17,000 per container. We navigated that hurdle, made a lot of changes internally, and worked on developing our systems. We also created the Vaculug Academy last year, where the idea is to bring students and apprentices into work to provide them with experience and help bridge the generational skills gap.
“ One of the bigger issues in our industry is difficulty finding technicians. I think a large majority of the younger generation have been studying at university, more than they were 50 years or so ago, but that does seem to be changing, and people are looking at practical, technical jobs. We are trying to help with this by engaging with colleges, local authorities and local education institutions and are on the board of the Greater Lincolnshire and Rutland Cornerstone Employer Group. The courses are becoming more practical and rooted in relevant work experience. We are
also recruiting 17-to-19-year-old apprentices and our plan this year is to give them relevant work experience, thereby, hopefully creating managers of the future.”
Investing in people and processes
Focusing on continuous improvement, Vaculug has recently been investing in two main elements of the business: people and systems.“ We believe that any successful company nowadays is a combination of those two strengths,” Jorge continues.“ In terms of people, we’ re striving to continue to grow and attract new talent, because many of our people have retired over the last five years. We collaborate with universities, particularly University College London and Oxford University, St. Peter’ s College, where we’ re working with some of the professors to bring theory and academic background into practice. Additionally, we’ ve doubled the size
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