FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Kim Sweeney makes another batch of patties at Blenheim Foods with owner Mark Witchalls looking on. Photo Dan Hutchinson
by Dan Hutchinson
When Mark Witchalls bought a successful business eight years ago, the first thing he did was convert from automation to a labour-intensive production line.
A job that used to take one person supervising a machine now requires four people on a production line and the business has thrived.
Blenheim Foods, now based in Rapaura, is the biggest supplier of patties to takeaways around the country.
The highly successful business uses a different formula to the normal cost-cutting, mechanised systems of his competitors.
Mr Wichalls wanted a business that could provide employment to people with disabilities, particularly people over 40-years-old who had been out of work for long periods of time.
He had found that many of these people had not benefited from more progressive work placement policies in recent years.
By converting Blenheim Foods he has provided meaningful employment to people with their wages subsidised by the Government depending on their level of physical or mental disability.
The business has been so successful that Mr Witchalls has been asked by the Ministry for Social Development to come up with a similar pilot employment scheme on a larger scale for Marlborough with a view to a national programme.
There is an estimated 300 people in the region that would benefit from similar work placement and training.
Mr Witchalls said there was often a lot of work required to bring a person up to speed in the work force, especially if they had never worked before.
“We had one guy who hadn’t worked for five years and he couldn’t even stand. It took six months to get him to a point where he could work for a whole day. If you don’t use it, you lose it.”
He said the new scheme, called the Marlborough Work Fit Trust, would initially revolve around the Marlborough District Council’s Tuis to Town project. That project revolves around sourcing, propagating and planting suitable plant species.
Long-term unemployed disabled people over 40 would be the focus of the intake and they would learn health and safety, gain NZQA qualifications, gain a driver’s licence if possible and other things vital to everyday employment.
Workers who take part in the project will also work on propagating the required plants to attract tuis to town and the planting as well.
“It doesn’t cost you anything to employ someone with disability and they never want to take a sick day. They have got to be dead not to come to work.”
His own business has continued to thrive under the new model and as well as having “hand made” patties his customers also appreciate that he is doing something for the community.
Mark and his wife Shelly, a chef, formerly ran the Punga Cove in the Marlborough Sounds, and were founding partners of The Mussel Boys restaurants. But they sold the restaurant and started planning differently for the future when their daughter Emily was diagnosed with severe autism.
“I sold up so we could get into a situation of working with Emily and whoever was out there.
“We tried to find the simplest operation we could in Blenheim to provide a form of employment and we found Blenheim Foods tucked in a back street.”
Mark employs four part-time workers at Blenheim Foods and he has adapted the operation to make the work easier and safer.
Pictures are used instead of written instructions for the pattie-making process and he has done away with some machinery.
A big hopper, from where they poured the pressed ingredients into the hot plates is gone and the mixtures are now ladled by hand into the moulds.
Mark says business is growing. The downturn has encouraged many people to go back to their Friday night fish and chips, rather than more expensive fast-food options.
“We are working six days to keep up.”
Shelly owns Shelly’s café next door to the factory and she gets a hand with the dishwashing and grounds from Mark’s employees.
“The point of that is that they get to socialise and it gives the other staff and the public the opportunity to become familiar with people with disabilities,” Mark says.
He understands the reluctance of some employers to take on people with disabilities. “The biggest thing with employers is that they don’t want to take on any more problems.
“They want somebody who is going to turn up on time and do the job they want.”
He acknowledges that it is not always easy and it was initially a matter of “taking a deep breath and learning tolerance”.
However, his workers have proved to be committed and focused employees.
“If employers concentrate on what these staff can do and not what they can’t do, the sky is the limit.
“They are incredibly honest. They force you to make decisions that sometimes you wish would go away.”
by Dan Hutchinson
When Mark Witchalls bought a successful business eight years ago, the first thing he did was convert from automation to a labour-intensive production line.
A job that used to take one person supervising a machine now requires four people on a production line and the business has thrived.
Blenheim Foods, now based in Rapaura, is the biggest supplier of patties to takeaways around the country.
The highly successful business uses a different formula to the normal cost-cutting, mechanised systems of his competitors.
Mr Wichalls wanted a business that could provide employment to people with disabilities, particularly people over 40-years-old who had been out of work for long periods of time.
He had found that many of these people had not benefited from more progressive work placement policies in recent years.
By converting Blenheim Foods he has provided meaningful employment to people with their wages subsidised by the Government depending on their level of physical or mental disability.
The business has been so successful that Mr Witchalls has been asked by the Ministry for Social Development to come up with a similar pilot employment scheme on a larger scale for Marlborough with a view to a national programme.
There is an estimated 300 people in the region that would benefit from similar work placement and training.
Mr Witchalls said there was often a lot of work required to bring a person up to speed in the work force, especially if they had never worked before.
“We had one guy who hadn’t worked for five years and he couldn’t even stand. It took six months to get him to a point where he could work for a whole day. If you don’t use it, you lose it.”
He said the new scheme, called the Marlborough Work Fit Trust, would initially revolve around the Marlborough District Council’s Tuis to Town project. That project revolves around sourcing, propagating and planting suitable plant species.
Long-term unemployed disabled people over 40 would be the focus of the intake and they would learn health and safety, gain NZQA qualifications, gain a driver’s licence if possible and other things vital to everyday employment.
Workers who take part in the project will also work on propagating the required plants to attract tuis to town and the planting as well.
“It doesn’t cost you anything to employ someone with disability and they never want to take a sick day. They have got to be dead not to come to work.”
His own business has continued to thrive under the new model and as well as having “hand made” patties his customers also appreciate that he is doing something for the community.
Mark and his wife Shelly, a chef, formerly ran the Punga Cove in the Marlborough Sounds, and were founding partners of The Mussel Boys restaurants. But they sold the restaurant and started planning differently for the future when their daughter Emily was diagnosed with severe autism.
“I sold up so we could get into a situation of working with Emily and whoever was out there.
“We tried to find the simplest operation we could in Blenheim to provide a form of employment and we found Blenheim Foods tucked in a back street.”
Mark employs four part-time workers at Blenheim Foods and he has adapted the operation to make the work easier and safer.
Pictures are used instead of written instructions for the pattie-making process and he has done away with some machinery.
A big hopper, from where they poured the pressed ingredients into the hot plates is gone and the mixtures are now ladled by hand into the moulds.
Mark says business is growing. The downturn has encouraged many people to go back to their Friday night fish and chips, rather than more expensive fast-food options.
“We are working six days to keep up.”
Shelly owns Shelly’s café next door to the factory and she gets a hand with the dishwashing and grounds from Mark’s employees.
“The point of that is that they get to socialise and it gives the other staff and the public the opportunity to become familiar with people with disabilities,” Mark says.
He understands the reluctance of some employers to take on people with disabilities. “The biggest thing with employers is that they don’t want to take on any more problems.
“They want somebody who is going to turn up on time and do the job they want.”
He acknowledges that it is not always easy and it was initially a matter of “taking a deep breath and learning tolerance”.
However, his workers have proved to be committed and focused employees.
“If employers concentrate on what these staff can do and not what they can’t do, the sky is the limit.
“They are incredibly honest. They force you to make decisions that sometimes you wish would go away.”
No comments:
Post a Comment