A BLAENAU Gwent food company found that improving staff skills was just the ingredient it needed to give the right flavour to its expansion plans.

Tillery Valley Foods' dedication and innovation in the field of skills development at all levels have now cooked up some new recognition in the form of a prized Wales Training Award.

The 400-worker Abertillery company, which makes chilled and frozen ready meals, was honoured for using its growth in the market place as a means to establish a proper training platform for staff.

Ray Edwards, head of Skills Development in South East Wales for the National Council for Education and Learning for Wales, said: "Tillery Valley Foods has shown unbelievable commitment to its employees across the company and has laid the groundwork for a stronger and more successful business."

Tillery Valley's managing director, Michelle Philpott, said: "We've created a training programme for our entire workforce that leads to NVQs across a broad range of subjects - from food and drink categories through to team-leading and warehouse management.

"It's been working very well - two thirds of our employees have already gained formal qualifications. We've been tracking progress over the last three years, and many staff have been moving steadily up the career ladder.

"We are currently embarking on a major expansion and we wanted our workforce to be prepared for that."

The Wales Training award was presented to the company by Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, Jane Davidson, during a ceremony at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport.

* Pictured, Tillery Valley Foods' personnnel manager Penny Winkler, who has been at the heart of the company's training programme.