Pupils brewing up future success

Year 10 pupils from Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School in Oswaldtwistle got the chance to take a tour of Moorhouse’s Brewery in Burnley and learned how maths is used in the company’s day-to-day operations.

The purpose of the visit, which was organised by Cassons as part of an initiative called Business Class, was to give pupils a clearer understanding of how the maths they study at school works in the real world.

The pupils were shown the various stages of the brewing process during a guided tour of Moorhouse’s facilities.

Then a team of accountants from Cassons set the group various maths based challenges, from working out the impact of changes in the price of ingredients to calculating the number of barrels needed to fulfill orders.

Rhys Foster, sales executive for Moorhouse’s Brewery, said: “Maths is really important in an industry like ours.

“We use it for all sorts of things, such as working out the amounts of ingredients we need to ensure our beer tastes as it should do, to making sure we only make the amount of beer we need because any wastage costs money.

“Sitting in a maths lesson is one thing but being able to show how maths is used in a practical sense really helps to bring the subject to life so hopefully the visit inspired the pupils into thinking about future careers.”

Peter Johnson, client relationship partner at Cassons, added: “Moorhouse’s are one of our clients and we have an excellent working relationship so when we approached them with the idea for the tour, they were more than happy to help.

“The whole purpose of the day was to give the pupils an insight into how maths is applied in the real world so we set them a number of maths based challenges.

“We got them thinking about things like the costs of the different ingredients, the costs of production and how they price the various products so the business can make a profit.

“The pupils really threw themselves into the tasks and I have to say they demonstrated an impressive amount of business acumen.”

Cassons and Rhyddings have forged a close relationship through Business in the Community’s Business Class programme.

The initiative encourages businesses and schools to form long-term strategic partnerships that benefit both students and employers.

Tyoni Jones, a pupil at Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School added: “It’s great to get an insight into the types of jobs that exist outside of school.

“I’m not the best mathematician but I really enjoyed learning about the financial aspects of Moorhouse’s business and came away thinking the role of an accountant is pretty cool.”