Improve, an organsation set up by government to upgrade skills and attract new employees to the sector, revealed the figures in making the call for more companies to register women for the course.

Research from Improve shows that the food and drink sector will need an additional 38,000 new managers over the next eight years.

The course for women is part of a wider training programme set up by Improve for the food and drinks industry, which is facing a serious skills shortage. Improve said the course fulfills a specific need to up-skill women already in, or aspiring to, managerial roles.

Companies such as Princes, Nestle, Ice Cream Alliance, McIntyre Meats and Young's Seafood are among those who have already registered employees for the subsidized course.

Funding for the course is available for any women who work in food and drink manufacturing regardless of role and position. Companies or individuals pay £50 per person for a course Improve estimates is worth about £500.

Those who graduate will receive a Level 3 introductory certificate in management, with course delivered at a time and location to suit a company's needs. Training is limited and on a first come first served basis.

The introductory certificate in management is an accredited qualification. The course gives an overview of all aspects of management, providing practical skills and reviewing the underpinning theory, Improve stated.

The introductory certificate in management is an accredited qualification. The course gives an overview of all aspects of management, providing practical skills and reviewing the underpinning theory, Improve stated.

Earlier this week, food companies and organisations made an appeal for more training help at a Labour Party Conference fringe event hosted by the Food and Drink Federation and the GMB trade union.

Chaired by Melanie Leech, the director general of the Food and Drink Federation, the event debated issues such as boosting skils and training and how to raise the image of manufacturing among potential employees.

Research conducted for FDF by the University of Reading found that the food and drink industry is the country's largest manufacturing sector with a total turnover of about £74bn, accounting for 14.2 per cent of manufacturing's gross value added in the UK.

The sector employs about 470,000 people.