Prosper Autumn 2023 Yumpu_compressed

More documents

Recommendations

Info

NEWS Chambers to take lead in levelling up skills A major new plan to help the West Midlands and Warwickshire tackle labour and skills shortages has been approved by the Government – with more than £10 million of funding available in the region to deliver its aims. The West Midlands and Warwickshire Local Skills Improvement Plan (WMW LSIP) has been produced by Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber, in collaboration with Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce and Black Country Chamber of Commerce. The plan, which sets out three key priorities, comes after six months of research and consultation with employers and skills and training organisations. It has identified shortfalls in provision and made recommendations on how they can be addressed. Secretary of State for Education, The Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP, has rubber-stamped the plan and £10.4 million has been made available through a Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) to enable FE providers to respond. A partnership of local providers, led by Solihull College, is now bidding for that funding to address the issues highlighted. The first priority is to target key sectors crucial to the growth of the region, including engineering & manufacturing, “The Chamber is helping to create a skills and training blueprint that meets the needs of businesses,” says CEO Sarah Moorhouse construction, ICT & digital and logistics and distribution, and to improve training and education provision. The second priority is the provision of excellent, flexible leadership and management training in both specific and general topics to facilitate business growth. Finally, the plan responds to employer requests for greater levels of essential skills with a new short course programme and mentoring and coaching projects. Sarah Moorhouse, Chief Executive of Black Country Chamber of Commerce, said: “Recruitment, retention, but more importantly skills, or sadly, the lack of them, remain our members’ number one priorities, so the opportunity to work collaboratively on this project, and place employers at the heart of the skills system, has allowed them to express their short and long-term skills needs. “By consulting with and articulating the skills needs of employers, the Chamber is helping to create a skills and training blueprint that meets the needs of businesses as well as the wider community, and LSIPs provides us with the opportunity to shape the future of the region’s skills and talent pipeline. “Alongside the specific skills required to build the new green economy, and ease the recruitment crisis in many sectors, businesses involved in the LSIPs overwhelmingly identified communication and soft skills as a key priority. Digital skills were also raised across the board, along with deficiencies in those which are specific to our region, in the fields of engineering and manufacturing.” “We look forward to working in partnership with our colleges, training providers, the combined authority, and other regional stakeholders to deliver real change as we move forward to phase two of the plans and the implementation.” Corin Crane of Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber said: “We are very pleased that the regional LSIP has been approved by Government and that we can now set to work in helping to tackle the skills shortage in the region.” Doocey’s delight over first female apprentices A construction firm has appointed its first ever female apprentices as the Doocey Group’s latest cohort of apprentices began training at Sandwell College. An open day at the firm sparked massive interest with local young people of both sexes popping along to see what opportunities lay in the construction industry. Nearly 120 hopefuls made it through to the Tipton group’s pre-apprenticeship scheme run through the summer, which included a three-week practical trial to rate their suitability. The final 12 chosen for the apprenticeship scheme included two females, for the first time. Long road behind Len – but plenty more miles to go National Express West Midlands’ is celebrating the remarkable 72-year career of Len Stanton, its longest-serving engineer. 87-year-old Len from West Bromwich started as an apprentice aged just 15 with what was then the West Bromwich Corporation – and he’s been at the West Bromwich garage since 1951. From his days as a young apprentice, Len consistently demonstrated exceptional skill and mentorship, and his expertise and knowledge has earned the admiration and respect of his peers throughout the business. He plays a critical role in helping to maintain the bus fleet and ensure vehicles are ready for service to take thousands of customers to school, work and shopping every day. When asked what has changed over the years, Len told Prosper, “Things here have definitely changed. We used to start engines with a starting handle! But it’s like an old coat, you just fit it on. Whatever happened I just got my head down and did my job.” 12 PROSPER AUTUMN 2023
PROSPER AUTUMN 2023 13
Page 1: THE REGION’S LONGEST-RUNNING BUSI
Page 4 and 5: CONTACTS Editor Sarah Thompson 0330
Page 7 and 8: WELCOME Challenging times demand a
Page 10 and 11: CHAMBER NEWS British Chambers’ Qu
Page 14 and 15: CHAMBER NEWS: PLATINUM GROUP Black
Page 16 and 17: CHAMBER PATRONS Major Black Country
Page 18: NEWS New business group to use coll
Page 21 and 22: AND THE WINNERS ARE……. BUSINESS
Page 24 and 25: BLACK COUNTRY CHAMBER AWARDS LORD C
Page 26: ADVERTORIAL: DANIEL-SCOTT RECRUITME
Page 29 and 30: LEGAL MATTERS: THURSFIELDS Navigati
Page 31 and 32: “For most of the people in this g
Page 34 and 35: SPOTLIGHT: APPRENTICESHIPS Apprenti
Page 36 and 37: SPOTLIGHT: APPRENTICESHIPS Taking t
Page 38 and 39: IN CONVERSATION WITH... JAMES BOVIL
Page 40: BUSINESS VOICE HS2: What’s in it
Page 43 and 44: SPOTLIGHT FEATURE: CYBER ATTACKS Di
Page 46 and 47: BUSINESS VOICE: DEMENTIA IN THE WOR
Page 48 and 49: CHAMBER NEWS New Business Council u
Page 50: MEMBERS’ NEWS Family touch keeps
Page 53 and 54: MEMBERS’ NEWS “We knew the issu
Page 55 and 56: CHAMBER NEWS MEET THE TEAM Black Co
Page 58 and 59: EVENTS Chamber AGM Black Country Ch
Page 60 and 61: EVENTS DIARY Training events EXPORT
Page 62 and 63:
CHAMBER TRAINING COURSES / WORKSHOP
Page 64:
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & TRAINING
show all

Prosper Autumn 2023 Yumpu_compressed

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?