Growing Talent in the Manufacturing and Engineering Sectors
On 17th May the LSIP held its sector specific event for Manufacturing (Science and Innovation). We were kindly hosted by Oxfordshire Advanced Skills at Culham Science Centre, who offered great input as well as a tour of the fantastic facilities on site.
Speaker, Claire Farrow from Reaction Engines provided a new perspective on how to challenge traditional recruitment practices to help combat the tight labour market and broaden the candidate pool. While Luke, a current apprentice training with OAS, was a shining example of the benefits a company can obtain from recruiting apprentices and committing to their development.
The roundtables offered so much insight into the current skills gaps employers are facing and there was healthy debate on what changes could be implemented into future training provision, the conversations could have continued all day.
Growing Talent in the Health and Life Sciences Sectors
A wonderful walk from the car park to SA Catapult, along the perimeter of Diamond Light Source will have enthused the delegates for an insightful morning of insights from Lorna McInroy, Moderna, Adrian Hill from UKRI-STFC and Bridget Partridge from JLL.
The speakers covered a broad range of needs from Moderna opening a new site on Harwell, everything from cleaners and security to experienced scientists. Adrian looked at the current positives for Harwell Campus though covered the challenges, which fed into Bridget’s speech around geographical costs regarding transport and local costs for both the expense of local housing and more pointedly, price per square metre of building new facilities for facilities of all sizes, whether an established business or a start up.
The LSIP team were able to gather plenty of information for the first draft of our reporting.
Our thanks sent to all involved.
Growing Talent in the Hospitality and Tourism Sectors
On Tuesday 4th April the Local Skills Improvement Plan teamed up with Le Manoir aux Q’uat Saisons for a round table event focused on the Hospitality sector.
During the morning we heard from Sarah Powell, HR Director at Le Manoir, Nikhil Malhotra Group Head of Recruitment at Thomas Franks and Chris Harber, Head of Immigration at Boyes Turner, all presenting on the current challenges within the sector alongside some fantastic success stories.
The breakout groups were able to offer more granular information to feed into the LSIP team, the emerging theme being that basic employability skills are often what is required alongside a willingness to learn, as opposed to formal qualifications . Equally, the employers in the room accepted that they needed to be more visible around the breadth of opportunity and potential for career progression in the industry. All agreed that improvements in communication between local education providers and employers needed better facilitation.
Notes were raised around the need for simplification of both work experience opportunities and apprenticeships, cutting down on red tape. Whilst the conversation could have continued all day, we were treated to a tour of the hotel, the kitchens and wonderful gardens.
Concerned about the Skills Shortages in your Business?
Banbury College, part of Activate Learning, hosted an event for local members of the Banbury Chamber of Commerce, giving them the opportunity to discuss their concerns about skills shortages for businesses in the region.
After an introduction to the Local Skills Improvement Plan for Oxfordshire we heard from two local employers Mike Hirons from Produce Warriors and Tracey Thomas from Cherwell District Council. They gave great insight into the challenges for both small and large organisations of recruiting and retaining talent within north Oxfordshire.
There was healthy debate and discussion on future skills needs and the importance of greater collaboration between education providers and employers to help address skills gaps and understanding of the education landscape.
Growing Talent in the Transport and Logistics Sectors
Newbury College hosted the Growing Talent in Transport and Logistics Sector event. A core group of employers and providers met to discuss the challenges facing the sector. Richard Perriman from Scan Global Logistics chaired the group and shared his own background in the industry. He was followed by a fascinating talk by Chris Markey from where?
There were many interesting insights shared and it became apparent that some of the key roles required are warehouse operators, custom clearing agents and facilitators to allow products to be moved successfully around the country and beyond.
Key takeaways were digital knowledge and the lack of basic excel skills employees have in addition to an essential need for management/leadership training and development programmes. It was felt by all on the day that the sector needed more of a spotlight on it and that this could come through by earlier engagement and knowledge for students in education and careers advice.
Building a Sustainable Future
The Windsor Forest Colleges Group were fantastic hosts at their Langley Campus for the Building a Sustainable Future Event.
Over the course of the morning, we heard from Nicola Hiett and Shaun Britton from CITB as well as brilliant insights from Sam Walker from Darke and Taylor about their apprenticeship scheme. Break out groups helped to draw out an emerging picture that included a need for greater knowledge of the sector in schools to show the many opportunities and career progression available.
Digital skills and a need for wider availability of green skills training were discussed as were the demand for coaching, leadership and management training. A big impact was the new skills arising from the green agenda and a necessity for those teaching to have up to date knowledge of the requirements in the industry.