Training ‘sale’ will help boost jobs skills

Teesside University has mounted a million pound campaign to help create a highly skilled North East workforce.

And employers are urged to act quickly to enrol staff before the start of the new academic year.

The University has been granted special funding to support employers with training and development needs in Engineering, Manufacturing, IT, Leadership and Management and a number of other disciplines.

Up to 50% is being cut off the cost to employers for a wide range of high-skills programmes starting in September 2013.

The offer is available to organisations of any size across all employment sectors.

Teesside University Vice-Chancellor Graham Henderson OBE DL said: 'The £1m made available to us through government funding means we can help give North East employers a real advantage.

'Lack of relevant skills and qualifications is a key constraint on business growth and performance.

'At Teesside University we work closely with industry partners to ensure we provide the skill-sets and expertise they need.

'We have listened to what employers want, particularly in our region, and have designed courses to meet their requirements.

'The North East has large manufacturing and engineering sectors, and a workforce with leading-edge knowledge and expertise is crucial to performance and competitiveness.

'We train employees and students from across the world, who then take their skills to companies globally, so it makes sense to support those companies closer to home who can use their expertise to grow the regional economy.'

Teesside University already trains the workforce at some of the region’s key employers.

Bill Scott of Wilton Group Engineering said: 'Teesside University has an enviable reputation for delivering a huge range of bespoke business courses which add real value to all sizes of businesses.

'Keeping up to date with new technologies through a skilled workforce that has a complete and detailed understanding of a specialised area is invaluable.

'We have put a number of our employees through courses at Teesside University and it has been an investment that has paid back, and continues to do so.

'Working together with world-leading researchers and industry experts means our employees keep us ahead of the game at a global level.'

Dr Graham Hillier, Director of Strategy and Futures at the Centre for Process Innovation, Wilton, said: 'At CPI we work with companies at the high-end of the manufacturing and process technology spectrum.

'As an innovation centre, we help them develop, prove and scale-up the next generation of processes and products. We help our partners create more sustainable, efficient and economic industries for the future.

'The high value manufacturing sector – which is key to the UK’s future economic success – needs people with industry relevant postgraduate skills and qualifications.

'We welcome this initiative by Teesside University to help business develop people’s advanced skills.'

Over the past three years, more than 8,000 employees have taken part in Teesside University development programmes, tailored directly to the needs of individual employers.

The University has a number of schemes available to help businesses from bespoke consultancy and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships to Knowledge Exchange Internships.

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