GLASGOW BUSINESS DECEMBER 2014
CONTENTS/PRESIDENT
Vic Emery, President
president@glasgowchamberofcommerce.com
We must do more for young people
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Glasgow Chamber has been finalising its planning for the next two years. This follows the past year when there has been a clear focus on changing the story of Glasgow through the opportunities provided by the Commonwealth Games. We have been emphasising that
Glasgow is an economic powerhouse, no longer a city in regeneration. But there are still areas of the city that need regeneration and there are communities in Glasgow that are not yet connected to the prosperity of the city as a whole. Glasgow Chamber has taken a
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role in the last two or three years in tackling these issues through our work in the field of youth opportunities. Significant work has been done on this through the Youth Employment Action Group and through the Chamber’s Glasgow Employer Board. There were
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Cover image (clockwise): The Secretary of State, Alistair Carmichael MP visited Aggreko for a tour of the manufacturing facility; Dr Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, met with apprentices at Thales; A CCG apprentice practises her skills
a number of the recommendations in the Youth Employment Action Group report that were echoed in the report of the Commission chaired by Sir Ian Wood, Education Working For All on developing Scotland’s young workforce. One of the recommendations on Schools and Business Partnerships has already begun to deliver its aim of having at least one business linked to each of the 29 secondary schools across Glasgow. Another aim was to create centres of excellence on sectors in city secondary schools with a Maths, Science and Technology centre of excellence to be created at Allan Glen’s School. Another major initiative is the Inspiring500 mentoring programme that will seek to pair mentors with young people coming from disadvantaged areas of the city to help them improve their life chances. We are asking business leaders, starting with our President’s Club,
to encourage executives within their organisations to agree to act as mentors. The programme launched along with The Herald newspaper has the bold aim of signing up 500 such mentors. We are highly supportive of the
city’s universities and the contribution they make in the provision of skills and research excellence. But we also have to do more to support the work done by our colleges. It’s in everyone’s interests for
links between schools, colleges and employers to be improved – to provide more opportunities for our young people and to provide businesses with employees that are better prepared for entering the world of work. This approach comes at a time of change and challenge for our colleges with work to improve employee links coming as the new college landscape within the city is established. The newly
merged City of Glasgow College,
Glasgow Kelvin College and Glasgow Clyde College are
all significant operations in their own right. They all have a fresh impetus and we want to help employers to engage with the college network in a better way in the year ahead. We were pleased that Rob
Woodward, Chief Executive of Glasgow Chamber member STV, has been chosen to chair the National Invest In Young People Group. We support the aim of the group, set up by the Scottish Government, to help employers to make a long-term commitment to education and training of young people. Our city’s young people can too
often feel marginalised and we as a business community need to be more aware of that. Above all, we need to engage with all the work that is being done to make a greater contribution in tackling these issues and improving youth opportunity.
Glasgow Business . 3
www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com
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